TL;DR
Square is a great POS, in the US. For Vietnam, the lack of native HĐĐT support, no Zalo Mini App, and no GrabFood/ShopeeFood integration force teams to bolt on third parties. LOOP ships these natively.
LOOP vs Square, Restaurant POS for Southeast Asia
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PEKO ecosystem
LOOP runs the venue. PEKO brings the customer back. Two products, one company.
PEKO, the AI customer-retention platform (heypeko.com) from the same company as LOOP. PEKO handles retention; LOOP handles operations.
| LOOP, operations | PEKO, retention |
|---|---|
| Inventory & recipes | Churn prediction |
| Shift & staff management | Automated win-back |
| Table layout | Member portal |
| Kitchen display (KDS) | Loyalty tiers |
| E-invoice (TT78) | Receipt OCR enrolment |
| Aggregator queue (GrabFood / ShopeeFood / Be) |
LOOP and PEKO each work on their own. Run both and the data syncs into one single AI brain, so nothing is entered twice. PEKO is not a POS and does not replace one; it also runs alongside any other POS.
PEKO loyalty: no app download for customers; they snap the receipt to earn points, and it works with the POS you already use. Free up to 300 members.
Choose LOOP if
- ✓You run 2+ outlets and want one operator who can speak commands instead of clicking.
- ✓You want AI demand forecasting per item per hour, not gut-feel.
- ✓You're on SEA payment rails (VietQR, PromptPay, QRIS, DuitNow, PayNow, QR Ph).
- ✓You're already on PEKO loyalty (or planning to). PEKO customers get 50% off LOOP POS paid plans.
Choose Square if
You need Square-specific capabilities and don't need AI operations.
| Feature | LOOP POS | Square | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam e-invoice (HĐĐT) | Native | Not supported | Not published |
| Zalo Mini App loyalty | Yes | No | Not published |
| GrabFood / ShopeeFood / Be | Native integrations | Not available in VN | Not published |
| Currency & VND-first pricing | VND-first | USD-first | Not published |
Bottom line
For a Vietnamese F&B chain, Square is the wrong tool: every local requirement becomes a custom integration. LOOP delivers HĐĐT, Zalo and aggregator support out of the box.
Not ready to switch POS? Keep Square and add PEKO
- Receipt Scan loyalty: customers snap the receipt, so it works with Square without any integration. No app download for customers.
- Group Check-In: every guest at the table joins, not just the payer.
- AI Agent: win-back, birthday and rebooking campaigns from one message.
PEKO is free up to 300 members and works with the POS you already use.
Why teams pick LOOP
- Built for Vietnam tax law and aggregator ecosystem out of the box.
- Local VND pricing, no FX surprises on monthly bills.
- Vietnamese-language support during business hours.
When neither is right
- You run one outlet with a fixed menu and only need receipts, a free tier from either vendor is enough, and paying for a mid tier changes nothing.
- You need something neither LOOP POS nor Square publishes support for (full payroll, table timers), buy that tool separately and keep the till simple.
- Your format is still changing, settle the business model first; switching POS twice costs more than waiting.
Frequently asked
- Does Square work in Vietnam at all?
- Square does not officially launch payments in Vietnam, so card processing must be handled separately. LOOP ships with local payment partners pre-integrated.
- Can I keep Square and still run loyalty?
- Yes. PEKO works alongside Square with no integration: customers scan the receipt to earn points. LOOP is only needed if you also want a free AI POS.
- Does LOOP include loyalty?
- LOOP handles operations. For loyalty and AI-driven customer retention, PEKO is the sibling product from the same company: no app download for customers, they snap the receipt to earn points, and it works with the POS you already use: LOOP or any other. PEKO is free up to 300 members.
- Can PEKO handle inventory and staff scheduling?
- No. PEKO is the retention layer. LOOP covers inventory, recipes, shifts, table management and kitchen display in the same ecosystem.
Sources
- Square for Restaurants pricing , checked
- LOOP POS pricing , checked
Disclosure: LOOP POS is our own product. Competitor details come from each vendor's published material on the dates listed; where a vendor publishes nothing the cell reads “not published” and we make no claim.
