Square has announced the launch of Square Handheld, giving Australian businesses, from fine-dining venues to fashion retailers, a new way to serve on the move. Combining a sleek, durable design with versatile, all-in-one software, Square Handheld empowers sellers to manage everything from payments to back-of-house operations, all from a device that fits in their pocket.

Power that fits in your pocket

Built for fast-moving environments like bustling cafés, busy restaurants, and dynamic retail floors, Square Handheld delivers peak performance in a palm-sized package. Weighing just over 300 grams and under an inch thick, it’s IP54-rated to withstand splashes and dust – ready for the rigours of a full shift, no matter the conditions. With a 6.2ʺ Gorilla Glass touchscreen and a robust battery that powers through even the busiest days, Square Handheld goes beyond card payments. It’s equipped with advanced features including:

• Built-in barcode scanning for speedy checkouts, gift cards, and inventory updates
• A 16 MP camera for capturing product photos and updating item libraries
• Seamless integration with Square’s full software ecosystem, making it easy to manage operations on the go

Whether it’s taking orders tableside, scanning stock in the storeroom, or finalising a sale on the retail floor, Square Handheld gives Australian businesses the freedom, flexibility, and reliability they need to serve customers better.

Adaptable software for every type of business

Square Handheld is powered by the next-generation Square Point of Sale software, bringing years of commerce innovation and technology leadership into a single, powerful hub for running any size or type of business. With customisable Modes – including Full Service, Quick Service, Bar, and Retail – sellers can tailor their Handheld experience to suit their specific needs. 

Device-specific features like fast-access settings and real-time push notifications make it easy to adapt to any workflow. Restaurants and retailers – which together represent around half of Square’s global gross payment volume – are especially well-positioned to benefit from the new functionality.

Aussie hospo businesses in particular are set to see immediate impact. The large, bright display allows staff to view their full section at a glance, streamlining management across indoor and outdoor tables. The interface follows natural service flow – from specials to sides to order modifications – and the slim, pocket-friendly design ensures it stays out of the way between tables. With an all-day battery and rugged build, it’s ready to go from morning rush to evening service.

One of the first businesses in Australia to use Square Handheld was Canberra-based restaurant, Lunetta, who has praised the design and ingenuity behind the hardware.

“Square has been integral to how we run our business from the very beginning, and Square Handheld has elevated that even further,” says Matt Keeley, Manager at Lunetta. “It blends beautifully into our space, both visually and operationally. The design is so clean and discreet, it doesn’t interrupt the atmosphere we’ve worked hard to create. Instead, it enables our team to take payments and orders right at the table with ease and elegance. That kind of fluid, unobtrusive service helps us maintain the warm, personal experience our guests remember, and return for.”

Continued innovation for Aussie businesses

Square Handheld builds on more than a decade of hardware innovation, from the original Square Reader to Square Register and Square Terminal. With its slim, durable design and the latest commerce software built in, Square Handheld reaffirms Square’s commitment to creating tools that meet the evolving needs of modern businesses in Australia.

“Running a restaurant or retail shop today requires speed, efficiency, and flexibility. Square Handheld was designed to help sellers deliver great service anywhere their customers are – whether that’s taking orders at the table, completing a sale on the shop floor, or checking stock on the go,” said Colin Birney, Head of Business Development at Square. “With Square Handheld, we’re helping businesses across Australia be more productive, and thrive in an increasingly dynamic market.”

Starting today, Australian businesses can purchase Square Handheld online via Square Shop, for $349. To complement the device, Square has partnered with leading accessories brand Belkin to offer premium protective cases in a range of colours, for $59. These cases help protect Square Handheld from accidental drops and scratches, while keeping its sleek, pocket-friendly profile.

Square also upgrading software offering

Square’s product innovation is in full swing. Alongside Square Handheld, Square is also unveiling a whole suite of software solutions to make running a business simpler. No matter the size, structure or sector.

Square has reimagined its Point of Sale experience with a powerful new app designed to meet the needs of every type of business, all in one place. Whether running a fast-paced bar, a growing retail store, or operating solo as a service provider, the new Square Point of Sale app is built to flex around how businesses operate, not the other way around.

By unifying the best of Square for Restaurants, Square for Retail, and Square Appointments into a single, streamlined platform, Square is giving sellers more control, more clarity, and less clutter. Customisable layouts, intuitive workflows, and industry-specific tools make it easy to manage everything from complex menus and in-store stock to customer appointments. The result is a simpler way to run operations and a better experience for customers, and allows businesses to more easily open new revenue streams.

“Simplifying our Square Point of Sale app enables businesses to spend less time on admin and more time on their craft and delivering great experiences for their customers,” says Birney. “For Australian sellers, having a single, unified app to manage payments, inventory, online orders, and customer relationships means they can operate more efficiently and scale with confidence, no matter their size or industry.”

Other new software highlights coming to the Square ecosystem include direct online ordering for restaurants (removing costly third-party commission fees for takeout orders), the addition of combos for restaurant sellers, a revamped inventory dashboard for retailers, custom booking forms for health and beauty professionals, and high-value invoice support for service businesses. Together, these updates reflect Square’s continued commitment to building flexible tools that help local businesses thrive, however they operate.

