Square Payment System Analysis Part 2

The first part of my social media monitoring of the Square Mobile Credit Payment system was interesting, but not particularly illuminating. One of the difficulties was the volume of information that was not particularly relevant to the one aspect of the company I was studying.

In addition, I suspect that given the founder's role in social media, the marketing department is monitoring these areas, and are certainly privy to more information and data than I am. Still, that makes it interesting, to see how an organization in the midst of the tech world uses social media.

So, given the time and resource constraints for this assignment, I decided to narrow some parameters. Therefore, I am concentrating on only one small market segment, for one Square product. In addition, I am focusing only the competitor which are most similar to Square in this product space: PayPal. Both of these are non-traditional money-movement businesses that are not divisions or outgrowths of traditional financial institutions.

In order to make some more concise comparisons, after experimenting with various search keywords and combinations, for the purpose of the project I decided on "Square Card Reader" and "PayPal Card Reader" as exact phrase search terms. While this certainly will not provide comprehensive information, it seems to give a good sense of what is happening, and, as long as use is consistent, searches can be repeated with other variations.


Overall Social Media Involvement

I looked at some of the overall statistics in the first blog post. Since then, I have compared Google Trends and IceRocket searches.

Google trends show that both seem to peak and drop off. I attribute both of these to both business reporting and ancillary product announcements.

Square Card Reader Google Trends 12 month

PayPal Card Reader Google Trends 12 month

IceRocket"Big Buzz" results for Square and PayPal; Square clearly had more presence (approximately a factor of 4).



You can see the full IceRocket searches for Square here and for Paypal here

Addictomatic seemed to show the same differential, however, I also noted that Addictomatic results in some areas (such as YouTube) did not match well when searching elsewhere, so their results are suspect (and frankly, I think there is a lot of snake oil in all of this).

Addictomatic Results for "Square Card Reader"

Looking again at a consistent comparison between Square Card Reader and Paypal Card Reader:

Social Mention results for Square (left) and PayPal (right)

Here square is clearly doing better, but hard to say why. My guess is that there is a positive aspect to the "cool factor" of Square, in addition to a great deal of consumer antipathy towards PayPal in general. Clearly, intensive reading of comment/blog content is required here.

You can see full Social Mention searches for Square here and Paypal  here.

 YouTube

A number of demo videos provided by Square are on Youtube. Since this information is readily available on the company website, I suspect these are provided for use by bloggers and news outlets, as they seem to appear under numerous guises. There are also official and unofficial review videos, including a number of "unboxing" videos by amateur video bloggers. Square does have its own channel, which includes the following:

 



Facebook

There are interesting stories on the Facebook page, as well as product-related feedback from users. These include complaints and service issues, but there are also posts of praise and suggestions for improvements and product features:

Carlos Guerra I love avoiding those lovely AMEX fees with square. I don't dread taking AMEX anymore!

Rebecca Scott Anywhere I sell my jewelry- various different craft show locations and even on public transportation once in a random while! Thanks as always for a great service. Truly appreciated by this small business owner :)

And as we have seen with other firms, it can also be used as a support channel. To me, this can be problematic as you are now dealing with information about private business transactions in a public forum.

An example:

Square Hello John J. Powers, we've taken a look at your account and see that we reached out to you on October 28th with an application to increase your manual entry payout limit. Please fill out the application so that we can move forward with your account. You can read more on the application here: https://squareup.com/help/en-us/article/3809-square-s-deposit-limitsDiann Benefiel The only thing I don't like is the tipping option that they can't choose an exact amount. Some of my clients tip more, some less. I think it's tacky to have to ask before. I don't want to miss that part of my income! Please change this option. Otherwise I love it.

 

This issue raised on Facebook is interesting, in that it demonstrates what can happen when a customer isn't even clear as to where the problem lies - is it with Square or the vendor?

John J. Powers I'VE BEEN WAITING TO HEAR FROM SOMEONE FOR 3 WEEKS!!! worst customer service EVER. GO TO COSTCO FOR YOUR MERCHENT SERVICES!!!! LOW % RATES!!! AND THEY DON'T HOLD YOUR MONEY FOR 30 DAYS LIKE SQUARE DOES!!!!!!

In general, they do not seem to be responding on Facebook. If they are responding to customers off-Facebook, they should indicate so.

Rami Qatami Please just respond to our emails , or we have each time to go to Facebook and ask for that , square is a big company you should have better customer service or a phone number to reach your customer service !

Spooks and Legends Haunted Tours Do you mean Square or us? I had no idea that you posted this. I got no notification. If you'd like to call us directly, call 757-784-6213. Thank you.....

Ron Menor @rami - i feel you on this. i went on the square page to try and voice my complaint. i can't believe a company like this, doesn't have any direct contact.

In the following exchanges, it is interesting that the responses to a Square post linking to an article elsewhere about using smartphone card swiping, Responses were both positive and negative; Square did not reply to any.

Daniel Dorsey I use my square all the time to raise money for my non-profit.

Rich Erb I use my square every day to take credit cards for "Class Act Sedan Service" to give my customers a choice of "cash or charge".

