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Square for Restaurants & KDS: What features or improvements would you like to see in 2022?

Hello Seller Community 👋🏼 My name is Rajat and I work on the Square for Restaurants team here at Square.

 

As we look into next year, we’re hoping to hear from you all on what you would like to see in development for our Square for Restaurants product, which include the Restaurants Point of Sale app and Square KDS!  

   

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These can be suggestions that have already been mentioned on the Square for Restaurants feature request board, but that you’ve identified as your top feature request that you’d like to see developed in 2022! Think of it as a Square for Restaurants and/or a KDS ‘wish list’. 

 

Please reply below with some feature suggestions or product improvements that you’d like to see. Your comments will be recorded and reviewed by our Square for Restaurants Product Team. 

 

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A more robust way to manage inventory, on the fly.  We "retire" inventory and produce new inventory all day, every day.  Being able to click on a tracked item in the POS and adjust inventory on the fly would be HUGE!  Having to stop using the register as a register, log into the dashboard, and adjust inventory is clunky, inefficient, and not possible in the middle of a rush.

Bruce

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Best Answer

Thank you KDS & SFR Teams!

we love the Square ecosystem. 

ONE BIG REQUEST…….day by day inventory. That’s it. One big ask. 

We're IZOLA bakery. We bake all day and serve everything hot from the oven to our customers.  We receive about 55% of our orders via online ordering (both in advance + same day), and 45% are traditional "walk ins" 

 

Here is an example of how we (and I think many other users) might use "day by day" inventory. Let's pretend to plan an OLIVE SOURDOUGH special for next week. We take orders simultaneously from

  1. online 
    1. same day
    2. future fulfillment
  2. POS (walk in) for immediate fulfilment from the counter. 

So what we want to be able to do is enter how many total loaves we have available for sale each day. And for example when the 20 loaves of olive bread are sold for Monday. (by a combination online and via POS) Customers can still order for Tuesday or any future date which has inventory set. (and it would be nice for customers to be able to sign up for email/text notifications when an item comes back in stock)

 

So for example we'd set the daily inventory as follows: 

Mon - closed

Tuesday - 20 loaves

Weds - 16 loaves

Thursday 25 loaves

Friday 50 loaves. 

Saturday 80 loaves

Sunday 90 loaves

 

 I think it would be helpful across a wide range of businesses (flower shops, restaurants, breweries, coffee bars, anyone who want to have set number of a certain item available each day) that want to allow online ordering.   And from a wider perspective, I believe "DAY BY DAY INVENTORY" will help our small businesses better serve customers who have quickly become accustomed to easy online ordering via amazon, chipotle, etc. 

 

Thoughts? 

Jeffrey L Brown
jb@izolabakery.com
619-227-2701

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Tickets available on the dashboard.  We have pre orders for a future time even day.  Taking the order in the back and adding it to the ticket feature would be great.

 

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For online ordering platform, please make it easier for customers to easily add on to their meal things like drinks, sides, etc.   Pop up messaging when people try to make too many changes to a menu item. Connectivity between Nextme and Square so we don't have to have two Ipads side-by-side.  

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This is more than just a wish list.  Without the following, the current Square KDS is of little value to our operation.

- Kitchen Performance Report Screen needs more filters and the ability to "click" on a row and see the items that make up the numbers that are presented

- Detailed custom reporting: Need the ability to report performance down to the individual ticket.  Need the ability to report which tickets were completed below and above a certain specified threshold (eg: which tickets were completed in less than 10 minutes, which exceeded 15 minutes).  Need the ability to produce graphs for a specific period.  Need the ability to produce graphics comparing specific periods.  Ability to report average ticket time  based on data points such as the number of items on a ticket, item category, item name, custom attribute, etc.

- Stability: KDS will randomly not display tickets or will simply stop working

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A couple of features we would love to see:

 

1.Self-serve ordering where the orders become open tickets.  (We currently don't use self-serve because of this)

2.Cash drawer report that can be exported/downloaded, instead of copy/paste from emails.  (Work around is to copy/paste into excel and then manipulate formatting)

3.Item splitting on a ticket (Work around is to have an item called "customer split" where we deduct half the value of the item from the open ticket and manually add the value to a different ticket...not user friendly)

 

We have had great success with Square in our 1st year of being open.  But the items listed above would be very helpful.  

