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Square

Square is an in-store sales system many bookstores use at the counter. Bookhead connects to Square as an inventory source: it reads what you sell and stock in Square, enriches each book with covers and bibliographic data, and keeps your online store in sync — so a title you carry in the shop shows up online, complete, without re-keying it.

note

Support for Clover as an additional in-store sales system is coming soon.

1. Connecting Square as your inventory source​

  1. In Bookhead, go to Integrations and choose Square.
  2. Authorize Bookhead to access your Square account. This grants read access to your catalog and inventory so Bookhead can keep them in sync.
  3. Bookhead does an initial read of your Square catalog and begins enriching your books with covers and bibliographic data.

Setup involves coordinating your catalog, so if anything is unclear email [email protected] and we'll help you connect.

2. Syncing Square inventory to your online store​

Once Square is connected, Bookhead keeps your online store in sync with what you carry in the shop. For each book in Square, Bookhead:

  • Looks up the cover image and bibliographic data (title, author, publisher, description, and more) from the ISBN
  • Creates or updates the matching product on your online store — for example, your Squarespace store — so listings appear complete and ready to sell
  • Keeps quantities aligned as copies sell in the shop or online

You enter and sell books the way you already do in Square; Bookhead handles the enrichment and the online listing.

3. Bringing new titles in from a distributor file​

When you receive a shipment from a distributor, you can bring those titles into your catalog from the shipment's order file instead of entering them by hand. Bookhead accepts order files from Ingram and Edelweiss.

The receiving workflow:

  1. Receive the shipment and locate its order file (for an Ingram order, the invoice/shipment file that lists each title, its ISBN, the quantity received, and the price).
  2. Import the file into Bookhead. Bookhead reads each ISBN and shows you the list of titles found.
  3. Review the quantities and prices against what physically arrived.
  4. Import. For each title, Bookhead looks up the cover and bibliographic data, checks it against your existing catalog, and creates or updates the book — so new titles come in ready to sell and existing titles are topped up rather than duplicated.

4. How sync stays consistent​

Bookhead keeps Square and your online store consistent by matching books on ISBN and syncing changes in the background:

  • When a copy sells in the shop through Square, Bookhead lowers the quantity on your online store so you don't sell a book you no longer have.
  • When a copy sells online, the change flows back so your counts stay aligned.
  • When you add or restock titles (by distributor file or in Square), the online listings are created or updated to match.

Matching on ISBN is what prevents duplicates: the same title coming in again updates the product you already have rather than creating a second one. If a count ever looks off, email [email protected].