Company Profile
Lightspeed offers an all-in-one solution that is full of useful features and aimed specially at businesses that activate in the restaurant and retail industries. Its POS system can help you manage all areas of interest and therefore help you have a more seamless experience that will push your business higher up in the rankings. Plus, it offers integrations for over 250 partners along with hardware solutions straight from the source. Its interface is intuitive and efficient meant for both the front end and back end of your business. In this review, we will be diving deep into what Lightspeed offers with its POS system and whether or not it’s a good choice.
Why
Choose Lightspeed
Lightspeed is a professional
POS system along with a business management tool meant for businesses in the
retail and restaurant industries. Its point-of-sale system comes with a wide
range of features, from employee management and floor plans to staff system
accessibility and online menu editing. Besides this, as a business owner, you
are allowed to print your orders and send info from wherever you are to the
kitchen of your restaurant. In fact, this is what makes Lightspeed unique in
this industry: the fact that it is flexible enough to provide customized
solutions for different types of businesses.
You should use Lightspeed for
its multitude of features, extensive resource database, professional customer
support system, and ease of use. Besides this, the system is not aimed at
businesses of certain sizes. This means that you can only use the features that
matter for your business size and purpose and ignore the rest.
What
Lightspeed Offers - Features and Functionality
As previously mentioned,
there are plenty of features and functionalities that the Lightspeed POS system
comes with to assist you and your business. Here is a more in-depth look at the
most important ones:
Features and uses
- Inventory
management:
thanks to the multitude of tools for inventory management from Lightspeed, you
can transfer files using Excel or CSV from one platform to another. You can
also add descriptions and categories to your products and fill your stocks from
vendors at the same time without wasting money and hours;
- