Tag: spend

New Square tech to transform Irish retail and hospitality

Square has announced the launch of Square Handheld, its most powerful, portable point-of-sale device ever. Combining a sleek, durable design with comprehensive, versatile software, Square Handheld enables sellers to manage everything from payments to back-of-house operations right from their pocket.

Power Meets Portability

Built for fast-moving and operationally complex businesses, Square Handheld is ergonomic and pocketable, at just 315 grams and 15.7mm thick. It’s IP54-rated and durable, standing up to water splashes and dust. With a large 6.2″ Corning® Gorilla® Glass touchscreen and a battery that powers a whole day, Square Handheld is packed with advanced features, including:

  • Full payments functionality to capture tap and chip and pin transactions, and seamless integration with Square’s ecosystem of software, making managing a business easier than ever

  • Barcode scanning for speedy checkouts, gift card scanning, and inventory management

  • A 16 MP camera for capturing photos of newly stocked merchandise and updating item libraries

It’s portable, reliable, and powerful. With Square Handheld, sellers and their staff gain the mobility, speed, and efficiency essential to keep operations steady and deliver high-quality customer experiences — whether they’re restaurateurs that need to take tableside orders and manage their floorplan from the palm of their hand, or retailers managing large inventories and letting shoppers check out anywhere on the store floor.

Adaptable Software for Every Type of Business

Square Handheld is powered by the new unified Square Point of Sale app, bringing years of commerce innovation and technology leadership into a single, powerful hub for running any size or type of business. The redesigned software provides sellers with seven different modes that lets them customise their experience with industry-specific features — such as Full Service mode, Quick Service mode and Retail mode — and the ability to easily add or switch between modes when their operations require different or expanded capabilities. Device-specific features like quick settings for easy adjustments and push alerts for timely notifications mean Square Handheld can fit into and improve any in-store workflow, especially for food and beverage sellers, and retailers, which drove 78% of Square’s gross payment volume (GPV) in 2024 in the EU. From bustling full service restaurants, to multi-location quick service restaurants and coffee shops and sprawling garden centres, Square Handheld gives sellers of all sizes a powerful solution to keep commerce moving.

Designed to Drive Commerce

Square Handheld builds on the company’s legacy of hardware design excellence that began over a decade ago with the iconic ‘little white reader’ and permeates throughout Square’s entire portfolio of devices – from two generations of Square Stand, to Square Register and Square Terminal. Representing the company’s unique ability to elegantly marry form and function, Square Handheld is one of the thinnest and lightest handheld point-of-sale devices on the market, offering a purposefully engineered solution that’s not only built for today’s business needs, but designed to evolve and grow with sellers as commerce transforms in years to come.

“Running a business, especially a restaurant or retail store, has never been more demanding: every second counts, every team member must find ways to be more productive, and every customer has increasingly higher expectations for when and how they’re serviced,” said Thomas Templeton, Block’s Head of Hardware. “Square Handheld fuses Square’s industry-leading design with powerful commerce software to deliver a dynamic device that empowers sellers to keep pace with the breakneck speed of modern business — whether they’re a full-service restaurant looking to provide seamless tableside service across multiple dining areas, or a boutique looking to give its clients a refined checkout experience anywhere in-store.”

Square Handheld starts at 199€ + VAT and to help sellers get the most out of it, Square has partnered with industry-leading accessories manufacturer Belkin to offer premium protective cases. The Belkin SheerForce cases, which come in grey and black, complement Square Handheld’s sleek design, and add further defense against accidental drops and scratches. Thoughtfully designed to improve device grip while maintaining Square Handheld’s pocketable profile, the Belkin SheerForce case starts at 39€ + VAT.

New Software Launches to Make Operations Even More Smooth

Square has made a number of new tools available to help sellers simplify ordering and the guest experience:

  • Combos – sellers can create pre-defined flexible bundles of items sold together at a fixed price

  • Modifier set ordering – sellers can reorder their modifier sets directly from their Dashboard, creating customisable menus and a smoother ordering flow

A number of software launches will be introduced in the coming weeks to create smarter table service and staff operations for sellers:

  • House accounts – allows sellers to enable buyers to aggregate purchases into an account and settle the bill later.

  • Seat management – allows servers to track and organise guest movements across the restaurant, streamlining service operations and improving bill management.

