If you’re a seller who’s had a tough time connecting with a reseller, agency, or systems integrator lately, Square has designed a platform for you. The San Francisco financial services firm today announced the Solutions Partner Program, which aims to link small businesses and sprawling enterprises alike with vetted partners.
“[G]rowing Square sellers often seek a partner to build custom solutions for their business,” said Pankaj Bengani, Square’s global partnerships lead. “The Solutions Partner Program doubles down on our commitment to build a strong partnership platform.”
Core benefits of the Solutions Partner Program include early access to beta products, specialized account management, and “additional financial benefits.” Square said that the more than 75 companies within the program have already collaborated with sellers on customized kiosks, mobile checkout experiences, and integrations with third-party ecommerce stores and inventory.
Fuzz, a mobile development agency, teamed up with fast-casual chain Shake Shack to create a self-service, Square-powered kiosk in New York. And Third Arm Marketing partnered with tea retailer Silk Road Texas to sync online and offline payments via ecommerce platform BigCommerce.
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“Now sellers will have access to approved Square solutions partners that can help them build innovative solutions,” Bengani said.
The launch of Square’s Solutions Partner Program follows news of firmware improvements to its Square Contactless and Chip Reader, which cut processing time for card transactions from 3.6 seconds to 2 seconds. As the company noted in August, that could save a coffee shop with an average volume of 300 orders about five minutes a day.
In April, Square made headlines again with its acquisition (its 14th this year) of Weebly, a web-hosting service and web design platform, and Zesty, a catering platform. (Square said both Zesty and Entrees On-Trays, which it snapped up in January, would be used to bolster its Caviar food delivery business.)
“Omnichannel commerce is our top focus area in 2018,” Square seller lead Alyssa Henry said of the Weebly deal this summer. “From managing orders, appointments, and payments to building a website, running a business is complex, and entrepreneurs around the world want powerful and intuitive tools … With Square and Weebly, sellers will have one cohesive solution to build their business.”
Square, which was cofounded by Jim McKelvey and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in 2009, handily beat Wall Street projections for the most recent fiscal quarter, reporting revenue of $283 million in Q4 2018 — up 47 percent year-over-year. Its shares hit an all-time high of $55 in February.
