Square Unveils Its Managerbot, And Toast’s New Device Goes Abroad

Two major providers of point-of-sale payments technology announced early Tuesday they are expanding key initiatives that have been long in development. For one of these providers the expansion goes well beyond payments.

Block Inc.’s Square POS unit launched its Managerbot technology among sellers participating in an open beta. Based on Square AI and first introduced earlier this month, the technology comes woven into the Square Dashboard, monitors the business in real time, and issues recommendations regarding inventory, staffing, and marketing, according to Square.

The bot is intended to free up owners and managers to work on initiatives that could encourage growth, Square says, adding that the bot does not act on its own. Each recommended action requires the owner’s approval, says the San Francisco-based company.

So far, restaurant owners and managers are the most active users, according to Square, which has long been active in providing payments technology to this business category. With the open beta, the technology can monitor sales, measure supplies against sales, schedule staff, and edit campaign texts, according to Square.

The technology, however, only recommends actions, rather than executing them. “It proposes, the seller decides,” says William Ave, global head of product at Square, in a statement.

Aimed for now at non-franchise food-and-beverage, retail, and health-and-beauty retailers in the U.S. market, the technology will be on display next month at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago, according to Square.

Also on Tuesday, Toast Inc. said it is now making its new Toast Go 3 handheld point-of-sale device available in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The move follows the device’s debut in the U.S. market in July. The device is available in both cellular and Wi-Fi-only configurations, according to Toast, which says it is designed for “fast-paced, high-pressure environments.”

The wider availability of the POS device also follows Boston-based Toast’s decision earlier this month to launch Toast Drive-Thru, an effort to move beyond its pay-at-table base to process orders in drive-through lanes. The move opens to Toast a market consisting of an estimated 140,000 drive-through restaurants in the U.S. market.