Last Updated on November 29, 2022

Square Online Review (2024)

  • Maximum security
  • Free plan available
  • Amazing for optimization

Square Online builder is an easy-to-use website builder that lets users create attractive online stores. It was founded in 2009 to provide businesses with a simple and straightforward way to get online and start selling. As of today, Square Online has grown tremendously to accommodate advanced mobile processing solutions such as analytics, reporting, payroll, point of sale, recurring payments, invoices, and multiple apps.

Pros:

  • Maximum security
  • Amazing for optimization
  • User-friendly interface
  • Coupon codes and gift cards

Cons:

  • Not great for bigger companies
  • High fees for bigger businesses
  • Customer support can be lacking

You can build a Square Online store in minutes. It’s just one of the benefits of creating a Square account. Additional benefits include:

  • Maximum security: With Square Online, your data is safe and secure. The platform uses SSL/TSL encryption to provide data protection and maximum payment security for its users. Regular updates are often released to strengthen security at no extra cost. With that in mind, users are confident that their data, including credit card details, are safe from fraud in any way.
  • There is a free plan available: Having a free plan is always nice. You can use it to check the basic features and see if Square Online is the right thing for you. Of course, if you’d like, there is always an option of going with a paid plan for some additional features.
  • Great commercial features: Square Online has some of the best commercial features of all e-commerce platforms. It has great shopping cart functions that are ideal for online stores. Users can create shipping labels and customize their shipping prices too. Whether you want to go with flat costs, weight, quantity, or item purchased transaction fees, the right shipping choice for you is available.
  • Amazing for optimization: Nowadays, optimization features can make or break a website builder. Luckily, Square Online has this one covered. The platform allows users to add key phrases to all their images, create meta descriptions for products, and improve content optimization. All of this makes it very competitive in comparison to some paid website builders.
  • Square Online sales are integrated with social media: Social media integration is one of the main features of every website. Having buttons that connect visitors to your social media account is crucial for making long-term relationships. Additional features like the ability to sell on Instagram or chat with your customers on Facebook Messenger are nice add-ons as well.
  • Coupon codes and gift cards: If you want to offer coupons, this will be an ideal platform for you. A business owner is able to create coupon codes for his or her website, and provide a little extra incentive to buy. Square gift cards can be created too.
  • User-friendly interface: One of the most important features of this site builder is that it has a user-friendly interface. This is crucial for people who have limited experience creating websites. The last thing they need is to be overwhelmed with various functions and buttons. It’s also a good solution for experienced users, as it would allow them to create a site in a shorter amount of time.

Like any builder, there are cons too, which include:

  • Not great for bigger companies: Square.site can have trouble with a large number of transactions, so it’s not an ideal choice for larger companies. A lot of big companies have complained about payment issues and the inability to receive the funds. The platform shines for single site owners who need simplistic templates that are ready to go as soon as possible.
  • High fees for bigger businesses: What makes it even less incentivizing for larger companies is the fact that Square Online has high fees for big brands. If you also consider its limited features for larger brands, it is really hard to justify creating a website design on this platform.
  • Customer support can be lacking: Over time, a lot of users have complained about the company’s customer support. While this builder is pretty easy to use, many users say it’s hard to address issues when they do occur.

Here’s a quick list of features that users rave about:

  • Advanced categorization and cataloging
  • CRM
  • Great channel management
  • Ability to import and export data
  • Email marketing and SEO functions
  • Ability to create gift cards and coupons for the website
  • Easy-to-use inventory management
  • The platform can be easily accessed from mobile devices
  • Numerous mobile commerce options
  • Multi-channel marketing tools
  • Tools for online booking
  • Intuitive online shop builder

Compared to other builders, Square online offers:

High versatility

If you have a lot of different products in your e-commerce store, this platform will be a great choice because you have unlimited products. You can use it to sell all sorts of items without any problem. It can be utilized for both digital and physical products. You can even use it for event tickets, online orders, curbside pickup orders, and store pickup options.

The versatility doesn’t stop with the products though. The company has some excellent features that you can utilize during website creation. Not only will this make your job easier, but you can create an e-commerce site to your liking.

Predictable pricing

Website owners often complain about the unpredictability of some of these platforms. Square Online doesn’t have this problem. The flat-rate pricing is really refreshing within this industry. If you went with the free plan, you also wouldn’t have to worry about the monthly fees.

Plus, you have all-in-one payment options that will make your life that much easier. This is one of few reasons why larger businesses might consider this platform.

Simple set up

If you’re a small store owner, you probably don’t want to waste too much time on complex designs and setup processes. Instead, you just want to create a webshop and start selling goods.

Square Online is tailor-made for small and medium businesses. It is especially great for small teams where every person has to do everything. Setting up a free online store is rather straightforward, and it won’t take too much of your time. Among others, you will be able to synchronize the store with Square Point Of Sale immediately.

