Square Reader - in both official languages
I went to the downtown Vancouver Apple store yesterday to buy an iPad mini so hyperWALLET’s development team could see how our IOS apps will operate on the mini. It was only day 2 of a new product launch so predictably Apple was out of stock. Disappointed but determined not to come away without any candy, I asked for ‘one of those new square readers’. The genius brought me a square-shaped power adapter. Ermm, not quite. After a few genius toing and froing, victory was mine!
Now all I needed is something to sell. Horrendous downpour season began last week in Vancouver. That means that even though Starbucks is only 3 doors down the street in one direction, 7-11 is next door, etc, it’s still a hassle to interrupt your day and get your feet wet just to get a coffee. So I decided that a Sneakernet Café could formalize the adhoc runner/cash system that has evolved in the office. I activated my Square reader (5 minutes), downloaded the square register application to my ancient iPad (2 minutes), verified my identity and linked my bank account (4 minutes), populated my store with items hyperWALLET staff want to commission someone to fetch for them at various points in the day, and added the usual baby/event contribution collection rounds that happen in any office. That step took the longest – about an hour.
The Sneakernet Cafe Services Menu
I’m in business – I charged my hyperWALLET-powered Paylution Visa card the first $12 worth of transactions, and made my husband swipe and pay before I agreed to make the Starbucks run for him this morning.
First Sale Receipt
Total Time: 2 hours
Total Cost: $10.00
Experience: Delightful
From Square’s perspective, Lisa’s Sneakernet Café is almost certainly bound to be a –ve ebit generating exercise since it will consist of low value, infrequent swipes. I’m not even sure Square will ever make back the $10 credit provided to the Café. The fact that Square’s volume is heavily weighted to this micro-merchant segment is highlighted in an info graphic which arrived in my inbox this week, which makes one pause and think about the current multi $B valuation and $350M of invested Venture Capital.
Linke to View Full Square Infographic from TSG
But, based on my experience, from the sole-proprietor’s perspective, all that VC money actually has produced something magical. There is a whole world of commerce sitting between the Sneakernet Café’s of the world and the Fixed Retail chains like Starbucks. In hyperWALLET’s core vertical, Direct Selling, customized versions of the Square register-like applications will be appearing within a year or so. Game on.
