Square is shutting down Square Order

VENTUREBEAT: Square is shutting down Square Order (take-away preorder) to fuel the recently acquired Caviar (allows to order food with delivery), as far as it’s growing rapidly and better illustrates to merchants that the customers are new ones. (We believe, Square Order was not successful because merchants’ customers communicated with Square brand, and merchants were not willing to give away their customer base to Square. Meanwhile a similar service My-Apps.com creates pre-order apps under the merchant’s brand – thus, there is no conflict of interest).

Square is shuttering Square Order, a service that allows customers to preorder drinks and food from local vendors, VentureBeat has learned.

The company is notifying customers that the app will no longer be available for download starting today and the service will shut down on March 20. However, merchants will still be able to employ the order-ahead function through their own websites.

Sources close to the matter say that the pick-up service was not bringing in new sales for sellers.

Square Order’s demise is reflective of a shift the company has been making toward building small business tools, and appointment and inventory software, as well as lending opportunities. The company also recently rolled out charge-back protections for merchants.

It’s possible that the order-ahead app was dumped to help fuel another area of the company that’s growing rapidly. Caviar, a startup Square recently acquired that hooks restaurants up with an outsourced delivery service, is expanding quickly. Just yesterday the company launched the app in its tenth city, Dallas.

While Square has long been a friend to coffee shops, it has yet to find its way into the hearts of restaurant owners. However, with Caviar the company may be able to finagle its way in to sell them on more than just delivery.

The Order app was first launched in 2014 at the same time the company shut down its mobile wallet, Square Wallet.

Square later confirmed the news in a public statement:

We’ve spoken with our sellers, and after careful consideration we’ve decided to retire the Square Order app. We are focusing our efforts on other tools and marketing services that help sellers grow their business, like online ordering, gift cards, or delivery with Caviar.

Though we are retiring pickup as a standalone app, customers will still be able to order items for pickup at their favorite local businesses by using the Square Online Store.