Tech

Jack Dorsey's Payment Startup Square Tries To Reinvent The Receipt

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Getty Images/Bill Pugliano

Last January, Jack Dorsey, the CEO of the payments startup Square, said in a speech that he thought that receipts were going to be one of the next big publishing mediums and an opportunity for businesses to create something that customers wanted to interact with. 

People mocked the idea at the time, but turns out it was foreshadowing, because Square just launched Feedback, a service that will let businesses get — and act upon — feedback from customers through their digital receipts. 

If a business decides to use Feedback, customers will be prompted to answer the question "How was your experience?" with either a smiley or frowny face when they receive their receipt by text or email. They'll also be guided through the process of leaving more details. Businesses will then be able to respond to customers on an individual basis.

The service will cost businesses $10 per month, though the company is offering a 30-day free trial. Square claims to deliver over 10 million digital receipts per month by email and text, and this move could help it boost its weak revenues, if any businesses decide to sign-up. 

This announcement comes shortly after the news that the company decided to kill Square Wallet, its consumer payments app. 

Here's what Feedback would look like for customers:

Square Feedback
Square

Here's an example of what the Square Feedback dashboard would look like for businesses:

Square Feedback
Square

Here's how a conversation could go between business and customer: 

Square Feedback
Square

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Jillian was most recently an enterprise technology editor based in San Francisco.  She started at Insider as an intern on the technology desk in 2013 and rose to a senior reporter position, covering Alphabet, Facebook, and ecommerce. After three years at the site, she left to spend time freelance writing abroad, before taking reporting positions at CNBC and then at Forbes, where she covered Alphabet, Silicon Valley culture, and artificial intelligence. She returned to Insider in March 2020 and worked on the enterprise technology desk until August 2021.  Jillian graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a degree in magazine journalism and information management and technology.