Lightspeed Review

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 POS 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. 

The robust POS system also provides advanced analytics data that creates customized POS reports about your business. You can view custom reports to see how your business is performing and identify new opportunities. You’ll gain advanced insights about your customers and how to serve them better. 

Lightspeed may not be as suitable for new businesses or those on a tight budget, though. It starts at $89 per month, which could be cost-prohibitive for these types of businesses. These businesses may consider our Toast review instead, as the company offers a free plan. 

Lightspeed helps retailers order stock easily and quickly if items are running low. Source: Lightspeed

Usability

We appreciate that Lightspeed is designed with retail businesses in mind and that it offers many retail-specific features. 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

As POS systems change and evolve beyond processing sales, features such as inventory management help businesses connect various aspects of their ecosystems. Lightspeed’s inventory management features are impressive, giving business owners the tools necessary to run a retail store. 

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. 

Retailers can use Lightspeed to track inventory across multiple store locations. Source: Lightspeed

Customer Management

We like that Lightspeed is a customer relationship management (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. 

Lightspeed makes it easy to set up a customer database, customer profiles and groups. Source: Lightspeed

Loyalty Programs

We were impressed that Lightspeed helps retailers integrate customer sales data with loyalty tools to send targeted offers and deals. This feature allows you to do several essential things, including the following:

• 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. 

Lightspeed makes it easy to set up and automatically manage custom rewards programs. Source: Lightspeed

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 choose between role-based control and customized permissions for each user. 

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

E-commerce is becoming ubiquitous, as many physical stores are either moving online or adding an online element to their business. 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

With Lightspeed, you can build a new e-commerce store or connect to an existing one. Source: Lightspeed

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.

Lightspeed’s sales and inventory reports include sales year over year, profit year over year, and recent sales. Source: Lightspeed

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.

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. Based on its pricing plans, we recommend Lightspeed for established businesses or startups with considerable funding. New or very small businesses may find them cost-prohibitive, though.

Here’s a breakdown of Lightspeed’s retail POS plan costs and payment processing fees. (Restaurant and golf POS pricing is also available.)

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. (You can add reporting tools for a fee.)
• 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 $239 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

When you sign up as a Lightspeed customer, you must choose between Lightspeed Retail and Lightspeed Restaurant software. Once you’ve made your selection, you can access Lightspeed Payments, the company’s payment processing service. We like that Lightspeed Payments has flat-rate pricing with no additional fees.

The fee for accepting credit cards in person is 2.6 percent plus 10 cents per transaction, and the fee for card-not-present transactions is 2.6 percent plus 30 cents per transaction. Customers can also choose from one of Lightspeed’s payment processing partners.

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. 

Lightspeed’s product-specific online help centers provide extensive information. Source: Lightspeed

Lightspeed Drawbacks

There’s a lot to appreciate about Lightspeed, but here are two 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. 

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.   

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.