  • ResDiary integration – syncs the seller’s booking platform with Square for Restaurants POS. Table spend and order details automatically flow back into ResDiary, helping operators better manage service and track performance. Deposits taken via ResDiary are also applied to orders in Square when a guest is seated.

To learn more about Square Handheld and the Square ecosystem of business solutions, visit squareup.com/ie/hardware/handheld.

Three quarters of organisations are planning to increase their Generative AI IT spend

Generative AI (GenAI) is the accelerator of the decade, representing a significant and immediate opportunity for organisations. A Dell Technologies GenAI Survey of 500 IT decision makers (ITDMs) with GenAI implementation responsibilities across the US and Europe reveals a growing appetite for GenAI, with the majority of respondents surveyed (78%) saying they are excited about the potential GenAI can have on their organisation. Moreover, three quarters (76%) expect to devote increased IT spend in the next year to pursue AI projects.

With a global economic impact predicted to be between $2.6 trillion and $4.4 trillion annually, results suggest organisations are solidifying their GenAI approaches. Of those who have moved beyond a pilot stage, 87% say they believe GenAI is on track to deliver meaningful results, and 80% report they have implemented centralised decision-making and/or centres of excellence. In terms of how they deploy solutions, 82% of ITDMs prefer to build an on-premises or hybrid approach to GenAI, with security, cost and control as leading factors to this approach (37%).

“No other technology has achieved what Generative AI has done in less than a year. It has sparked the imagination of millions and has the potential to be a powerful enabler for companies,” says Adrian McDonald, President, Dell Technologies in EMEA. “With the right strategies, GenAI will be key to innovation, growth and competitive advantage for organisations.”

Organisations seem poised to capitalise on the opportunity – 44% of respondents say their organisations are at the early to mid-stage in their GenAI journey and nearly half (49%) expect to see meaningful results within six months to a year.

The findings reveal more than three quarters (76%) believe its impact will be significant or transformative (significant: 54%, transformative: 22%). Top impact areas include productivity gains, streamlined processes and cost savings.

While investment in GenAI is well underway, 37% of respondents said their organisations are somewhat or very hesitant to adopt GenAI. The UK shows the most concern, with almost half (49%) of respondents reporting hesitancy, more than double that of France (22%). The key barriers driving organisational hesitancy are security, technical complexity, and data governance.

Of those who use GenAI professionally, respondents in U.K. (46%) and U.S. (45%) report using it at least once a day. Respondents from all locations also report higher personal GenAI use, suggesting that ITDMs with GenAI responsibilities are upskilling in their personal time. The UK is at the forefront of personal usage with 64% using GenAI once or more a day, followed by Germany (59%), France (58%), and the US (54%).

Visit https://www.dell.com/en-us/perspectives/new-research-the-dell-genai-pulse-survey/ for more information and to read the full report.

Irish streaming spend reaches €1.3BN

Pure Telecom, Ireland’s high-speed broadband and telecoms provider, today announces the results of its inaugural Connected Lives survey, which found that the amount being spent by consumers in Ireland on video streaming has risen to €1.3BN annually from €967M in 2021 – an increase of over €330M.

The nationally representative survey of 1,004 adults in Ireland was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Pure Telecom. It explored the potential impact of new and possible crackdowns on password-sharing by the world’s leading streaming providers, whereby additional charges will be applied to those who share passwords with people outside of their household. The survey found that 26% of video streaming subscribers in Ireland are sharing their subscription passwords with someone outside of their household, indicating that the streaming spend could increase as providers introduce additional charges for password sharing.

Pure Telecom’s research found that consumers in Ireland are feeling the pinch from having multiple video streaming accounts. The survey found that on average, adults in Ireland are paying for 2.4 video streaming services each. The average adult currently spends €28.26 per month on video streaming subscriptions, versus €22.57 per month in 2021. Gen X (adults between the ages of 43 and 58) are the highest spenders by generation, spending €33.36 per month on video streaming services.

Many are now choosing to reduce the number of video streaming services they pay for to save money. Some 38% of those who pay for video streaming services report to have cancelled at least one subscription in the last 12 months to cut costs. Meanwhile, 17% said they have cancelled to get better content elsewhere, while 16% said they switched off as they had too many subscriptions already.

