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Lightspeed Review
Table of Contents
- Lightspeed makes it easy to track inventory across multiple stores.
- The platform integrates with hundreds of apps, allowing you to create a customized solution for your business.
- The company provides free onboarding and 24/7 chat support, regardless of the plan you choose.
- You must sign up for an annual contract to get Lightspeed's lowest pricing.
- Lightspeed may not be affordable for brand-new retail stores.
- Lightspeed charges higher fees for customers who use a third-party payment processor.
Lightspeed serves the retail, restaurant and golf industries, but this cloud-based POS system is particularly suited to retail businesses. That’s because it offers powerful tools for inventory, employees, customers and online selling. Additionally, Lightspeed Restaurant is a great option for bars, cafes and full-service restaurants — and over 1,200 golf courses worldwide utilize Lightspeed’s software thanks to its easy-to-use tee sheet.
Lightspeed Editor's Rating:
9.2 / 10
- Affordable pricing
- 9.5/10
- Free trial
- 9.5/10
- Robust integrations
- 9.5/10
- Invoicing and bill pay
- 8.5/10
- Mobile app
- 9/10
Why Lightspeed Is Best for Retail Businesses
We chose Lightspeed as the best POS system for retail businesses because its hardware and software options give retailers everything they need to streamline operations. We were particularly impressed by Lightspeed’s advanced inventory management features, which help owners manage multichannel and multilocation businesses. This system can track your inventory and automatically reorder items that are running low.
Lightspeed’s POS system includes built-in analytics that generate custom POS reports to help you understand and grow your business. However, custom reports and more detailed analytics are only available with higher-tier plans or with the Lightspeed Analytics add-on.
And Lightspeed may not be the best choice for new businesses or those on a tight budget since the software starts at $89 per month, which could be cost-prohibitive. These businesses may want to consider Toast instead, since the company offers a free plan.
Usability
Lightspeed is built for retailers, with features tailored to their day-to-day needs. The POS system works for companies of all sizes and has an intuitive interface and many customization options. We also like that businesses can use the free mobile app for iOS or Android to access information from anywhere.
We were impressed with Lightspeed’s third-party integrations, which allow businesses to extend the platform’s functionality. The software integrates with hundreds of popular third-party apps to help you run your business. We were also pleased that the company enhances usability by providing one-on-one onboarding, a dedicated account manager and 24/7 customer support.
Lightspeed Features
Inventory management | Lightspeed makes it easy to track your inventory, create product variations and bundle items. |
|---|---|
Customer management | You can use Lightspeed to collect data about your customers and create customer profiles. |
Loyalty programs | The platform lets you create custom loyalty programs for online and offline sales. |
Employee management | The POS system makes it easier to monitor the number of hours your employees work, as well as run performance reports. |
E-commerce tools | The e-commerce tools allow you to build an online store and set up online ordering. |
Reporting | Lightspeed can create dozens of custom reports and track your sales data in real time. |
Integrations | Lightspeed integrates with hundreds of third-party apps. |
Security and compliance | Lightspeed is PCI-compliant and uses encryption and tokenization to protect customer payment data |
Inventory Management
POS systems do more than just process sales — features like inventory management help retailers streamline operations across their entire business. Lightspeed’s inventory tools give retailers what they need to manage products efficiently and stay organized.
With Lightspeed, you can track inventory, create product variations and bundle items. You can also create purchase orders, manage vendors and track inventory across multiple locations — an important feature that many competitors don’t offer.
Customer Management
We like that Lightspeed is a CRM-enabled POS system that lets you create customer profiles, add notes about preferences and run sales reports based on CRM metrics. The company also offers other helpful POS tools, including the ability to view purchase histories, assign VIP status to specific customers, and offer rewards and promotions.
Loyalty Programs
Lightspeed lets you use sales data to create targeted offers and run loyalty programs. This feature allows you to do several things:
- Build customer loyalty programs for online and offline sales
- Send rewards and discounts to VIP customers and on customers’ birthdays
- Use drag-and-drop tools and built-in templates to design email promotions
These loyalty programs are useful for businesses that are trying to generate repeat customers, such as new businesses or those expanding into new markets.
Employee Management
We found Lightspeed’s employee management tools to be on a par with its competitors’. The platform gives retailers flexibility when controlling user access, which is crucial because poor access management can lead to data breaches. You can set user permissions by role or customize access for each employee.
With customized permissions, you decide which tasks and data each user or role-based user group should access. The system also has a built-in time clock and reporting tools to see employees’ hours and run performance reports to view their sales, profits and tips.
E-commerce
With more stores selling online, e-commerce tools are essential for staying competitive. We appreciate that Lightspeed can help companies do the following:
- Build an online store
- Choose from more than 50 professional themes
- Show off products in high definition
- Choose from several mobile-responsive and customizable templates
- Enable customers to shop 24/7
- Offer online ordering and in-person pickup
Reporting
We were impressed that Lightspeed’s retail POS offering supports more than 50 built-in POS reports and tracks everything in real time. Lightspeed includes the following reporting tools:
- POS reports on sales, trends and profits
- Inventory reports on costs, margins, transfers and negative inventory
- Employee performance reports on sales, voids and performance
For an extra fee, you can add Lightspeed Analytics, which gives advanced views of stock, the customer experience and staff performance.
