Square branches out into food ordering with new Square Order service [Updated]

Update: Recode reports that as part of its Square Order launch, the company has decided to shutter its Square Wallet check-in and mobile payments app. Square will reportedly support the app for the time being, but it’s already been pulled from the App Store and Google Play.

A Square spokesperson tells TNW that Square Order builds on top of the Square Wallet experience with new technology, and the company wanted to give customers a single experience when searching for Square’s buyer app — which is now Square Order.

“Square Wallet gave buyers a magical way to pay. We’re taking everything we learned from Wallet and what people love in Wallet and building it into Square Order. We think it’s an even better experience that offers buyers more utility,” the spokesperson says.

Square is continuing to support its customers who have the Wallet app. 

US payments giant Square is expanding its services after it launched Square Order, a new mobile service that lets users order and pay for food pickups from their mobile device. The service is initially available in New York and San Francisco only, and it follows a closed trial that has run in the two cities since February.

The descriptions for the iOS and Android apps explains that the service supports “order from local business of all sizes, including San Francisco Bay Area Whole Foods,” but there are plans to expand the list of participating retailers and roll out into new cities in the US over time. Square has not officially announced the service at this point, even though it is live on the App Store and Google Play, but we’ve reached out to the company for more details.

The premise of the service is simple — order and pay ahead to remove the pain of queuing and settling your bill. The app lets you locate your restaurant, cafe or shop or choice, from where you simply make your order, pay your tab (with an optional tip) and then wait for an alert that tells you that your order is ready for collection.

While plenty of ordering ahead services exist in the US market, PayPal has added the feature to its iOS app, Square has a big advantage in that it already supplies payment systems for merchants. That could allow it can onboard large numbers of retailers and their inventories into the new service quickly. Since it also handles the payment side of things, it isn’t reliant on a third party, which helps users avoid paying extra fees and help Square bank more money.

A recent Wired report pointed out that Square has a vast amount of data, which it could monetize in a range of different ways, but certainly expanding into ordering has much synergy with what it is already doing.

The launch of the new services comes at a challenging time for Square. It has been linked with a sale to Google, as it faces wide losses, while it is also reported to have shelved plans for an IPO.

➤ Square Order for iOS | Square Order for Android

Related: Square announces three new seller tools: Pre-order and pickup, offline mode, and inventory tracking/