To alleviate the financial burden of subscription fees, 28% of adults would be willing to watch ads on their chosen video streaming channel if it meant they could get the content for free, while 14% of adults said that they already use video streaming channels with ads to get content for free.

Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom, said: “Ireland’s population has well and truly embraced video streaming and the market is continuing to grow – now far surpassing the €1BN mark in annual total consumer expenditure – and the trend of password-sharing that our research uncovered could see this rise considerably again. People know that they can’t get all of the top shows from just one provider and the majority are prepared (even if it is reluctantly) to pay out of fear of missing out.

“As ever, people value a good quality product being delivered at a fair price, which has made for a highly competitive marketplace. With an abundance of choice at their fingertips, cost-conscious viewers are more than happy to hop between providers if they think there is better content elsewhere, while others are prepared to cut back on their monthly subscriptions to save money.

“Consumers always want to know that they are getting bang for their buck, particularly at a time when people are watching what they spend more closely. At Pure Telecom, we enable seamless streaming at the best value and with the best customer care, ensuring our customers only ever need to worry about how many subscriptions is too many!”

Unveiling the Importance of Spend Analysis in Business

In modern business’s ever-changing and competitive landscape, organizations constantly strive to optimize their operations, cut costs, and improve profitability. One critical tool that can significantly impact a company’s financial health is “spend analysis.” By delving into spending patterns, identifying trends, and gaining deeper insights into procurement processes, spend analysis empowers businesses to make informed decisions, drive cost efficiencies, and enhance overall performance. This comprehensive article will unveil the importance of spending analysis in the industry and explore how it can be a game-changer in achieving sustainable success.

Defining Spend Analysis

Spend analysis examines and understands an organization’s spending data to gain valuable insights into how funds are allocated, disbursed, and managed. It involves collecting, cleansing, classifying, and analyzing spending data from various sources, such as invoices, purchase orders, and expense reports. The goal is to view a company’s procurement activities comprehensively, have visibility over your expenses, and identify opportunities for cost optimization, risk mitigation, and process improvements. Spend analysis goes beyond expense tracking; it enables organizations to uncover hidden patterns and trends that might not be apparent. When implemented effectively, spend analysis can lead to transformative outcomes and serve as a strategic tool to streamline operations.

Driving Cost Reduction and Efficiency

One of the primary benefits of spend analysis is its potential to drive cost reduction and operational efficiency. By meticulously examining expenditure data, businesses can identify areas of unnecessary spending, potential cost-saving opportunities, and inefficiencies in their procurement processes. A thorough spend analysis can pinpoint maverick spending instances where employees make purchases outside established procurement channels. 

 

By curbing maverick spending and enforcing compliance with procurement policies, organizations can negotiate better contracts, consolidate suppliers, and benefit from volume discounts. Moreover, spend analysis helps identify redundant or low-value suppliers, leading to vendor rationalization. Consolidating suppliers reduces administrative burdens and allows organizations to leverage their purchasing power, negotiate favorable terms, and achieve economies of scale.

Enhancing Supplier Relationship Management

An essential aspect of spending analysis is assessing the performance of suppliers. Businesses can gain insights into supplier reliability, responsiveness, and overall value proposition by analyzing spending patterns across different vendors. Understanding supplier performance allows organizations to decide which vendors to continue working with, which to negotiate with, and which to replace. Furthermore, spend analysis helps identify potential risks associated with specific suppliers, such as financial instability or ethical concerns. Proactively addressing these risks can prevent supply chain disruptions and protect a company’s reputation.

Strategic Sourcing Decisions

Spend analysis plays a crucial role in strategic sourcing decisions. With comprehensive data on spending patterns and supplier performance, businesses can make well-informed choices about sourcing strategies. For instance, spend analysis might reveal that a significant portion of spending is concentrated with a single supplier, posing a potential risk to the supply chain. A company may diversify its supplier base to reduce dependency on a single vendor. On the other hand, if a business discovers that spending is spread across multiple suppliers for the same commodity, they might opt for strategic sourcing initiatives like long-term contracts or supplier consolidation to negotiate better terms and achieve cost savings. This is why companies nowadays choose to lean on technology like Coupa’s platform to help them with these activities.

