Square Unveils New Inventory Management Features For Retailers

Square has unveiled new inventory management features for its retailer sellers, the digital payments company announced on Thursday (April 22). The new features are designed to “provide sellers greater control over their inventory management, and improve efficiency with better ways to create, count and reorder inventory,” Square said in its announcement.

These features include quick inventory counting, which lets sellers keep accurate stock counts through a bar code scan, along with alerts for when an item is almost out of stock. “Easy Item Create” helps sellers populate their catalog for sale across any channel by uploading item information via a barcode scan.

“Last year was a challenging one for retailers. We’re looking forward to providing sellers with access to the tools they need to prepare for reopenings and the year ahead,” Roshan Jhunja, GM, Square for retail, said in the news release. “We’re also excited to help sellers continue to automate difficult but necessary tasks like inventory management, and get back to doing what they love — running their business.”

The San Francisco-based company stated that the ability to reach buyers across multiple channels — in-store, online and via social media — has become more important than ever. “As a result of shifting consumer preferences, the impact of staggered reopening schedules and a shift to online selling, an omnichannel presence is no longer a ‘nice to have,’ but has become critical for long-term success,” Square said in the release, noting that a recent company survey showed close to 90 percent of retailers are now selling online.

That shift in selling is also borne out by Square’s own revenues, which came in at $3.1 billion last year. In February, the company reported that omnichannel and online sellers accounted for more than 50 percent of GPV in the last quarter of last year.