Is the Square Loyalty program available in Australia? 🇦🇺

[barefootcinema]

I have a square business account in Australia and would like to set up a loyalty program, but can't seem to find the 'loyalty' tab. Is this feature available in Australia? I am happy to pay the subscription fee, but just can't get started. You're help would be most appreciated. Thanks! 

Julian

[Seamus]

Hey Julian!

Loyalty isn't yet available in Australia, but we're aware of the demand for this feature and hope to release it in Australia in the future 🙂

[kazshops]

Please do very, very soon!

[Candyland]

I too am really interested in this for my business, is there any timeframe to when this will be released in AU? 

[BYProgram]

Hi Sheamus, How is this feature update coming along? Seems like a no brainer, whats the hold up?

[Seamus]

Hey @BYProgram,

Thanks for reaching out!

While we don't have a time frame for Loyalty feature availability as of yet, we're definitely aware of the demand for these features in Australia and bringing Loyalty to Australia is a priority for us in Australia.

To provide a little more context, launching new features in different territories is usually more a lot more complicated than it appears - we need to consider things like where different features sit in our priority list, allocating engineering resources, making sure the features are compliant with local laws and regulations, co-coordinating with international product teams, testing for bugs etc. We usually won't share much news on new features until they launch (or shortly before), though our internal product road maps are generally planned quite far ahead, so we can best allocate resources to the right areas at the right times.

We've started laying the groundwork for Loyalty in Australia - last year we launched Customer Directory in Australia, which is an essential part of everything Loyalty to come after. More recently, we integrated customer purchase history and activity into Customer Directory, which was also something we needed to build prior in order for other Loyalty features to function properly in the future.

I know this is not necessarily the answer you're looking for in terms of a firm time frame for the launch of more Loyalty features, but hopefully it provides a little more insight into the development process and is able to reassure you that we do understand these features are important to Australian merchants. 

All the best!

[Tim_Brady]

Hi Sheamus,

Thank you for your reply, which is informative especially if you are not from the tech world.

I do not proclaim to be an expert in this field but have started my own tech start up and understand the pressures the dev team would be under to met the many and varied 'user stories' and the resulting functionality that is required.

You come close to an answer but then retreat...as you indicated your functionality pathways are mapped out and resources allocated...where then, does loyalty sit in the dev pathway given you have Customer Directory built and launched...to say Loyalty isn't on the dev plan with an approximate time frame for launch is disingenuous.

Loyalty IS important, irrespective of territory...I would have thought a US company would appreiciate this best...if competitors have it as others indicate (i.e. Kounta, Vend) then your uptake will begin to suffer

[Seamus]

Hey @Tim_Brady,

Thanks for reaching out!

The simple answer is that we don't publicise our internal product road maps - while things are generally planned out in advance, product road maps also frequently shift and change for a wide variety of reasons. We'll generally only make an announcement about new features once they're ready to go or close to being ready. If I had an ETA I was able to share then I would, but the truth of the matter is that we don't have one.

I completely agree with you that Loyalty is an important feature that would be of great benefit to Australian merchants. It's also one of our most requested features in Australia. Rest assured that we pass feedback like yours up the chain at every opportunity we get, and that our team here in Melbourne are constantly advocating for features like Loyalty on behalf of our merchants.

At the same time, there's still a product development process that we need to respect and follow. I can let you know that at the moment we're working full steam ahead on our most requested feature (EFTPOS support for card payments) and that once that's out the door, it's likely we'll be able to give more attention to things like Loyalty for our POS app.

Let me know if you have any questions and all the best!

[AbrahamsClub]

I fully agree it needs to be brought to the Australian market. Along with many of the other features and hardware that Square is holding back from the Australian market.

[Phuong]

This is definitely a no brainer. I want to stay with square for their versatility but at this stage im even considering going over to Kounta as they are more dedicated to the Australian market and have more add-ons for customer loyalty.

Come on Square don't lose me!

[barefootcinema]

Feeling the same way. Really like Square, but currently trialing Vend and Kounta for the same reason. Come on Square! 

[MuzzBuzzarwin]

Yes we too are using Kounta due to App Loyalty.  Customers Love it and we Love square for merchant.  It works out expensive each month though paying Kounta and Deputy etc., Please Hurry Up!

[HandmwithJayde]

Any update on the arrival for this?

[Seamus]

Hey @HandmwithJayde,

Nothing to announce at the moment unfortunately - we're aware there is strong demand for Loyalty in Australia though and hope to have more to announce later this year 🤞

[freshcrimcuts]

Any updates?

[Seamus]

Not at the moment @freshcrimcuts - we'll be sure to update this thread the moment we do!

[Gbarr]

Any update? What can we do to speed it along. A lot of demand and people waiting. Keeping in mind this thread started in 2017

[Seamus]

No updates at the moment @Gbarr, unfortunately there's nothing you can do to speed it along right now, but we certainly appreciate the enthusiasm our merchants are showing for Loyalty features in this thread!

All I'm able to say for now is that we're working on it (and a host of other new features for AU!), and will make an announcement when we have something ready to go 👍

[theyarnbowl]

I don't understand. In the Help Centre there is an article explaining how to apply rewards to purchases using a code that the customer receives but you say there is no Loyalty Program yet. How do you then earn the rewards they are mentioning?

https://squareup.com/help/au/en/article/5522-apply-rewards-to-purchases

[Seamus]

Hey @theyarnbowl,

This rewards section is part of some of the groundwork that's been done to prepare our app for being able to integrate with Loyalty features later down the track.

At the moment Australian sellers have an option to send their customers a rewards coupon as a response to feedback left via a digital receipt. In the future this rewards section will have more use, and you'll be able to send reward coupons in different scenarios.

[theroyalctambo]

I too think this should be done as soon as possible.  I did start a thread with several suggestions for square, so maybe everyone should comment there so Square can see the demand

https://www.sellercommunity.com/t5/General-Discussion/Suggestions-for-Square-POS/td-p/113739