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While the Restaurants POS is sleeker, in my opinion, than the regular Square POS, it's cohesiveness to other devices along with its functionality is awful. My previous POS allowed for all of my devices to collectively "be on the same page." Square offers nothing of the sort. Every device thinks it's a soloist when it's a part of a group. It only makes sense that you can't open a tab or pre authorize a credit card, because if you go to a customer on a new device you won't be able to find the tab. So while I would also LOVE the pre authorization feature because it really is a BASIC function of most bars today, there also needs to be way more cohesiveness. The fact that an iPad has more Restaurants POS features than that of the Square Register is also very backwards. Any device that comes directly from you should offer the most functionality, especially if it's going to have an $800 price tag. 

 

I guess I am just frustrated too, because I truly thought the transition from my old POS to Square was going to be pretty seamless and instead I feel like I have digressed completely. It's just not the type of product I thought a company that's been around for a while would put out. 

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we don't have this issue. We use 5 devices and they are all always synced. 

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We're a full-service restaurant that sees high volumes of customers both ordering online, over phone, and table-side. After using Square For Restaurants for several months now, and allowing our staff to get accustomed to the new system coming from Micros POS, we have some major suggestions for Square to add that we find to be vital in our operations and making sure the system is as efficient as possible. 
 
1. Split Items / Share Items — When it comes to tables who are looking to split the bill, you give options for even splits across multiple different checks (ie. equal amount splits) and itemized splits (ie. the customer is only paying for what they ordered across the table). However, there is one feature we miss greatly from the Micros POS which is the ability to share items. For example, suppose a table of 4 sits down at our restaurant. They order 2 appetizers and an entree for each of themselves individually. When it comes to paying, suppose they want to have an itemized split. There is no option for each of the 4 guests to ’share’ the cost of the two appetizers they ordered, and one of them has to put the full cost of the appetizers on their bill. This is something that should be an easy addition to the split function on Square for Restaurants. 
 
2. Loyalty Signup on Physical Receipts — We switched to Square for many reasons, but in particular, the Loyalty program that the POS offers. Square For Restaurants typically will request a phone number for customers to sign up for the loyalty program, however, we do not have customers sign the physical iPads at table-side or pick-up; we print receipts that they sign. There is no efficient and fluid way of getting people to sign up for our loyalty program, and therefore we may not even purchase the month-to-month cost of the loyalty program unless there is an easier way for customers to sign up. For example, when it comes to paying the bill, there should be something like a QR code where customers can scan the code using their phone to claim the points of their purchase amount. This could also be used in conjunction with a Scan To Pay function, where servers and hosts do not have to physically charge cards. This is one of the features we missed out on with the Toast POS system, and should be an absolute necessity. Without this, we will most likely not move forward with a loyalty program as we want to continue using physical receipts. 
 
3. Modifiers and Conversational Modifiers - Having modifiers is great, however, we have experienced some inefficiency with them. Granted each item has a Notes option, it can be time-consuming to type out special requests while taking a table’s order. On the Conversational Modifiers, where there is options for “Add”, “Extra”, “No”, etc., there are a couple essential options missing:
 
“Only” — Suppose an entree is listed with multiple different ingredients (ie. carrots, broccoli, egg, onions), but the customer only wants egg and no other ingredients. Instead of having to input “No Carrots”, “No Broccoli”, “No Onions”, why not have this “Only” option?
• “Light” — Once again, suppose an entree is listed with multiple different ingredients. Imagine this entree is a stir-fry, a dish that is typically a sauce-based dish. There is no option for something such as “Light Sauce”, “Light Onion”, so on and so forth. 
 