“One thing that Australian hospitality businesses have been clear about is a delivery solution that protects their margins while maintaining quality service,” said Birney. “With Square’s On-Demand Delivery, we’re eliminating the pain of high commission fees while giving restaurants complete control over their delivery operations. Sellers can now offer professional delivery through their own Square Online ordering page, integrate it seamlessly with their POS and kitchen systems, and keep more money in their pocket. It’s about giving Australian restaurants the freedom to grow their delivery business on their own terms.”

These improvements are part of Square’s broader seasonal product rollout – Square Releases – which delivers biannual software updates based on feedback from Australian sellers. The next batch of product updates will happen later in 2025. 

To learn more about Square Handheld and Square’s ecosystem of business solutions, visit the Square Handheld product page.

Why The Bridge International is different and were appointed lead advisor on RAA’s game changing strategic partnership with Allianz

According to the RAA CEO, Nick Reade and former RAA chairman Peter Siebels, the role of their trusted lead advisor, The Bridge International, was critical in ensuring the success of their recent strategic partnership agreement with insurance giant Allianz.

Reade explained “We engaged The Bridge to help us understand what our strategic options were and to help us through a process to get to a board decision on which direction we wanted to take. Critically, we could have used a big tier one investment bank, but what we really wanted were advisers who had a very deep understanding of the Insurance industry and our Insurance business as well as member owned organisations. The Bridge brought all their diverse experience to the table and quite frankly, I think that choosing The Bridge as our lead advisor was a smart decision and one that’s played out very well for us.”

Siebels added, “Some time ago RAA, like many others in our industry, found itself on a burning platform as the financial pressures on regional insurers had become too much to bear and thus something had to change. With several catastrophic weather events in one year, it was clear we had to do things differently and find an alternative and better way forward for the members and our organisation. That’s when we engaged The Bridge to see what our options could be.”

RAA is a long-term client of The Bridge, with a relationship built on trust, expertise, and a track record of delivering results.

As Siebels and Reade highlighted, The Bridge was tasked early in the strategic discussions to present a clear picture of developments and trends in the industry so they could get agreement on a clear pathway forward.

Siebels continued, “The Bridge are an excellent cultural fit and as such there is a strong alignment with RAA. They spent a fair amount of time doing a strategic assessment and analysis into how we could secure a positive outcome for RAA members in the long term. Their goal was to provide us with a recommendation that met our key strategic criteria including de-risking RAA’s financial future, securing ongoing investment and incentive to keep growing RAA’s insurance portfolio and ensuring member and employee experience would be protected. When all options were considered, their recommendation was that we explored a strategic partnership. Finding that strategic partner became their next task.”

The Bridge were instrumental in building the case for why RAA should enter a strategic partnership, the pathway forward, what kind of financial return the company would expect and the criteria for long term success.

Reade added, “The really important parts of the strategic partnership centred around protecting the RAA brand and negotiating the best distribution agreement possible as this is key to how you’re going to govern the partnership. The Bridge advised us on the best way to protect critical issues such as the member experience and pricing. We’d also seen and heard where things have gone wrong in the past, so as The Bridge’s team have seen these partnerships from both the buy and sell side before, we were keen to make sure that they played a key role in every area of our new strategic partnership negotiation.”

A big part of The Bridge’s role came because of the trusted relationships they have built in business over many decades. These relationships became critical in the exploration and negotiation process.

Siebels continued, “Stuart Blake and The Bridge have outstanding relationships in the industry. It’s as a result of these relationships that we were able to fast track the process with The Bridge. Whilst there was a perceived risk in using The Bridge, when we looked at their integrated process and the value their deep level of understanding and experience brought, they clearly were the right choice for RAA.”

The Bridge MD Stuart Blake said, “I co-founded the Bridge 8 years ago to provide a differentiated approach to management consultancy. We have now worked with over 60 leading brands here in Australia and built long term trusted relationships. Nick Reade and the team at RAA had a vision for transformational change and strategy to future proof their member proposition for decades to come. We were delighted to work with the number one brand in South Australia and help establish the 20-year partnership with Allianz, the number one insurance brand globally. At The Bridge we pride ourselves on being different and truly care for our partners. It is this difference that helped us achieve the best possible result and outcome for RAA, their members, and Allianz.

A big part of RAA choosing The Bridge as their lead adviser on the Allianz strategic partnership was the way the advisory engages and consults with their clients on a day-to-day basis.

Reade explained, “The Bridge were very much an extension of our team in the sense that they were in all our meetings. They were in the board updates every week and were really partnering with us in all true senses of the word. It was very collaborative. They were well respected in the role that they played and as such it was like I had another two or three team members. It was very much a seamless partnership as we didn’t have to meet, educate and then bring in advisors, which would make the process disjointed. The Bridge were always very much all in with my team and the board and this commitment was a major help. The way they integrate and operate is very different to other advisors and consultants. I mean when you’re looking at something like this, there’s only a couple of pathways, and one is to go to a big investment bank. Thanks to The Bridge being able to tap into their unique experiences, really understanding where the deals are made or broken and how to structure the best distribution agreement.

