Nine years ago Square launched it’s iconic white card reader that turned any cell phone into a credit card reader and solved a huge problem for America’s tiniest businesses. Fast forward almost a decade and many of those small businesses are not so small anymore. That taco truck start-up is now a fleet of ten and a quick serve restaurant, the once seemingly obscure tea pop-up catering to aficionados, Silk Road Teas, is now booming with wholesale clients and a direct to consumer model on their custom built eCommerce site. As these businesses have grown, they face new challenges and have new needs that Square is continually working to address. In comes Square’s latest launch, the Solutions Partner Program, to grow with them and meet these new demands.
“Square sellers were asking for help building a specialized mobile checkout experience or a customized online store that connects to Square to streamline their online and offline sales. Until now, businesses were forced to turn to the abyss of an online search. We want to give them direct access to a Square-approved partner that knows how to help clients grow all while keeping their payments secure and synced to Square,” said Pankaj Bengani, the Global Partnerships Lead at Square. “With this new program, we can continue to be a key partner in the next stage of growth for any business powered by Square.”
The new partnership platform launched at the company’s annual Partners Squared Summit where hundreds of developers and channel partners from bespoke agencies around the world gathered to learn how Square can help power their clients’ business. One of them was Brett Spiegel, who flew in from Fuzz Productions in New York City. You may not know that name, but you’ll know their work if you ever checked out at Shake Shack’s innovation concept store in Manhattan. The self-ordering kiosk was customized by Brett’s team and powered by Square’s now ubiquitous and easy payment process.
“The effortless payment flow was a component of success for this new ordering channel, which was well-received by Shake Shack employees and their hungry customer. With Square, we’ve been able to expand to several new restaurant brands, including Next Level Burger in San Francisco,” Brett said.
The program also gives sellers access to channel partners like Vision33 who helped David Leadbetter Golf Academy connect Square across their 40 global locations to SAP Business One. The partnership resulted in a simplified data dashboard for the owner of Leadbetter Golf and simplified checkout anywhere on the green for their golf pros.
The Solutions Partner Program comes on the heels of Square’s announcement that their flagship Square reader got a lightning port facelift to keep up with Apple’s iPhone technology. As
Square goes upmarket to help the Shake Shack’s of the world scale their payments, it’s clear they haven’t lost sight on serving the small businesses who got them here.