Jomo Drew I use my square at craft shows. It absolutely increases sales. At the last show, I only took two cash sales, every other sale was on credit cards.

Cheryl Taylor as a small business owner who has first hand experienced Square"s lack of customer service i would caution all users. they are awesome until you need help or want to speak to an actual person!!! BEWARE!!!!!!

The Wedge Mobile Phone Holder Just received our square - looking forward to making those "sales that should and could have been, into the sales that are and will continue to be" - https://squareup.com/directory/the-wedge-phone-cradle

Business Investor Funding Just makes sense...

Mike Newman Swipe or manually do $6k and listen to all the BS reasons they dont pay....then tell me its. Great product.

John J. Powers I'VE BEEN WAITING TO HEAR FROM SOMEONE FOR 3 WEEKS!!! worst customer service EVER. GO TO COSTCO FOR YOUR MERCHENT SERVICES!!!! LOW % RATES!!! AND THEY DON'T HOLD YOUR MONEY FOR 30 DAYS LIKE SQUARE DOES!!!!!!

 

This underscores the need to be responsive when you open yourself to the groundswell.

 

Facebook Conclusion:

Over 25,000 likes, and while that number may not seem large, if you do not have the card reader, you are probably not that interested in following this company .

It is crucial that they begin to address negative posts as soon as they appear, and engage more, in general with the posters.

 
Blog Posts

Aside from tech and news blogs, I did find Square's card reader mentioned in other blogs written by small business owners. Icerocket searches on "Square Card Reader" gave good results as how both vendors and customers were using it (including people using the reader for personal rather than business reasons). Comprehensive reading of the Twitter and Facebook results might give some insights to Square's marketing team.

I Have a Square Card Reader! ...32 days ago by Nicole

A few days back, my friend Chris and I were talking about credit card readers that were available in Canada. He is a graphic designer, and a musician, and wanted another way for people to be able to pay him, other than cash. Makes sense, right? Getting paid is always a good thing. Anyway, Square ...Knit, Nicole, Knit! - blog.knitnicoleknit.ca · Rank: 128,695 · 12 references My Experience With The Square Card Reader ...30 days ago by MonaMajorowicz... name with your finger seems to be particularly interesting. So overall I rate the square card reader a really good item for artfair events and unbelievably easy to use. No complicated techie skills required at all. All you need is an android or a iphone, pad or tablet. set up an account, download ...Fur In The Paint - mona.myartbliss.com ·

 

Twitter

There is an official Twitter feed. It consists primarily of corporate news, promotions, and re-Tweets of  industry news and vendor Tweets. Given the nature of the company and product, it is not likely that you would even be aware of this feed if you were not already using or at least interested in the card reader. Square appears to be using twitter more as corporate/industry level information dispersal.

The best opportunity for groundswell engagement her is if the Twitter accounts interacting with Square also have followers in the small/micro retailer target market.

Suggestions for Promoting in Social Media:

I need to repeat that it is essential that Square work on its customer support response time as it appears in social media that the company is lax in this area. After that, focus on some themes for promoting in social media:

• Focus on the "cool factor" - superior to Paypal and Intuit - (perhaps a reason for the alliance with Starbucks for their "digital wallet" product. This is also what appeared to have caused the spike in social media buzz during this past year.
• Tell stories that are likely to go viral. As there is little differentiation among the three services, the goal is to get vendors to select Square as their payment system. The stories must be interesting enough to go viral (even if this is done with the assistance of traditional media).
• The focus will not be on card holders - the retailer's choice of merchant service is mostly irrelevant to them, it is simply a utility. Their stories, however, may be useful in groundswell efforts to promote acceptance, if vendors see this as a real consumer-driven need.
• Focus on how the service is helping drive their business. There were blog, Facebook and YouTube contributions from the groundswell that were talking about how it fit the specific needs of their business for mobility - Artists, food truck vendors, etc.

Just from my work on this project, I have seen that Square (and others) are using targeted web advertising and SEO. This may be a case where good old-fashioned application of cash may spur more market penetration.

A promotion Suggestion:

While I won't presume to second-guess Square's marketing team, I do  have one suggestion for a groundswell-driven promotion:

"What is the most unusual transaction/business that you have used a card at?" Encourage the vendors and public to submit, and allow voting for "best swipe of the week" , with that person's purchase is paid for by Square, and something for the vendor - publicity on the Square social media program.

A last minute update from The Picture Framers Grumble, where a discussion of Square arose with some perspectives from business owners.

Put it on Plastic!

Monitoring Square Card Payment Systems (Part 1)

 

I am following Square mobile payment system. With the app and mini-reader on your smart phone, you can accept credit card payments without a merchant account. While Square has other uses as well, there are some segments that are prime targets for the card swiping capability. These include artisans and retailers of merchandise at non-fixed locations such as craft and art fairs, farmer's markets, antique shows. In the past, obtaining a merchant account without a fixed retail location was difficult, the paperwork too cumbersome for sporadic usage, and for small volume sellers, the swipe fees too high. Square provides a swipe pad that attaches to a smart phone or tablet, and the transaction is completed by the customer and a receipt emailed to them. This would seem to be a neat and elegant solution, but in my experience, I am not seeing a lot of implementation.

