Square Announces Free Sales Analytics Tool for Small Businesses

Credit: SquareUp.com

One of the perks of using an enterprise point of sale service is the ability to track customer and sales data so you can see what works for your business (and more importantly, what doesn't). But what about small businesses that rely on mobile technology to process payments? If you're a Square user, there may be a tracking tool for you, too.

Square has added a new tool to their products: Square Analytics. The portable credit-card-processing provider announced the new sales solution last week on its website. The addition of Square Analytics turns the tiny credit card reader into a more robust (but still portable) point of sale service option for small business owners.

So what can you do with Square Analytics? The free tool has three key features that can help you better understand your business: the analytics home page, sales trends and buyer insights.

The home page shows sellers how their businesses are performing in real time as well as how that performance compares to competitors in their industries. It also shows a business which items or products are its most popular sellers.

With sales trends, business owners can see hourly, daily and monthly updates of sales. This feature also tells you what purchases are made and when, so you can determine which hours work best for your business and when you should restock your inventory.

The buyer insights tool tracks important customer data, so business owners can know who their returning customers are and how often they return. It also tracks average customer spending and how recently each customer visited your business or made a purchase.

Other features in Square Analytics include total sales breakdowns and comparisons, integration with accounting services like Quickbooks, and daily email summaries complete with spreadsheets.

Square also launched an online scheduling service called Square Appointments earlier this month.