Live Q&A: Learn how to get paid again and again (and again) with predictable revenue streams

[Tom]

Square’s subscription management software allows any business to easily create recurring revenue streams. If your business utilizes subscriptions, memberships, donations, or other forms of recurring payments, our product team wants to hear from you. Not using this service but interested in learning more? This is also the discussion for you. 

On Wednesday, September 28, we welcomed back @jean_sq from the Subscriptions team for another Question & Answer session! Her team is always eager to learn about how they can better address your business's recurring payment needs as well as answer any questions you may have.

Have a look below to see what topics business owners brought up, and be on the lookout for a "Best Answers" summary post (coming soon) that covers the main takeaways from this discussion.

Note: Although we can't share specific details on our product roadmaps, this information will be helpful as we continue to make improvements.

 Photo Credit: Ambitious Creative Co. - Rick Barrett on Unsplash.

[jean_sq]

@Ladysol Yes, you can create subscriptions either through Dashboard or the Square Point of Sale app. Both are free options to use. I’d start with our getting started article - that walks you through getting started creating subscription plans through Square Dashboard and Square Point of Sale.

Shopify does not have their own Subscription offering. You would need to choose from one of the Subscription plug-ins created by other companies. One big advantage of Square is that everything lives within one ecosystem!

[jayandsilentbob]

Wonderful!

Our company just started using subscriptions. While we're making it work, we are hesitant to turn our promotion efforts on full-blast, as there's currently no way for people to input their shipping address - except for the workaround "Required" additional info. field. Problem with that - many people are using autofill on their phone and we're getting a lot of incomplete addresses - which of course means our staff is now having to email those folks and request a complete mailing address.

To that end, here are two updates/features we'd love to see as soon as possible:  

1. Integrated (can be set to 'required') fields on the subscription form that allow for collection of shipping info. 

2. Synching collected addresses with our shipping tool, Shipstation. - as of now, we have to manually enter each person into our shipping platform. Again, limits the trajectory of our growth. 

It would also be great to have:

3. Better reporting on Subscription Plans. It would be great to click a button on the plan and see exactly how many subscribers we have (total number, not just the entire list). 

Interested to see what others are asking and will look forward to tuning in. Thanks!

[jean_sq]

@jayandsilentbob Thanks for sharing all of that and for using Subscriptions! We are currently working on integrating shipping information with subscriptions so you won’t have to deal with that clunky workflow. You can expect to see that in early 2023. I’ll pass on your feedback on syncing with Shipstation to the team for future consideration.

Lastly, we hope to have better filtering, sorting and reporting options in the new year.

[jayandsilentbob]

Many thanks for your answer. We really do like Square for so many reasons and once this feature is fully built - there will be another major asset for Square. I've done some research and spoken with techs and Square would be far ahead of competitors in this area - for a very in-demand feature - once the tool is full realized. Appreciate the Q&A! 

[jayandsilentbob]

PS - If the team can provide the option to export Subscriber data (including shipping info once that's integrated) - as a CSV file, that would go a long way to assisting customers like us. Even if we had to export from Square then import to Shipstation manually - that would be an improvement. 

[jean_sq]

Thanks @jayandsilentbob ! We are looking to improve reporting/sorting/filtering in 2023. Appreciate your suggestions and feedback!

[Gaiarynd]

Hello, New to Square and will be having monthly massage memberships reoccuring. 

1.  Do I NEED to purchase your hardware in order to make that happen or is it something that can be just set up on software, digitally?

2. Square Credit Card hardware is already in use as it is attached on my phone. Is that enough?

Thank you.

[jean_sq]

@Gaiarynd  Welcome to Square! You technically do not need any Square hardware to use subscriptions. However, since you already have the Square Card dongle on your phone, you can use that in conjunction with the free Square Point of Sale app to process subscriptions. To get started you will need to do two things:

• You will need to install the free Subscriptions add-on before you can access subscriptions on your Square point of sale.
• You will need to initially set up your subscription plans on Square dashboard, which is also free to use.

You can also create subscriptions manually through Dashboard. I’d start with our getting started article - that walks you through getting started creating subscription plans through Square Dashboard and Square Point of Sale.

[NYCBrunchSquad]

Very excited about this! Will we receive a link to watch her answer the questions? Will there be a replay?

I'd love to know if the cancelation process is automated (i.e. can clients go into the system and discontinue their membership without any manual effort from the owner's end)? Thanks!

[Tom]

Hey @NYCBrunchSquad, thanks for reaching out and posting your question! There isn't a video/recording for this Q&A this time around — the product team will reply in writing to your post within this thread. Be sure to check back on Wednesday, September 28 for a response. Thanks for your patience. 🙏🏻

[jean_sq]

@NYCBrunchSquad With regards to cancellation, by default, your customers will have the ability to discontinue their membership through a link that is contained in their subscription email. However, if this is a problem for your business, please reach out so we can better understand your cancellation needs.

[ETC2022]

I want to learn more.... How does this work?

[jean_sq]

@etc I’d start with our getting started article - that walks you through getting started creating subscription plans either through Square Dashboard or Square Point of Sale.

[CynthiaWolf1]

Hello, I am thinking of have an ongoing class and later an ongoing paid monthly membership.
Is there a place on the Sq site where I can see how to set that up? And if so, where and how?

Thanks! - Cynthia Wolf Photography

[jean_sq]

@CynthiaWolf1 I’d start with our getting started article - that walks you through getting started with subscriptions through Square Dashboard and Square Point of Sale.

[shellysmt2014]

what kind of subscription or membership service can i offer as a massage therapist? would love some ideas!!

[Thirty3]

I don't use squares membership selection I just have my own right now with 3 different tiers. And I bill recurring at the end of the month or another date that works with my clients and a 6 month commitment is necessary to honor the price ... I'm looking forward to what square says to your question

[jean_sq]

@shellysmt2014 I’ve seen many massage therapists offer monthly memberships that include discounts on some services as well as some fixed amount of another service (eg. one 30 minute body massage per month). Currently Subscriptions does not have a way to keep track of those membership benefits (eg. which member has used which benefits each month) though we are looking into that for 2023.

[AHskincare]

Hmm, I like this subscription idea. I own a beauty studio where I offer facials,  full body waxing for both women and men. In addition, to retail products. I’m starting to wonder how I might be able to incorporate a subscription option!? Any input or ideas would be greatly appreciated. 

[jean_sq]

@AHskincare I’ve seen numerous beauty studios offer memberships that include discounts on some services as well as some fixed amount of another service (eg. 1 free facial per month). I’d highly recommend tapping into the Seller Community as I believe there are many other salons offering many different types of subscriptions and memberships!

[YellowstoneFarm]

Can I integrate Square Subscriptions into my Wix website?