Feedback not only provides an ecommerce pro with insight on improving what they offer. It gives a view of what they are doing well from the perspective of the customer. The tricky part about feedback is getting people to take the time to share those thoughts with the seller. It’s something that online payments service Square hopes to address with its latest offering.
That new product, Square Feedback, debuted as a method of driving feedback from buyers to sellers, all through the convenience of the digital receipt received by the shopper. But this is not public feedback of the eBay kind – Square Feedback provides a two-way street for communicating, so a seller can resolve a problem for a customer who’s provided feedback this way. “Resolve issues privately to save your relationship and protect your online reputation,” Square Feedback advises merchants.
The option to give feedback resides with the buyer. Upon receiving their receipt from a Square business, they can initiate feedback by tapping a button. Square merchants are notified of this feedback, giving them the opportunity to respond through Square’s Dashboard.
Making greater use of receipts has been on the mind of Square’s CEO, Jack Dorsey. At January 2014’s Retail’s BIG Show, Dorsey referred to receipts as “a powerful communication tool that should be used to add value and keep customers coming back whether it’s online or in the store.”
PayPal echoed that sentiment about the opportunity potential of receipts. Carey Kolaja, VP global product solutions for PayPal, blogged about how receipts tie together data analysis like web tracking and dwell time analytics to provide “the kind of complete picture of a consumer’s needs and wants that can truly transform the relationship between a retailer and its customers.”
Square said it currently delivers more than 10 million digital receipts per month. For interested businesses, Square is offering a 30-day free trial of the service. Beyond the trial, Square Feedback costs $10 per month.
If this service can find a foothold among Square’s customer base, it may help the company with what appears to be some growing pains. Square Wallet, a standalone app that had been available for iPhone and Android, has been taken out of distribution in favor of Square Order, an app for placing pickup orders from local businesses.
“We’re taking everything we learned from Wallet and what people love in Wallet and building it into Square Order,” a Square spokesperson told EcommerceBytes. “We think it’s an even better experience that offers buyers more utility. We continue to support our Wallet customers and want to encourage new customers to try Square Order.”
