Square is announcing today that Starbucks is the next retail partner to sell its mobile card readers. The payments company also has a deal with the coffee giant to process transactions and accept Square Wallet. Now Square readers will also be sold at Starbucks’ 7,000 company operated stores.
Square says that it is now available in over 30,000 retail locations, after hitting 20,000 outlets nationwide in June. In addition to Starbucks, Square’s readers are at AT&T, Walgreens, Staples, FedEx Office, Apple, Wal-mart, Best Buy, RadioShack, and Target.
Square readers sell for $9.99 in stores, but there’s a $10 credit that every buyer can redeem back to their bank account. Square also has a store locator here where customers can find out where to buy Square units.
As part of the Starbucks deal announced last year, Starbucks also invested $25 million in the payments company and Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, joined Square’s Board of Directors.
For Starbucks, it’s also an interesting move on the retail front. In terms of hard goods, the company has long offered coffee and tea accessories, as well as CDs. Depending on where the readers are placed (i.e. the cash register), it could also be a way for Starbucks and Square to remind people to start using Square.
It’s still unclear how many sales Square is seeing of its device in retail stores, but there definitely is a visibility and branding benefit to appearing on store shelves.
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