Great security

Online protection is one of the main reasons why people choose one brand over another. You will be glad to hear that Squire Online is level 1 PCI compliant. Like many platforms nowadays, it relies on advanced SSL/TLS encryption.

In order to provide additional security to its users, the company performs regular tests and makes updates to safeguard information.

Various payment perks

With Square online checkout, you have unique payment perks that set it apart from the competition. For example, they allow online payments and offline payments, which is extremely rare. You can accept Google Pay and Apple Pay too. 

You can also rely on quick deposits that occur within two business days. 

Square integration

Given that the platform was made by Square, it makes sense they offer integration with its other products. Square POS system and Square Payroll, for example, will help streamline your business.

Disadvantages of this site builder include:

Not ideal for high-risk industries

This online store builder Although the company has solid protection for all the users, there are still certain holes that need to be addressed. Simply put, this platform is not ideal for industries that have to deal with high risks and volatility.

Numerous issues for large companies

If you’re a larger business, Square Online probably isn’t your best choice. As mentioned, this website builder is amazing for smaller enterprises where owners are unable to invest heavily in the project. Large companies are often stifled by the same features that help small entrepreneurs.

First off, the platform can be very expensive for big companies and payment processing issues pose additional hurdles. Lastly, while flat rates are suitable for small and medium companies, they eat away the profits of bigger brands.

Customization problems

Limited customization options can lead to numerous problems.

One of the biggest problems with this is that a lot of Square Online websites resemble each other. This also makes it harder to create a unique brand image that will set you apart. Oftentimes, site owners have a specific idea and will need a dedicated programmer to set it into motion.

Costly add-ons

Nowadays, most companies rely on integration and add-ons to create their ideal sites. But what happens if the cost of these add-ons is too high?

Square Online users are facing this issue. While the platform is free, and you can use it instantly, these costs can be quite surprising.

Limited options

There are some other free website builders that offer more than Square Online. Let’s take plans, for example. There are four of them, but they are not that much different. Even the most expensive one is lacking compared to the competition.

In this sense, the company is more expensive than its competition. While the plans might seem cheap on the surface, they are more expensive if you consider the fact that other companies provide much better features at just a bit higher price.

By going with Square, you will lose some of the functionality that other companies provide, such as a built-in blog, ratings and reviews, and real-time shipping rates.

Square Online keeps its pricing fairly simple. Take a look at these popular plans:

  • Free plan ($0 per month, 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction)
  • Professional plan ($12 per month, 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction)
  • Performance plan ($26 per month, 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction)
  • Premium plan ($72 per month, 2.6% + 30 cents per transaction)

At some point, you might have a question or need a little help. Here’s what you can expect from customer service:

Phone support

Square Online has phone support for all users regardless of the plan you’ve taken. This feature is available every day. You can reach the support from Monday to Friday: 2 PM – 2 AM GMT and from Saturday to Sunday: 4 PM – 1 AM GMT.

A person can contact the company directly, or you can also ask for a callback. Keep in mind that the company will give you a pin number, making it much easier for the call center agent to find your account.

Live chat

Perhaps an even better option, live chat allows you to instantly get in touch with the brand representatives.

While there are several ways to get a hold of customer support, Square Online has received a lot of flak for its inefficient customer support. Although the options are pretty standard, the response times are not on par with some other companies that do business within the industry.

Is Shopify or Square better?

A lot of people compare these two platforms. Both have their pros and cons.

Shopify has name recognition and experts praise Shopify for its amazing eCommerce websites and online ordering solutions. This makes it a much better option for multi-channel and online businesses.

However, Square Online also has its benefits. The company has free POS, as well as a mobile app. This makes it incredible for all the companies that sell their products in person.

Can you use Square for personal use?

You can easily use Square Online for yourself. In fact, there is also an option that you can click on when creating an account (Individual Use). If you process more than $20,000 in sales, the company will report your income. You will get 1099k.

Square Online can be a great platform for all those young entrepreneurs who want to start their small businesses but don’t have resources.

What is the maximum you can charge on Square?

All sellers on the platform have a limit of $50,000 per transaction. The only way you can circumvent this is by breaking a transaction into pieces. In other words, you can split the payment into multiple installments.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you will need the receipt number. It is also advised that you track how much you’ve charged per installment.

How do you transfer funds with Square Online?

The company provides several options for fund transfer. The most common one is the transfer schedule. You can also go with a custom transfer schedule that adapts to your needs and business hours. Lastly, you can transfer the money directly to Square Card.

An important thing to note is that there are no transfer limits if you go with custom or standard schedules. Furthermore, the company won’t withhold the funds regardless of the frequency, amount, or type of transaction.

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