Square VS POS terminal

Square might be a suitable solution for the micro-retailer or start-up who needs to conduct a few transactions a month, but small-and-mid-sized retailers who perform hundreds and thousands of transactions need a total, cost-effective and customer-centric solution that help their business grow.

Security

Anyone who is processing transactions today on a mobile device must follow either PCI guidelines (USA) or the EMV (a chip and pin technology in Canada and Europe). However, these are just guidelines for retailers, many retailers will need to hire a chief security officer and security architect who can regularly scan for cracks in the infrastructure that a hacker would attempt to exploit. When you consider that T.J Maxx lost an estimated $4.5 billion dollars on their security fiasco, it makes sense that retailers would want to assure that transactional data shared over a wireless network is safe from theft.

Integration with Other Systems

Many retailers today work inside information silos that prevent them from seeing the complete picture of the health of their business. Retailers need to be able to see the complete supply chain so they can make intelligent, data-driven decisions on what products to put on sale, what products to reorder, and where to ship stock. Though Square provides a point of sale solution, it doesn't integrate with other critical systems. For a retailer to support transactions through mobile devices, see inventory across all stores, and store data for a customer's entire purchase history, they'll need a complete ERP solution. They'll still get the benefits of a mobile point of sale service like Square but they'll also strategically position themselves to compete with big box retailers when they select a solution that goes beyond the checkout line.