Integrations
Lightspeed offers more than 250 integrations through its app store — more than many competitors we reviewed — allowing you to create a customized solution for your business. You can integrate Lightspeed’s POS system with the best credit card processors, the best accounting software and top marketing platforms.
There are also apps for e-commerce functions, including chat programs and social media. Lightspeed offers an application programming interface (API) for its retail software, but access to the restaurant API is limited to Lightspeed partners.
Security and Compliance
Lightspeed is PCI-compliant and uses encryption and tokenization to protect customer payment data. Retailers can also create role-based permissions and user-level access controls to protect sensitive information and reduce security risk.
Lightspeed Costs
We like that Lightspeed’s website is transparent about the pricing for the company’s monthly and annual plans, but we’re disappointed that it doesn’t list pricing for POS hardware. Lightspeed offers hardware bundles that may include iPads, scanners, printers or cash drawers, but you must speak to a rep for pricing. However, the system may work with third-party devices you already own.
Here’s a breakdown of Lightspeed’s retail POS plan costs and payment processing fees.
POS Plan Costs
We like that you can pay monthly or sign up for an annual subscription when you choose Lightspeed. Many competitors don’t offer this kind of payment flexibility. Lightspeed’s monthly plan is a good option for businesses that want to try out the software. However, you’ll get the best deal if you sign up for the annual package.
Note that Lightspeed’s published pricing applies to businesses with one location. If your business has multiple retail locations, you’ll need to contact a sales rep for a custom quote.
Here’s how Lightspeed’s retail payment plans break down:
- Basic: The Basic plan costs $89 per month when you pay annually. It includes integrated payments, one register, access to supplier catalogs, onboarding and 24/7 chat support.
- Core: The Core plan costs $149 per month when you pay annually and includes everything in the Basic plan. You also receive loyalty programs, advanced reporting features, built-in e-commerce features and a mobile scanner app.
- Plus: The Plus plan costs $289 per month when you pay annually. It includes everything in the first two plans and adds custom reporting, API access, customer workflows and custom user roles. You also receive 24/7 phone support with this plan.
Add-ons, additional hardware and integrations cost extra.
Payment Processing Fees
Lightspeed Payments charges flat fees:
- In-person: 2.6 percent + $0.10
- Card-not-present: 2.9 percent + $0.30
Third-party processors are allowed but may trigger higher fees and limit the functionality.
Lightspeed Setup
We were pleased that Lightspeed provides customers with one-on-one onboarding and setup assistance. Setting up your POS system is fairly straightforward, and a customer service representative is always available to help.
After signing up, you’ll book a complimentary onboarding session with a Lightspeed team member. During this hour-long session, you’ll learn how to install the software and use the POS workflows. Once you’ve completed the training, you’ll receive a wrap-up email with links to helpful videos and articles you can reference.
Lightspeed Customer Service
We like that in addition to providing one-on-one onboarding, Lightspeed offers 24/7 customer support via phone, email and live chat. You also get a dedicated account manager for advice and expertise. Additionally, the company provides many helpful online resources, including industry-specific tools, guides, videos and a customer forum.
Source: Lightspeed
Lightspeed Drawbacks
There’s a lot to appreciate about Lightspeed, but there are drawbacks to consider:
- No hardware pricing: Lightspeed doesn’t share its hardware pricing, which makes it difficult to gauge the actual cost of the POS system. However, the POS system works with third-party hardware, including devices you may already own. Check out our Clover review if you’re looking for a POS vendor with extensive hardware options and transparent pricing.
- Minimal payment processing options: Lightspeed’s payment processing options are limited. If your current provider doesn’t work with Lightspeed’s POS system, you may have to switch payment processors. If you need a POS system with a wider selection of third-party payment processors, read our Epos Now review.
- Higher costs for third-party payment processors: We like that Lightspeed gives you the option to use a third-party payment processor, but were disappointed to learn it comes with an additional fee. The higher costs could make this option too cost-prohibitive for some businesses.
Methodology
When researching the best POS systems for retailers, we examined inventory and customer management tools, loyalty programs, e-commerce options, custom reporting features and more. We compared Lightspeed with over a dozen POS system competitors to evaluate and rate its strengths and weaknesses in various areas. Our research gave us a good sense of where Lightspeed shines and where it could improve.
Lightspeed FAQs
Overall Value
We recommend Lightspeed for …
- Retailers, restaurants and golf courses.
- Businesses that are looking for flexible monthly pricing plans.
- Companies that are seeking advanced inventory management features.
We don’t recommend Lightspeed for …
- Brand-new businesses.
- Small companies on a tight budget.