This theme about The Bridge being different and having different values to other advisors is a common one and certainly one that played out through the entire RAA and Allianz strategic partnership process.

Siebels explained, “The Bridge are different to other advisors and consultants in many ways. Firstly, they always bring their A team. You always get the best and never get palmed off with anything less. Then they really take the time to truly understand your business, the people and the culture. This is very rare, particularly the cultural understanding element. They have a unique approach and structure, both of which never falter. They also have a genuine empathy for RAA and they really cared for our members and our business. It was never about The Bridge and always about RAA – again, a very rare attribute. Their values really shine through when you work with them.

As the RAA and Allianz strategic partnership moves through regulatory approval stage Siebels and Reade reflected on how The Bridge helped both organisations achieve such a “remarkable result”.

Peter Siebels concluded, “The Bridge helped us secure an outstanding result for a very good business. Their negotiation of the different elements between parties was very clever and professional. They co-designed an excellent strategy, were a part of all key discussions and through their knowledge of the industry and players and their unwavering approach helped us secure a very good outcome. This result protects and futureproofs the RAA brand for 20 years, produces an increasingly positive experience for RAA members and a better and brighter future for RAA.”

Nick Reade concluded, “The Bridge is a great team to work with. They have deep insurance expertise, which is extremely valuable when entertaining these types of new strategic partnerships. Being able to pick up the phone and call the team any time, including the MD Stuart Blake, and know he’d worked, and has experience with almost anyone who was part of the discussions, was on another level. The Bridge were motivated to get a deal done. They had more credibility and integrity around what they were saying because of their relationships and real-world experience, which to me was extremely valuable. Ultimately, they advised us on the key areas that you really wanted to get right in a distribution agreement, and we never deviated from that. With that we set our criteria, communicated those criteria and The Bridge ensured that we got exactly what we wanted – a truly great deal for Allianz, RAA, our members and South Australia.”

https://www.thebridgeinternational.com

With household budgets tightening and retail confidence dipping, Australia’s End of Financial Year (EOFY) sales season is shaping up to be more competitive than ever. For small businesses, especially those with physical stores, standing out has never been more important.

While traditional tactics like window posters and email blasts still have a place, one tool is quickly becoming essential: digital signage. Whether you’re running a boutique retail store or a bustling café, digital displays can drive foot traffic and significantly boost sales. 

Mandoe Media’s data shows that businesses using digital signage for EOFY can see in-store sales lift by 5–20%, foot traffic increase by up to 25%, and dwell time rise by as much as 30%.

So, what makes digital signage so effective during EOFY, and how can small businesses harness it?

1. Create urgency that converts

EOFY is all about deadlines, tax-time incentives, and ‘last chance’ offers. Digital signage lets you tap into that urgency with real-time updates, animated price drops, and live countdowns. A static poster can’t change once it’s printed, but digital signage can be updated in minutes to reflect inventory changes, new deals, or even customer demand throughout the day.

You can also integrate QR codes that link to exclusive offers, loyalty programs, or online payment options – bridging the gap between in-store engagement and digital conversion.

2. Stand out without slashing prices

In a market where many retailers are reluctant to discount too deeply, digital signage offers another way to capture attention, without compromising margins. Bright, dynamic screens near your entrance or checkout can elevate the perceived value of your products and help customers discover items they might have overlooked.

You don’t need a big marketing team to make this work. Next-gen digital signage offerings will let you drag-and-drop your way to professional, branded content in minutes, even using AI to generate EOFY-specific graphics and copy. 

3. Drive impulse buys where it counts

EOFY sales are a perfect storm for spontaneous shopping. Shoppers are actively hunting for bargains, and digital signage placed near POS areas can prompt last-minute add-ons or bundled deals. Think: ‘Buy one, get one 50% off’ or ‘Add a tax-deductible purchase for your business before June 30.’

4. Save time and stay nimble

Printing new signs for every promo is both slow and environmentally wasteful. Digital signage eliminates the need for constant reprints and allows you to schedule or update content in real-time. Need to switch your lunchtime offer or highlight a new best-seller? Done in seconds.

This flexibility also means you can test different messages and product pairings and use the data to optimise future campaigns. For small businesses, this kind of agile marketing approach can offer a real competitive edge.

5. Level the playing field

You don’t need a national footprint to act like a big brand. With the right tools, small businesses can run sophisticated campaigns that rival the majors. Digital signage empowers smaller operators to schedule promotions, personalise content by store or location, and tailor messaging based on time of day or even the weather.

And because most shoppers (around 82%, according to PayPal) are still planning to shop EOFY sales in-store, now’s the time to ensure your physical presence is as sharp and engaging as your online one.

Digital signage is no longer a luxury reserved for the big end of town. It’s accessible, affordable, and incredibly effective for small businesses wanting to stand out when it matters most. If you’re not yet using digital signage, EOFY is the perfect time to start.

Contributed by Jay Parkinson, Group Sales Director at Mandoe Media