Square Register for iPad offers full point-of-sale system for merchants

Paired with the existing free credit card reader that plugs into an iPad's headphone jack, the new Square Register application allows vendors to input a custom product inventory. Items available for sale can be identified by names, photos and prices, and popular items can even be added to a "favorites" list.

As with the previous Square application for transactions, the company takes 2.75 percent of sales. The service accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. The system also supports manual input of cash transactions.

Merchants can also store customer names and photos in the system, allowing salespeople to more easily get to know regular customers on a first-name basis. With Square Register, vendors can create their own custom loyalty program to keep customers coming back.

The system also gives customers the ability to quickly and easily provide a tip, while vendors can personalize receipts and offer them to customers either on paper, via text message or e-mail.

Square Register also keeps track of sales, and offers detailed analytics that are synced and stored in the cloud. Merchants can log in to Square's website from anywhere to see their transaction details in real time.

And employee permissions are also available to restrict access to specific features, settings or sensitive information that might be contained in sales reports.

Square Register (iTunes link) is a free application available for iPad on the App Store. The company's card reader hardware is also free.