Square to shutter Order app later this month
Square's latest mobile experiment is slated to shut down after a quiet year on the market.On March 20, the company will phase out Order, an app designed to help consumers beat long lines by placing orders ahead from their smartphones, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.Order never expanded beyond New York City and San Francisco. Since its launch last May, the app only ever let users order drinks and other items at Blue Bottle Coffee locations in the two cities.Though Square's core business -- its card-reading hardware and storefront software -- caters mostly to merchants, the six-year-old company helmed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has made a few forays into consumer software. Apps like Square Cash let friends send money to one another, much like competing offerings from Venmo and PayPal, and Wallet was a cash-free method of paying at restaurants, before Square replaced it with Order last year.However, the app, beyond its failure to catch on, falls out of line with Square's focus of becoming a key part of small businesses' growth. Last August, Square acquired food delivery service Caviar, which outsources meal delivery for smaller restaurants. And in May, Square launched Square Capital, a program that hands business owners a one-time cash advance in exchange for a cut of sales in the future."We are focusing our efforts on other tools and marketing services that help sellers grow their business, like online ordering, gift cards, or delivery with Caviar," a spokesperson told the Chronicle.