Risk Management and Compliance

In today’s globalized marketplace, supply chain risks are increasingly prevalent and can have far-reaching consequences on a company’s financial stability and reputation. Spend analysis enables businesses to assess the risks associated with their suppliers and take proactive measures to mitigate them. By monitoring supplier compliance with contractual terms and regulatory requirements, organizations can reduce the likelihood of compliance-related issues and associated penalties. Spend analysis also helps identify suppliers operating in high-risk regions, allowing businesses to develop contingency plans or diversify their supplier base if necessary.

Supporting Decision-Making and Planning

Data-driven decision-making is the cornerstone of successful business strategies. Spend analysis provides decision-makers with actionable insights and a comprehensive understanding of spending patterns, enabling them to make well-informed choices.For example, spend analysis can uncover how cost-cutting measures or changes in procurement processes influence procurement and project management, particularly in resource allocation and spending timelines.

It aids in forecasting future spending trends, supporting budgeting efforts, and setting realistic financial goals. Additionally, spend analysis facilitates informed negotiations with suppliers. Armed with detailed spending data, organizations can leverage their purchasing power during contract negotiations, leading to more favorable terms and pricing.

Spend analysis is a powerful tool providing businesses with invaluable insights into spending patterns and procurement practices. By leveraging spend analysis effectively, organizations can drive cost reduction, enhance operational efficiency, strengthen supplier relationships, and improve risk management. Making informed decisions based on comprehensive data enables businesses to optimize their sourcing strategies, support financial planning, and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Moreover, spend analysis promotes continuous improvement and agility, allowing businesses to adapt to changing market dynamics and sustain long-term success.

In today’s data-driven world, organizations that prioritize spend analysis as a strategic imperative are better equipped to navigate challenges, capitalize on opportunities, and achieve sustainable growth. As such, spend analysis is an essential aspect of financial management and a fundamental driver of business success in the 21st century.

Consumers prioritise experiences and travel, new card spend data from Revolut says

The latest monthly consumer spending report by Revolut, the global financial super app with more than 2 million customers in Ireland, reveals that the average consumer in Ireland is spending 15% more, year on year, with inflation and relaxed covid restrictions contributing. Looking at the average customer, travel spending increased 20.3%, shopping spending increased 9.1%, and entertainment spending increased 9.5% year on year.

New data from Revolut shows that supermarket spending increased by 18.9% compared to last year. The data also reveals that many are looking to cut costs down by shopping at discount stores, which saw an 13.9% increase in the number of customers, and where the average customer spent 6.8% more.

Similarly, Revolut’s data shows that spending on petrol increased by 19.5%, as compared to last year. However, bus companies saw a 36.4% increase in customers and a 36.7% increase in customer spending, year on year.

Furthermore, discretionary spending was up. In travel, customers of cruise lines (+109.3%), airlines (+30.8%), hotels (+14.3%), and travel agencies (+116.5%) all increased their spending, year on year.

In retail, discretionary spending was also up. The average consumer spent more at clothing stores (+12.5%), cosmetics stores (+26.8%), department stores (+14.6%), and furniture stores (+26%).

In entertainment, spending on digital goods, including media, books, films, shows, and music, declined 15%, year on year. Furthermore, the number of customers paying for these services declined by 22.4%, suggesting that many have cancelled their subscription services.

However, physical entertainment has increased significantly. Spending at aquariums increased by 65.1% and footfall increased by 54.5%, spending at museums increased by 58.1% and footfall increased by 47%, spending at theatres increased by 50.3% and footfall increased by 37%, year on year. However, despite awards season, the number of customers going to the cinema decreased by 5.6%.

Looking at month on month data, comparing February 2023 to January 2023, Revolut data gives insight into how people stuck to their New Year’s resolutions last month. For those looking to get fitter, the number of gym customers declined by 0.7%. For those looking to read more, book shop customers declined 8.9%. However, for those looking to find a partner this year, Revolut data suggests some may have succeeded, as the number of people spending on dating apps decreased by 15.7%, month on month.

A Revolut spokesperson said: “The periods of lockdown gave many consumers a new perspective on their priorities. The new priorities include travel, where spending on hotels and airlines continue to increase, and activities for days out, such as museums and theatres.”

“These new priorities suggest a continued desire to be around others and get out of the home.”