Square Launches Orders API

To allow developers to build a solution that lets sellers send and manage orders online, in-person and in-app, Square has announced the availability of Orders API. Orders can be sent directly to a seller that is using one of Square’s point of sale (POS) products – including Square Point Of Sale, Square for Restaurants, Square for Retail or a custom-built POS – as the central point to manage fulfillment, the company said in an announcement.

Carl Perry, Square’s developer platform lead, said in the announcement, “Over the past few years, the Square developer team has released tools that enable developers to build solutions that take payments in-person, online and in mobile apps. Now, our robust suite of APIs takes the platform a step further and enables developers to create full, scalable and buyer-friendly commerce experiences for merchants of all sizes, across a variety of industries.”

Orders API lets developers provide merchants with an enhanced experience. Currently, Square sellers use Square Point Of Sale to ring up an order and take buyer payments. They now have the option to use their POS as an online and in-app order fulfillment as well as a management hub, without the need to deploy multiple devices.

Square Developer Platform now offers a set of APIs and software development kits (SDKs) that let developers build solutions to help sellers manage all aspects of their businesses, including Payments API, Employees API, Inventory API, Customers API and Catalog API.

The company also noted that developers often complained they previously had to use several vendors – including a payment API provider, a hardware device provider, an order management platform, a POS vendor and more – to build complete commerce solutions for sellers. This resulted in a higher maintenance burden and longer development times.

The unified Square platform is said to simplify the process by giving developers access to a complete set of APIs and SDKs in one solution, providing the flexibility to use one platform to build end-to-end payment and commerce solutions for sellers.

Orders API is available in the U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia and Great Britain.