  • 3a. Hiding Modifiers For Square Online - Another suggestion I have is the ability to toggle whether modifiers are viewable to the public. In our restaurant, we have a lot of modifiers set because customers can be super picky. However, we also like to have the ability to allow customers to order for pickup/delivery via Square Online. If I link the original items that show on our POS menu, customers are able to see the entire extensive list of modifiers. To fix this, I had to duplicate every item and manually toggle off the modifier button, which was not only time consuming, but also messes up our analytics a bit. 
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This message is spot on.  I have the exact same issues in my restaurant.  Another issue I would like to add is blocking Kitchen staff from being able to use the POS side of the system (order taking/editing).  I have been suspicious of issues with theft because of this feature not being able to be disabled.

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I second everything in this post, and would only add that the ability to open a tab and keep the customers cc info stored securely is also a big deal for many of us in the fast casual business with bars.

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1. Insights into inhouse/QR-code/delivery/pickup orders. Now it's impossible to estimates how all these channels perform.

2. Insights into how guests browse the menu.

3. Edit the items directly from the menu -> huge time saver, which will improve the menus.

4. A/B tests on menu layout.

5. More delivery service partners to increase the delivery range and improve the delivery speed and quality.

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Alumni

Really exciting to see all the engagement on this thread. I'm tagging in @BeChewzy, who I spoke with yesterday, to share any further potential feedback.

Aaron Weiss
Former Community Lead, Square
Get help in our Support Center | Join the Beta Community
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  1. Discount rules that are not automatically applied to all checks in Square for Restaurants. For example, the ability to restrict only one discount per tab, and also the ability for some items to be exempt from the discount.
  2. The ability to drag/move items on the tab up or down.
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I've been trying to find a work around to be able to print barcodes in Square Restaurants for retail items. We've expanded into more retail since covid! A bridge with features of both platforms of Square Restaurants and Retail. That would be awesome! 

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The ability to see the order taker's notes in the kitchen

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Here are some top of mind I'll add more as I remember

Print QR codes on receipts for payment and loyalty rewards
Having the ability to print payment qr codes on receipts would be a tremendous help especially in full service where multiple or large groups don't make the most sense to try and collect telephone numbers to send out payment links or capture loyalty individually at the table for each guest


Reservation System or Waitlist
Assign guests to tables that used appointments for the pseudo reservation system, this allowing for tracking of guests for large parties, as we use a event planner and have commission structure for booked parties. Also some sort of system to be used for a waitlist to text guests as tables come available

 

Square for Restaurants or Square online API access
Having the ability to access the API could allow for a developer to solve a lot of the requests that are submitted by members, especially when it comes to open orders, menu categories, table management, and self service.

Edit Open Orders created through self service
Would be beneficial to edit orders created in self service ordering, this is a necessary for full service usage for editing discounts, assigning to staff for tip out, adjusting out of stock items.

 

Change language output on KDS system
We employ a very diverse statf and having language option for how text is displayed would be beneficial especially with notes and modifications from staff

Messaging Ability
Ability to message between the KDS or POS systems could help solve small issues without running around the restaurant


Open Tabs
Hold card / preauthorize option to be rung out later for people wanting to have a bar tab, helps with potential walk outs at a crowded bar

 

Print KDS tickets

Self explanatory

Square for Restaurants and Square Online Category Sync
Categories should sync between systems, can be very tedious to update a large menu change

More will come to mind and I will try and add as I remember

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Oh yeah, love the idea of an API to access our information. Then we could choose how we want to view, present and share that information. 

great suggestion!

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Would love a  Reservation System and Open Tabs

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Group Ordering
Allow for someone to create a group order online, invite guests to add onto order, and pay all as one or have the guests pay individually before being combined as one order to the restaurant. Without this feature it is all but impossible to have a large corporate group place separate orders and be delivered through the 3rd party delivery integration as one large order rather than 5 or 10+ orders.

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The ability to link menu items to a modifier, the ability to use the same sku and inventory in options. The ability to easily 86 a modifier. 

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SMS notification to customer order is ready.

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We would like to see an option for the orders to come through as they are typed in rather than having to wait until the transaction is completely done.  We are a coffee shop and our baristas can be starting to prep and make a drink as the customer is paying rather than waiting for the customer to pay, get through the tip and receipt screen, and then add in their loyalty. It really slows down the process.

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