Mpos giant Square is moving beyond the high-street with the launch of an online marketplace where small US businesses can sell their wares.
The company says that Square Market will help small local firms find a wider customer base and also save money on expensive Web site development.
Taking on Web giants such as eBay and Etsys, the marketplace lets merchants open an e-store for free. They can then add product details, prices and photos, set up a profile and manage their inventory. Square makes money by taking a 2.75% cut of all sales made through the store.
With Jack Dorsey as a founder, the firm also lets sellers post items directly to Twitter for their followers to discover and share.
Ajit Varma, director of discovery, Square, says: "Creating an online marketplace is our next step in making commerce easy for everyone. Square Market makes local businesses accessible to customers down the block and across the country."
Square pioneered the app and card reader-based mobile payments acceptance system for small-scale merchants but has since moved far beyond the dongle with its Square Wallet app, Square Stand proprietary hardware, and most recently a P2P e-mail cash transfer service.