Lightspeed

• Integrated Ecommerce Platform
• Cloud POS Features
• POS for Retailers
• Restaurant POS
• Consumer Reviews

Integrated Ecommerce Platform

Lightspeed integrates an e-commerce platform with its POS sale software tools to help each business combine their respective brick-and-mortar and online stores. This provides a way for any retail business to manage both its physical store and e-commerce store in one centralized POS system. Customers are able to see the inventory available and make purchases online with the use of a credit card or other purchasing means such as debit cards, gift cards, and cash. This e-commerce solution not only saves time, but makes running your business much easier.  

Cloud POS Features

One of the great advantages of using Lightspeed POS software is the cloud-based system. This software is able to run when connected to the internet in any location. Both cloud-based restaurant POS and cloud-based retail POS are available.

POS for Retailers

Lightspeed provides a wonderful POS solution to retailers with its POS software that caters to a retailers' needs. This software includes inventory management features, centralized purchasing, employee management, manageable software variations, pricing and cost tracking, inventory customization, data analytics, and low-stock alerts. Users are also able to create customer profiles to better understand what their customers are interested in as well as past purchases they have made there. Other features include, but are not limited to: customer loyalty programs, special order capabilities, layaways, and a variety of payment processing options. Transactions can be made with mobile payments, credit and debit cards, and contactless transactions. Gift cards are also accepted by these POS terminals for retailers.

For business owners, a key feature is the data analytics feature providing real-time data around the clock. This data is exportable and allows for remote reporting. These advanced reporting management features enable the businesses to be much more aware of how the business is doing in one or multiple locations.

Restaurant POS

Point of Sale software created for the food industry provides users with many features to boost customer satisfaction through excellent customer support. Different types of restaurant POS software provided are: bakery and cafe, quick service, fine dining, bar and nightclub, and hotel restaurants. When beginning, new users can link their favorite accounting apps to the software for credit card processing, etc. These POS terminals facilitate table-side ordering, offline mode functioning without internet connection, and a cloud-based database.

For Restaurant POS in hotels, customers are able to order menu items quickly and easily using the mobile device mobile POS features on a mobile app. This app makes the purchasing process significantly easier. It is as if you had given customers their own pocket-size POS terminals. One of the integrations that has great potential is customers paying from their phones. This has been facilitated by the new credit card capabilities available online.

Similar to the POS for retailers, Lightspeed restaurant POS is equipped with easy-to-use customer loyalty programs. Through this program you can track purchase orders, offer bonus points to frequent visitors, send automated campaigns to members, and analyze consumer insights. The Lightspeed restaurant point of sale solution also boasts real-time data analytics with exportable reports and reporting and employee management between multiple locations.

One other feature that is unique to the food industry is the self-order menu. Here, customers can order menu items from the comfort of their table without the assistance of a waiter or waitress. All of these software features come with new and improved POS hardware which facilitates credit card, debit card, and gift card transactions with its multifaceted card reader and printing receipts with a receipt printer. This eliminates the need for an older traditional cash register, cash drawers, and other out-dated sales integrations.

Consumer Reviews

The majority of Lightspeed's reviews on Bestcompany.com commend the company for its user-friendly platform and remarkable customer service. One of the only complaints against the POS system is that Lightspeed eCom doesn't integrate as easily with all available extensions. Overall, customers are happy with how robust (but easy to navigate) the system is and Lightspeed's 24/7 customer service representatives who were praised for their knowledge and friendliness.  

• High Monthly Fee
• Not a Good Fit for Certain Businesses

High Monthly Fee

Lightspeed systems have a higher monthly fee when compared to other point of sale software companies. It is around $69 per month, but can vary depending on which point of sale program you purchase. The $69 monthly retail plan includes one register, up to five employee capabilities, personal on-boarding, free automatic updates, and other basic tasks. The basic package may not provide the volume of hardware and integrations needed by a medium or large retail business. As such, it could become quite costly to invest in bigger packages for these larger retail businesses.

Not a Good Fit for Certain Businesses

Unfortunately, Lightspeed has a few feature limitations such as weight scale integration, expiry date tracking, and fractional quantity tracking. Because of these limitations, Lightspeed is not a good fit for the following business types:

• Consignment stores
• Pawnshops and antique stores
• Convenience stores
• Grocery stores and delis
• Flower shops
• Fabric shops
• Candy shops
• Warehouses
• Storage facilities
• Gas stations
• Arcades
• Clinics
• Arcades
• Auto dealerships
• Laundromats and dry cleaners
• Drop-shipping businesses
• Computer repair services
• Sports facilities
• Food trucks
• Arts and crafts studios
• Pizza delivery restaurants
• Services (legal services, veterinary services, travel agencies, co-working spaces, catering services, consulting services, printing services, tattoo parlors, pet grooming/pet boarding, insurance services, mechanics, car washes, hairdressers/salons)