Shopify is the unquestionable leader in the ecommerce industry, its popularity, usability, and customization options have positioned this platform on a well-deserved podium among digital stores platforms.
An added value that makes Shopify attractive for marketers is the multiple customization options, which include connection with third-party apps and gateways to provide a customized experience and added benefits for store owners.
Smart integrations are essential to provide the best user experience for your customer, placing you as a referent and their number one go-to store. Note that there are two ways of connecting your Shopify store to third-party apps and tools: using direct integrations or iPaaS.
The vast catalog of Shopify third-party app integrations allows the merchant to use direct integrations to add third-party tools and apps. Nevertheless, you can also use APIs for custom integration.
For those looking to further enhance their online store, shopify customization services offer a tailored approach, ensuring that every aspect of the store aligns perfectly with the brand’s unique needs and vision.
And talking about integrations, did you know you can use Square with Shopify? Yes, you can, and today we’ll share the three ways to integrate it into your Shopify Store.
Background on Shopify Payments
It is the native solution Shopify offers users to receive and manage payments. The advantage of using Shopify payments is there’s no need for third-party integrations for payment providers.
More importantly, it enables merchants to accept payments from multiple sources and methods, including credit cards, Google and Apple Pay, and others.
The main benefit for sellers to use on their online store is the simplified payment processing, enhanced checkout experience, and convenient access to transaction data.
Using the Shopify payment processor in your store is also convenient because it complies with the standards of the major card networks and standards.
Background on Square Payments
This accessible and versatile payment processing solution has gained popularity among users and counts some giants like Facebook and Tumbler among the companies supporting them.
Behind the service is the financial technology company Square, a recognized provider in the area of financial payments and point-of-sales systems.
The attractiveness of this payment solution is its streamlined experience for merchants, with no hidden fees or surprise charges.
Furthermore, they provide a range of possibilities for marketers to accept credit card payments, mobile payments, and contactless payments. The transaction fees depend on the payment method used and range between 2.6% for card-present transactions, to 3.5% for no-present card transactions.
Does Square Integrate with Shopify?
People ignore there are ways to seamlessly integrate this non-native app into your Shopify store because while it is not on the list for native integrations, it is possible to connect Square with Shopify using third-party apps and tools.
Before you proceed with the Square Shopify integration, you must understand the integration can work in two directions. Merchants can use integration to sell their square products on Shopify, on the other hand, other apps enable sellers to accept payments on their Shopify Store using Square as a payment method.
Define the specific objectives you have in mind before the integration into your ecommerce platform.
Reasons to Use Square Payments
The benefits of the Square Shopify integration are multiple, to name a few.
- Accepting in-person payments: If besides your Shopify store, you own a physical store, or host events the integration enables you to accept in-person payments while maintaining your inventory synced.
- Unified inventory: Integrating Square with Shopify helps you unify your inventory management in online and offline channels.
- Streamlined sales reporting: The integration helps to centralize all your data in one place. It is a convenient and cost-effective way to monitor your sales performance and make the best data-driven decisions for your online business.
- Enhanced Customer Experience: Square offers features to enhance the customer experience in your Shopify store. For example, you can use Square’s gift card and loyalty program features to reward and retain regular customers, or its virtual terminal feature to process payments over the phone or by mail.
- All-in-one solution for online stores: Square has additional features like invoicing, payroll, and customer management that you can integrate into your Shopify store.
How to Integrate Your Shopify Store With Square
Integrating the third-party payment gateway directly is not possible, the reason is that they are direct competitors. However, online store owners have recognized the benefits of having both platforms paired and third app developers embarked on the quest to make the integration possible. They took their work so seriously that you can even sync data between both of them for maximum benefits.
These are the three proven and most popular ways to seamlessly integrate Square with Shopify.
Webinology’s Checkout Republic App
Webinology is a certified Shopify partner that offers an app called the Checkout Republic App. It does not only integrate both apps seamlessly, but it is so efficient at doing so that your customers won’t notice the changes you made to Shopify’s checkout, with no redirect and no foreign elements with the potential to make the checkout process slow or suspicious for your clients.
How to Integrate
- Go to the Checkout Republic Website.
- Provide your Shopify shop URL in the form
- Provide your Square account information (user and password)
- Proceed to pay the installation and setup fee ($500) and be ready for the $30 monthly usage fee.
Zapier
The online automation tool that helps to automate your entire workflow is there to help with your Square Shopify integration. The pricing plans for Zapier start at $29.99 per month, which considering the benefits it offers is an affordable price. The tiers for their pricing plans are based on the number of tasks you can run every month.
How to Integrate
- Sing up and pay for your Zapier subscription plan.
- Go to Zapier and authenticate your Shopify and your Square account.
- Choose your selected app to trigger your automation.
- Set the resulting action on the second app.
- select the data one of your apps will feed the other.
SkuIQ
The integration here is a bit different because integrating using SkuIQ helps you add your Square products to your Shopify store. The benefit is that once synced, you will be able to manage everything related to product inventory in one dashboard.
To subscribe to a SkuIQ plan consider first your desired entry-level plan. The plans start at $35.00 per month (paid yearly) and $49 per month if you go for the monthly plan. The plans differ according to the number of orders per month. The lowest tier is 400 orders per month and the highest tier has up to 10,000 per month.
How to Integrate
- Sign up and pay for your selected plan.
- Authenticate your Shopify and Square accounts within the app.
- Sync the SkuIQ to view all the information in Shopify and square without duplicates.
FAQS
Should I Switch From Shopify to Square?
It is not a decision we can make for you, but we can provide insights. While Shopify is an online selling platform, with the structure and environment to help you design, set up, and operate an online store, Square offers a solution for businesses to accept online payments without committing to a long-term contract.
What Is the Biggest Problem With Shopify?
It is a tricky question because it depends on the opinion of the user. Some common complaints include difficulties to display products on the store, getting products on the store, integrating with third-party analytics apps, and setting up multi-channel integration.
For other users, the challenges include finding customers, flat numbers in their sales performance rates, and the difficulties of managing inventory and processing (shipping) orders.
You can solve many downsides of the app by finding third-party apps and integrations to overcome these flaws and customizing your experience to streamline all the processes related to the performance of your online business.
What are the alternatives to Shopify?
GrooveKart and Kartra offer compelling alternatives to Shopify for e-commerce entrepreneurs. GrooveKart provides a user-friendly and cost-effective platform with powerful features like high-converting templates and advanced marketing tools. On the other hand, Kartra offers an all-in-one marketing solution, integrating e-commerce, email marketing, and automation, making it an attractive choice for businesses seeking a comprehensive approach to online sales and marketing, though it may come at a higher price point.
Is Square Payment Secure?
Yes, it is a safe payment method. When you use the Square payment gateway your payments are encrypted, so you can count on robust protection from hackers. Tokenization and an extra security layer to guarantee customer data are not stored in their original form, instead, it is replaced with a unique token that represents the data for future transactions.
Square takes security seriously and has implemented security measures to ensure the safety of your data and operations. Additional security methods include 3D Secure to reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions. No system is 100% invulnerable, but Square has taken all the measures to keep your transactions safe at all moments.
Final Thoughts
We’ve discussed the benefits of the integration of Shopify and Square to streamline the payment and other processes of your Shopify account. As you know, Shopify doesn’t support square natively, but users of both platforms have highlighted the benefits enough so third-party developers have created everything you need to run both platforms together.
Consider all your business objectives, and take the time to identify how using this integration can add benefits to your operations and get ready to integrate. We hope you found this post helpful and informative. Come back soon!
