Square Online Announces Major Growth for Restaurant Owners

• Square Online recently announced a 47% upmarket growth and a 38% increase in subscribers year-on-year in its Square for Restaurants service
• Square Online has launched KDS for Android, an order management system that works directly with Square POS and syncs the front and back-of-house of any restaurant

Square Online has revealed that its restaurant-specific platform, Square for Restaurants, has seen great success over the past year with a 47% upmarket growth. Additionally, there has been a 38% increase in paying subscribers year-on-year.

Square bundled this announcement with the launch of a new piece of software in the Square for Restaurants range, the KDS (kitchen delivery system) for Android. The KDS for Android is designed for restaurants, and allows syncing with the existing Square Point of Sale, meaning orders and tickets can be synced between the counter and the kitchen more efficiently. 

As Matthew O’Connor, Head of Verticals and Platform at Square said,

“Square for Restaurants’ growth speaks to restaurant owners’ thirst for new, intuitive technology to help their businesses flourish […] it can be tricky to run a restaurant right now – but at Square, we’re the tech partner to make restaurateurs’ lives a little easier.”

The KDS for Android marks the end of smudged receipts and greasy tickets, according to its announcement video, and allows tickets and orders to show up immediately in the right areas and help kitchen staff efficiently get food out of the kitchen.

Square for Restaurants is currently available as a free plan but only has access to one Square POS system. If you wish to have the new KDS feature, you will have to pay the $60/month Plus plan (that has a 30-day free trial if you are interested!)

Square In The Kitchen

While Square’s growth over the past year is undoubtedly indicative of Square for Restaurant’s success, it speaks of a wider move by the website builder to exist as both an offline and online platform.

Square also introduced its Square for Franchises platform, allowing any brick-and-mortar restaurant to increase its brand awareness and run a full franchise with Square’s management system. 

This feature combines payment processing, centralized sales reporting, and franchise management across all your locations, as well as promises to improve customer engagement with features that let you offer online ordering, gift cards, and loyalty programs.

Square for Franchises is already used by +4 million businesses according to Square, and the success seems to be only just beginning. It may inspire more website builders to seek to bridge the gap between online and offline businesses.