 

There seem to be so many ways to take money from our bank accounts and wallets that we may not have noticed much about Square so far.

 

My analysis will look at the penetration of this company on social media, and to see if they are missing opportunities to engage the groundswell and make this card swiping service more well known and used.

 

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Square, is already well known in the tech world. Jack Dorsey has developed other applications that use data to manage transactions efficiently, beginning with a program for dispatching taxis. His is probably most famous for his role as a founder of twitter.

"His three guiding principles, which are shared by the whole company and through its culture, are simplicity, constraint and craftsmanship" - wikipedia

 

From a Slate.com article by Farhad Manjoo posted Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012: Silicon Valley’s Next Great Company:

 

"I believe the tech industry’s next great company is Square..... But calling Square a mere payments company minimizes its potential, and it misses Dorsey’s world-changing mission. Dorsey is bent on creating frictionless commerce. His long-term goal is to make accepting payments a breeze for businesses, and he wants to make paying for stuff invisible—for everyone, across the entire economy, for all types of goods and services"

Square in the mainstream news:

Recently Square began a new payment system with Starbucks, allowing customers to make purchases with minimal interaction, and this announcement has created a great deal of buzz for the company:

Though smartphone payments have a long way to go before they replace wallets altogether, Starbucks’s adoption of Square will catapult the start-up’s technology onto street corners nationwide, and is the clearest sign yet that mobile payments could become mainstream. - New York Times, August 8, 2012.

And in a New York Post article by Sara Ashley O'Brien Oct. 14, 2012: Square deals have Dorsey all aTwitter

"(Square)...will now have access to the masses at more than 7,000 participating company-owned Starbucks locations.

The stores will utilize Square for its credit- and debit-card transactions, as well as make themselves available on Square’s Pay With Square app. And last week an analyst reported that the company was expanding its deal with New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission to outfit 1,200 additional cabs with its mobile-payment system. "

 

 

The questions:  

• How is Square currently engaged in social media, both proactively from the company, and from the groundswell? 
• Are the target group merchants and customers a demographic likely to follow social media? 
• How does the prime competitor, PayPal, look on social media? 
• Will the Starbucks alliance buzz for Square cross over to the card-swipe division?

First Steps:
 Getting started seemed straightforward enough, but I encountered one difficulty: the ubiquity of the word "square" on the internet can make it hard to gather concise data, and while using the term "square payment system" improved things, it means I will need to be consistent when making comparisons.




Data from socialmention.com, October 14, 2012

My first step was to see if anyone was actually talking about Square on social media. A quick look at socialmention.com did not seem that promising, when I saw "strength" at 1%, however, the "sentiment" is a ratio of positive to negative mentions is good, as are the passion and reach numbers.

You can find a desciption of these caluculations on the socialmention FAQ.

I then took a look at PayPal. I expected the strength to be higher, as PayPal seems to have far more market penetration than Square. But I was still not sure what this was telling me, if anything.



PayPal data from socialmention.com, October 24, 2012

So, my next step was to try searching for both Square and PayPal complaints.

Comparison of "complaint" between Square (left) and Paypal (right)
 

 

 Again, puzzling, when you consider the results given when performing a google search for "paypal complaints". Looking at the excerpts from the posts referenced through the tool, it became apparent that many of them were not specific to the product, but were about something else, which used one of these products as the payment mechanism.

So, on to another source, Addictomatic. A search there found a lot of mention of Square, however, most, if not all of these were mentions on tech blogs. Fine for the company and analysts, but not likely sources of information for potential merchant customers.

One obvious next step: A google search for "how to accept credit card payments at craft shows" seemed like a gold mine of opportunity for one specific market:

 

I went to alexa.com to get another overall picture of Square; this gives us some more clues about users, but only in terms of website query and acess.

Alexa Statistics Summary for squareup.com

Squareup.com is ranked #8,704 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings, and the time spent in a typical visit to it is roughly five minutes, with 54 seconds spent on each pageview. Compared with internet averages, the site's users are disproportionately Caucasian, and they tend to be moderately educated, childless users earning over $30,000 who browse from work. It has a bounce rate of roughly 30% (i.e., 30% of visits consist of only one pageview). Squareup.com is particularly popular among users in the cities of Miami (where it is ranked #1,512), San Francisco (#1,538), and Los Angeles (#2,052).Squareup.com is ranked #8,704 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings, and the time spent in a typical visit to it is roughly five minutes, with 54 seconds spent on each...

 

Note that users spend almost 5 minutes on site (although hard to quantify whether visiting for info or managing account).

Next steps:
For the purposes of marketing the swipe application to small/itinerant businesses, participants in forums may be a place to start. As this project continues, I will investigate more of these in detail, and attempt to devise more complex searches to measure what may be happening in this area.

An addictomatic search on "accepting credit cards at craft shows" still showed results that were from news/tech sources, rather than "groundswell" results.

The next step is to get more detailed analysis of any mentions of the Square system on social media.

 More to follow...