The problem
A gift shop with 800 product lines reorders by walking the shelves, counting and writing supplier orders. If that takes 3 hours a week, it's 3 x 4.3 = 12.9 hours a month, and a fast seller still runs out.
What the AI does
Square for Retail is Square's till and stock system for shops. Its UK page lists basic inventory tools on the free plan, and on the Plus plan advanced inventory tools and reports, automatic purchase orders and barcode label printing. The page says Square sends alerts when stock is low but doesn't say which plan includes them. Ring sales through Square, keep stock counts up to date, and use the reports and purchase orders as a starting point for each supplier order that you review before sending. The page doesn't explain how purchase orders are generated, so test it in your own shop first.
A worked example
A gift and homewares shop in Harrogate with one shop, three staff and about 800 lines moves its tills to Square for Retail Plus. The owner reviews the suggested supplier orders every Monday.
Before
3 hours a week counting and writing orders: 3 x 4.3 = 12.9 hours a month
After
1 hour a week reviewing purchase orders and counting only what's flagged: 1 x 4.3 = 4.3 hours a month
What it's worth
About 8.6 hours a month saved (2 hours a week x 4.3), worth around £172 if your time is worth £20 an hour. Square for Retail Plus is £49 a month per location, so one shop costs £49. Card processing fees are extra (the page shows 1.6% in person on Plus when signed in on the Square POS app), and any card reader hardware is not included here.
How to set it up
- Start on the free plan and set up your items with their supplier, cost and price.
- Count stock once, carefully, so the numbers Square starts from are right.
- Move to Plus when you are ready to test purchase orders and advanced inventory reports.
- Each week, review the stock reports and purchase orders, remove what you don't want and send the orders yourself.
- Do a short spot count of 20 items each month and fix any differences.
What goes wrong
- Plus is priced per location; a second shop is another £49 a month.
- Stock figures are only as good as your counts and your discipline in ringing everything through Square, including returns and damaged goods.
- The page doesn't say how purchase orders are created or how stock updates when you sell online or on a marketplace, so test those before relying on them.
- Card processing fees apply on top of the plan and change with how customers pay; check the rates on Square's page for your mix.