NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Squarespace (NYSE: SQSP), the design-driven platform helping entrepreneurs build brands and businesses online, today introduces Squarespace Refresh 2023, an annual release of new products, features, and updates in support of a future where everyone can be an entrepreneur. Many of the 2023 Squarespace Refresh innovations are designed to help entrepreneurs sell, and represent the biggest advancements in commerce since Squarespace launched two decades ago.
Central to the 2023 product releases is the upcoming launch of Squarespace Payments, which will close the gap for millions of customers seeking an integrated, secure way to transact seamlessly on a single online platform. Currently in Beta, Squarespace Payments will roll out to customers in the U.S. in the coming months and launch in additional markets in 2024. This powerful payment solution will let customers accept payments directly through Squarespace instead of having to connect a third-party payment provider. Customers will have complete control over their finances and easily manage payments, payouts and view refunds, disputes, and charges, all within a centralized dashboard. The simple signup process, intuitive onboarding experience, and access to Squarespace's award-winning customer support team, will ensure customers can begin securely transacting on Squarespace Payments within minutes.
In addition, Squarespace continues to make enhancements to Squarespace AI, a custom combination of Generative AI solutions aimed at helping customers build an integrated online presence faster and easier than ever before. The initial focus of the new AI-powered technology is to help customers with a major pain point: content readiness, with new features that help customers draft polished and professional website content.
"Today's entrepreneurs want a frictionless experience, more ways to sell, superior design and better outcomes when it comes to building a presence and running a business online," said Anthony Casalena, Founder and CEO of Squarespace. "We continue to push the boundaries in what is possible, placing more powerful and dynamic tools in the hands of entrepreneurs worldwide. Our 2023 Refresh unveils incredible new ways to maximize success online, from the integration of Squarespace Payments, expansion of Domains, and the introduction of dozens of new tools and features that allow anyone to more easily monetize and sell online."
New products and features launching from Squarespace's portfolio of products include:
New ways to sell: Tools that allow entrepreneurs to easily earn income, create additional income streams for their businesses, and own their content.
Squarespace Payments: A new, native payment solution that offers a fast and secure payment option for everyone selling on Squarespace. The new payments tool is easily accessible through a simple onboarding experience.
Client Invoicing: With Client Invoicing, service sellers can manage their business all on Squarespace – from vetting leads to receiving payments via invoices in one streamlined, customizable workflow. New tools include:
Client intake forms & CRM: Capture important information from potential clients with intake forms and organize those details in Squarespace's updated Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
Invoices: Collect payments from clients with professional invoices that match service sellers' website brand identity.
Project tracking: Manage client information, invoices, and tasks in one place with Squarespace's project functionality.
Courses: Powered by Fluid Engine™, Courses enables anyone to easily turn their expertise into income with a professional online course complete with beautiful course layouts, video lessons, progress tracking, and more.
Commerce tools: Expanded commerce tools support entrepreneurs selling physical and digital products, including: fulfillment profiles, checkout improvements, shipping labels order tracking, UPS shipping labels, improvements to subscriptions, shop page and product listing enhancements, and a new add-to-cart feature.
Acuity Scheduling: Advancements in platform technologies and the introduction of new branding that celebrates Acuity's core promise of never letting scheduling get in the way of success. Platform updates streamline the client booking experience, making it more intuitive for clients to book appointments. Additional features include a new centralized dashboard, enhanced mobile app tools like mobile payment links, and payment features such as automated email receipts, hassle-free invoice creation, and management.
Email Marketing: Updated email marketing tools, including enhanced email automations, seasonal email templates, and an editable discount field that helps convert site visitors into repeat customers.
New ways to stand out online: Next-generation tools and technologies for customers to easily create a unique brand and integrated experience across online platforms for an improved customer and website visitor experience.
Squarespace Domains: A domain is the crucial starting point in the journey to establish an online presence. Squarespace is continuing to invest in building out its domains platform by adding new domains like .nz or .fr, introducing domain and email forwarding, and setting up bulk domain management, as well as overhauling its domains dashboard to emphasize simplicity in domain management.
Squarespace AI: Ongoing investment in Squarespace AI, starting with tools to make it easier than ever to generate custom content. Squarespace AI helps populate nearly-final content on customer's websites, bringing each customer much closer to a finished website product. Squarespace AI is available within the website text editor, Email Campaigns, Commerce stores, and Squarespace Blueprint to help customers more efficiently specialize their content to ensure it's reflective of their brand identity.
Bio Sites Pro: Expansion of Bio Sites, beautiful one-page link-in-bio sites for social media, with the launch of Bio Sites Pro. The Pro tier offers premium features for deeper customization, engagement, and monetization. The Bio Sites web editor option is also now available, which offers an easier way to create and update Bio Sites from any web browser.
Expanded Extensions: The addition of a dozen new Extensions to expand the functionality of the platform.
New Ways to Scale: Expanded tools to support businesses of all sizes and types as they mature and scale.
Enterprise: Updates to help global brands scale their online presence efficiently and securely while maintaining brand integrity. New tools allow enterprise teams to easily collaborate on web page drafts and offer enhanced protection to keep internal sites secure through single sign on.
Tock: New and improved solutions for superior hospitality management.
Enhanced User System: Search, discover, and book reservations easier than ever with Tock's new iOS app. In addition, the new integration of Reserve with Google helps Tock customers drive more visibility, revenue, and covers.
Platform updates: New features include multiple start times for events, table prioritization to customize which tables get booked first, variable ticket types, and pricing for events. Credit card holds, to help reduce no shows, will be launching soon.
"We are excited to expand our platform with more tools for service sellers, a thriving and growing community of online entrepreneurs looking to turn their knowledge into ownable content and income," said Paul Gubbay, Chief Product Officer at Squarespace. "We have built one of the most comprehensive suites of tools for anyone looking to sell online whether it be their time, services, and expertise, or physical products."
In addition, Squarespace introduced the second edition of Squarespace Collection (formerly Squarespace Icons), an award-winning partnership series, with famed photography agency Magnum Photos. For this collaboration, Squarespace partnered with six of Magnum's world renowned photographers to capture original imagery from across the world. The results came together in a one-of-a-kind photography project, which includes six signature website designs built on Fluid Engine™. Each design is inspired by the photographer's creative vision and the design choices for their own Squarespace websites, and are available as a starting point for anyone looking to build a website with Squarespace. As part of the series, all six photographers will provide a limited number of one-on-one photography portfolio critiques, available by signing up via Acuity Scheduling*. Find more information on the latest Squarespace Collection, including access to the new website designs here.
To learn more about the latest innovations Squarespace has introduced in 2023, visit Squarespace Refresh here.