Lightspeed
Written by
Amrita Biswas
About the brand
Lightspeed is a feature-rich all-in-one solution for small businesses from the retail and restaurant industries. With its help, one can easily manage staff, customer relationships, large volumes of data, inventory, as well as payments, transactions, and stocking. That said, the diversity of applications is far from being Lightspeed’s key selling point. The company’s focus on helping entrepreneurs from all around the globe seals the deal for most of their users. Lightspeed... POS is a versatile point-of-sale system that caters to various industries such as retail (including apparel, bike, books, electronics, health, home & garden, jewelry), restaurant, quick service, hotels, and golf retail. However, it does not support certain industries like food truck, pizzeria, catering, groceries, and services, including food & beverage. With its range of features and capabilities, Lightspeed POS is an excellent choice for businesses in industries it supports. Read more
9.0
Price
9.0
Ease of use
10
Features
10
Service
9.5
Overall
Our Verdict
Lightspeed is a simple, intuitive solution designed for small businesses from the retail and restaurant industries. It has the functionality you’ll need, focused in a single, easily manageable place, and the system tosses in a few handy features you never even knew you needed. All in all, Lightspeed is an amazing quality of life improvement for retailers and restaurant owners.
Pros
- All-in-one solution
- Rich customization options
- Great insights & analytics features
- Amazing customer support
Cons
- No variety in price packages
- Some analytics tools come at an additional cost
Plans & Pricing
Lightspeed’s offers pricing for whatever stage your business is at. Each of the plans are billed monthly and annually. All plans allow you to accept credit card payments at a card-present rate of 2.6% + 10¢ and a card-not-present rate of 2.6% + 30¢.
Conveniently, they offer a 14-day trial that grants you access to every bit of the platform’s functionality. This is a great way to test the water without investing a single dime. Sign up, choose your type of business, and you’ll be set to go in no time!
Basic
Basic is a tailored solution crafted for independent retailers, focusing on meeting essential day-to-day needs efficiently. Packed with all the necessary tools, including an intuitive point of sale system and real-time inventory management, it ensures swift transactions. At just $89 per month when billed annually or $109 billed monthly, it offers excellent value for its comprehensive features. With multi-store functionality, unified payments, and round-the-clock chat support, Basic empowers businesses with 1+ outlet, 1+ register, unlimited turnover, products, and users, facilitating seamless operations and growth.
Core
Core is the ultimate choice for retailers aiming to streamline operations and foster business expansion. Priced at $149 per month when billed annually or $179 billed monthly, Core provides unparalleled value with its comprehensive set of features.
With capabilities such as an intuitive point of sale system, real-time inventory management, and multi-store functionality, Core equips businesses with the tools needed to thrive. Integration with top-tier accounting and ecommerce software, along with 24/7 chat support, ensures seamless operations. Additionally, Core enables businesses to enhance customer experience through features like gift cards, Loyalty programs, and detailed inventory and sales reports. With Core, businesses can elevate their operations and take their ventures to new heights.
Plus
Plus is the premier solution tailored for established retail operations seeking advanced customization and seamless scalability. Priced at $239 per month when billed annually or $289 billed monthly, Plus offers unparalleled flexibility and functionality. With features such as an intuitive point of sale system, real-time inventory management, and multi-store functionality, Plus empowers complex retailers to push boundaries.
Integration with top-tier accounting software and 24/7 phone and chat support ensure smooth operations. Plus also provides tools to enhance customer experience through features like gift cards, Loyalty programs, and detailed inventory and sales reports. Moreover, Plus offers a custom report builder, custom workflows, and API access, enabling retailers to tailor their systems to meet specific needs and drive success. With Plus, retailers can elevate their operations and unlock new opportunities for growth.
Enterprise
Finally, the Enterprise plan gives you everything above, plus deep analytics, at a customized price. This plan is for the more serious business that is ready to look deep into their numbers and grow even more. In order to find out about pricing, you can contact Lightspeed to get a quote.
Plans & Pricing Canada
In-depth review
Features and Functionality
We’ve talked about Lightspeed being an all-in-one POS solution for small businesses before, but now the time has come to dive a bit deeper.
Inventory management
Lightspeed comes with a set of handy features for inventory management:
- Item import: Simple data transfers from one platform to another via Excel or CSV files.
- Product customization: Add additional descriptions like size and color to your products or categorize them by certain sets of parameters.
- Bulk stocking: You can easily stock from multiple vendors at once saving time and money in the process. More on the matter, you can order stock directly from your POS.
Reporting and analytics
With the built-in reporting functionality your POS grows from a tool for selling into a full-blown CRM system:
- Retail analytics: Learn more about new and recurring customers, your own stock, and best-selling items.
- Employee tracking: Check the performance of your staff and, essentially, the success of the established sales process.
- Remote reporting: You can’t stay at work 24/7. That doesn’t mean that you can’t check on how the things are going from the comfort of your couch.
