Is there a way to set up automatic discounts, such as for happy hours?

[PRM17]

Is there a way to set up automatic discounts such as for happy hours that will be applied automatically during a set time frame or under any other conditions? Thanks.

[vbishop]

Does anyone know of a similar product that is simple  to use, but has the "happy hour" feature?  We sell only beer, wine, and t-shirts and have a happy hour and do not need any other special features.

[Roo]

Yeah I dont understand why it is not taken seiously either. They already have variable pricing could simply add the options from this item and this date to this time and date giving you a selection of m-s. And the option clicked of timed pricing so that it doesnt go to the option click of pricing if the option is checked. It just looks if its this date at this time, pull this price from the sql table instead of the regular price. 

[sciabica1936]

@vbishop I have considered this myself.  It is truly baffling that these feature was not implemented several years ago!  Unfortunately, I've looked around and there's really nothing that offers the intuitive usability and simple credit card integration.  It's seems no one else "gets it" like Square does when it comes to  UI (user interface).  Plus, nearly every other system requires a separate credit card processor agreement which dramatically complicates everything.

@Kpay @Sean Please tell us that Square is taking this seriously and is going to give us by far the #1 most important feature that really should have been part of the original app.   This should have been added before Retail, Payroll, Loyalty, Appointments, Marketing, etc.

[Kpay]

Hi @sciabica1936, @vbishop and everyone else on the thread - we're definitely taking this request seriously and know how much of a dealbreaker this is for certain businesses. We're continuing to funnel all your feedback to the appropriate teams here at Square, and will keep you updated when we have more to share. Unfortunately I can't give an exact timeline - but we will definitely keep you in the loop. Thanks for your patience! 

[Kpay]

Hi everyone! I spoke to two of our product managers today about time-based (happy hour) discounts. They're interested in talking to some of you on the phone to get more perspective and hear your feedback. Please send me a private message or comment on this thread if you're interested (@sciabica1936 @Roo @vbishop @sdag?), and I'll put you in touch with our product managers. Again - thank you for your feedback! 

[ctkach]

Can we also include in the discussion the ability to limit discounts to certain items?  If I create a $1 Off Discount that I only want applied to a certain category (ex. appetizers) or a specific item there is no way to do that today.

Also, the ability to add multiple dollar-based discounts to a single check would be useful too.  As it stands today, I need to create a seperate discount button for $1 Off x1, $1 Off x2, $1 Off x3, etc.  Seems a bit redundant and it ends up cluttering up the items unnecessarily.

[sciabica1936]

@Kpay I'd be happy to give feedback to your team regarding Advanced Discounts!

[Roo]

@Kpay me too I PM'ed number

[Kpay]

@ctkach - I will make sure this feedback gets relayed too. Also thanks to those of you who commented and PM'd about talking with out product managers - we will reach out soon to set up calls. 

[TanaOstmanPhoto]

Did you ever get around to creating this option? 

[puka]

Hey @TanaOstmanPhoto - No updates to share at this time, but the Product team is actively tracking feedback here. We will make sure to announce if the feature is implemented.

[sciabica1936]

For years I've been asking for a discount feature that can apply automatically during a designated period of time (and to specific items/categories).  Don't hold your breath.

[Sean]

@sciabica1936 - Appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We'll definitely continue to funnel your feedback to our product folks. Thanks! 

[sciabica1936]

Thanks.  FYI, I have a big sale tomorrow from 11am to 4pm, only on certain items.  My workaround is to export my products, change the price and then import them back.  Once the sale is over, I will re-import the original CSV.

[sciabica1936]

Well... that was a fail.  Importing my items worked for the price adjustment, but for some reason "broke" my UPC barcode scanning.  After importing, I checked and the codes were still entered correctly, but they wouldn't work when we opened the doors.  It would pop up with "SKU not found".  I had to re-scan each item while we were slammed with customers.  It was a nightmare.

It was really my fault.  I should have tested.  I think part of the problem is that my UPC starts with a zero, so spreadsheet programs (like excel) like to drop the leading zero.  I checked to make sure the zero was still there in Square, and it was, but for some reason wouldn't scan.

I do not recommend performing discounts the way I did - too much can go wrong.  I just hope that Square adds a true discount feature SOON!  For now, back to ERPLY 😞

[Sean]

@sciabica1936 - I'm so sorry! That sounds very frustrating! It is true, most spreadsheet programs drop leading zeros.

We recommend avoiding the use of SKU’s that contain leading 0’s, however you can reformat the cells to show the complete number by following these steps:

1. With the item import CSV open, select the first Variant SKU column so the entire column is highlighted.
2. Right-click on the column > select Format Cells.
3. Select Text.
4. Click File > Save As and make sure the file format is saved as Comma Separated Values (CSV).
5. Click Save.
6. Import this new file to your online Square Dashboard.

Maybe this will help if you try again in the future. 😀

[sciabica1936]

Hey Sean,

This seems like a feature that nearly every user of Square would use.  How do we ensure it's being taken seriously by the decision makers at Square?

I would love to have this feature before the holidays so that I don't have to go through another busy season with Erply.

[Sean]

@sciabica1936 - Thanks for reaching out and sharing your thoughts. As far as the process of how and when feature requests become products: it's pretty complex. Our Product Managers take a lot of things into consideration when developing new features, as well as addressing limitations of current features. Customer feedback is certainly one piece of the puzzle that affects prioritization of potential features, but not the only piece. Having said that, the more requests we hear for a certain feature, the case becomes more compelling. While I certainly can't speak to any sort of timeframes, your comments are very much welcomed and impactful. 

[Novice]

Plus one for me on this feature! In addition to a seating chart, it could be as simple as table numbers that can be selected vs typing in.

[Roo]

Yes this setting would be greatly appreciated added a whole day of adding the same item twice for a .50 off happy hour i have m-f.  My old register had a place to put separate prices in price levels then just turn on the schedule with times to use them  price levels when you click that item during that time

[Macrule]

I would love this feature as well.

I would also love to see a gratuity option (for large parties, etc.) and the ability to reopen a closed ticket to make corrections. At this moment, if an employee closes the wrong ticket a refund must be issued, and the original ticket must be re-entered.

Also, in the split ticket feature we would love the ability to split the cost of an appitizer or a bottle of wine across all tickets at the table instead of one person having to pay for that portion. Right now I have to divide the cost of the item by the number of tickets and add that price as a custom amount to each ticket. This is great, except for when you are tracking inventory on certain items.