If you plan to use your iPad as a POS self-service kiosk, you will need to purchase a secure stand to display your iPad and Square Reader. Square offers their “Square Stand for Contactless and Chip”, but how do other generic tablet kiosk stands compare? Let’s explore the available options and break them down by affordability, easiest to set up, and most secure.
If you are using Square as your POS software, the most popular option may be Square's own Square Stand for Contactless and Chip. It is a countertop stand for your iPad with a separate dock for your Square Contactless and Chip Reader.
You can use your own iPad and purchase just the stand and dock for $169. (supports iPad (2017, 2018), iPad Pro 9.7”, or iPad Air (1,2))
If you don’t own an iPad, the cheapest supported iPad would be the iPad Air 1 which you can get refurbished for ~$130. This would cost you a total of ~$299.
Or, from the Square store, you can add an iPad (2018) 32 GB Wifi Silver for $329. This would cost you a total of $498.
You will need to secure your iPad to the stand with the security screws . Then, you will need to mount the stand to your countertop either with the adhesive mount included in the package or by drilling it. Needless to say, the adhesive mount will be the easiest option while the drill mount will require some additional work. There is also a maximum countertop width restriction of 1.75 inches for the drill mount option.
As we mentioned, there are 2 options for mounting your Square stand: adhesive mount or drill mount. In terms of security, your best bet will be drilling your stand to your countertop (given you satisfy the countertop width restriction.) It is also the recommended option by Square as stated in their instructions article.
A cheaper option to the Square Stand is a generic tablet kiosk stand. There are countertop stands and floor stands. You can get a decent secure one from Amazon for about half the price of the Square Stand. This option would also allow you to use either an Apple or Android tablet. Be sure to check out Square’s compatibility matrix for your chosen tablet
A decent secure tablet kiosk stand from Amazon averages ~$60. You have 3 options for Square Readers:
Square Reader for magstripe: $10
Square Reader Chip Card Reader: $35
Square Contactless and Chip Reader: $49
A generic tablet countertop kiosk stand will have about the same set up as the Square Stand. You will need to secure your tablet and then drill the stand to your countertop. You could also use an adhesive (most stands do not come with adhesive like Square Stand does, however). The floor tablet kiosk stand will require assembly and is the most difficult to set up.
The least secure stand will be the floor tablet kiosk stand since it will not be bolted down. Given that it is weighted, likely no one will be hauling this huge stand out of your shop, but it is still the least secure kiosk stand option. The least secure Square Readers are the Square Reader for magstripe and Square Reader for Chip Card Reader. These are the readers that simply plug in to your headphone jack or lightning bolt port. Your safest best would be the Square Reader dock (which you would need to secure somehow; you could use adhesive) or the Square Reader dock adapter (most secure). The safest combination using a generic tablet kiosk stand would be drilling a countertop stand down + dock adapter.
If you already own a tablet, Generic Tablet Kiosk Stand (~$60) + Square Reader for magstripe ($10) = ~$70
If you don’t own a tablet, Generic Tablet Kiosk Stand (~$60) + Square Reader for magstripe ($10) + decent tablet (~$100) = ~$170
Square Stand for Contactless and Chip
The easiest set up would be a countertop stand with adhesive. The Square Stand already comes with adhesive which will save you some purchasing effort!
Square Stand or Generic Kiosk Stand + Square Reader Dock Adapter
The safest combination would be any countertop stand DRILLED DOWN with a Square Reader Dock Adapter attached and locked to your stand.