Integrated payments
Lightspeed can accept any kind of payment whether it be cash, card, or mobile. The payment process is PCI compliant, meaning credit card data is processed and transmitted electronically in a secure environment. The payment system is EMV-compatible as well.
Customer management
Managing your gift cards, special discounts, and loyalty programs have never been simpler. Set them up in one place and control the sales flow with data-driven decisions on which items are more relevant as an up-sale to your customers.
Hardware Requirements
While all that you essentially need to work is a computer or an iPad, Lightspeed offers several hardware kits for small businesses. You can purchase them in bundles or, alternatively, you can order the items you need in your store separately. More on the matter, you can get them made in a custom design that fits the style and interior of your business.
iPad hardware kit
This kit includes a LAN receipt printer, a cash drawer, a Bluetooth scanner, an iPad stand, and some receipt paper. This bundle is designed for a seamless wireless experience. Simply take the tablet with you and help your customers shop on the fly instead of forcing them to stand in a queue.
The desktop hardware kit
This bundle comes with a cash drawer, a USB scanner, and a USB receipt printer all designed to give a slick, modern vibe from the casher’s stand.
Integrations & Add-ons
Lightspeed POS is compatible with an impressive list of nearly 100 applications like 1-Click website, Ask Emma, Agendrix, Cludbeds, Clock, etc.
It would be much easier to talk about the categories of these apps than to describe each and every one of them in detail. You can easily integrate marketing, analytics, ERP, employee management, payment processing, inventory management, and customer loyalty solutions in a few quick taps of your finger.
Ease of Use
Lightspeed is simple and intuitive enough that you’ll get a good feel of it quite quickly. Setting the tool up is as hard as filling up a form of three fields, and the interface is so straightforward that you’ll feel like someone is holding your hand.
Customer Service
Lightspeed is an outstanding example of support done right. The team covers every aspect of client interactions from the questions people will have about setting up the system, to ongoing maintenance inquiries. Every plan comes with a 100% free of charge one on one session with a professional willing to help out with setting everything up. In addition, you’ll also have access to other support options:
Phone Support
Pick up your phone and have your questions answered at any time of day or night.
Live Online Chat
If you don’t feel like calling and an email seems like it will take too long, contact Lightspeed via their live chat.
You can shoot a quick email and get a response in a couple of minutes.
User Reviews
Average User Rating
Two thumbs up
So far the system has been very efficient,. Needless to say I'm very happy with customer service as also the system. From product input to running the system with what your business sells on a day basis, it's all there. I highly recommend lightspeed,. Especially when your adding product everytime to your business.,
Great E-commrce builder
It was a really good experience, the one I had on lightspeed, with this one I had the chance to transform the brick and mortar store I worked on into a functional e commerce website, where you can buy what you want.
Love Lightspeed
Our restaurant has been using Lightspeed for over 3 years. We love the ease of use for everyday and training staff. The price per year is comparable to other POS systems. It has many features which are integrated with other apps.
Amrita Biswas
We make the best effort to present up-to-date information; however, the terms of each offer can be revised according to the service provider’s discretion. The above shall not be considered as an expert or professional advice for any matter.
9.0
Price
9.0
Ease of use
10
Features
10
Service
9.5
Overall
Thank you!
It looks like this system is iPad only. Will it connect it to a cash drawer?
Yes, Lightspeed offers an iPad hardware kit which includes a LAN receipt printer, a cash drawer, a Bluetooth scanner, an iPad stand, and some receipt paper.
I’ve never used an iPad before. How easy is the system to learn?
Lightspeed is simple and intuitive enough that you’ll get a good feel of it quite quickly. Setting the tool up is as hard as filling up a form of three fields, and the interface is so straightforward that you’ll feel like someone is holding your hand.
I have both a brick-and-mortar store and an online shop. Can I link the transactions and inventory of them both?
Lightspeed offers both retail and eCommerce plans. If neither of these plans meets your specific needs, they also build custom plans to make sure you have all the features you need. All you need to do is request a quote.
Does this come with kitchen printing capabilities and is it Wi-Fi or Ethernet
Yes, Lightspeed POS comes with kitchen printing capabilities, and it supports both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections for printers.
Do you have a system that would have a screen facing the customer so as they can see transactions being done and a credit card machine for them to operate?
Yes, Lightspeed offers POS systems which include a customer-facing display and integrated payment solutions to enhance the customer experience during transactions.
Is it HIPAA compliant?
Lightspeed POS is known for being PCI compliant, which is related to payment card industry data security standards. However, specific information about its compliance with HIPAA I would recommend contacting Lightspeed directly
can you integrate the pos with surveillance system so you can check from some where else what is happening in store like watching weather sale is rung or deleted
Yes, you can integrate Lightspeed POS with a surveillance system to monitor store activities. Lightspeed offers an open AI that allows businesses to create custom integrations. You can use this API to connect Lightspeed POS with your surveillance system, enabling you to overlay transaction data on video feeds and monitor activities remotely.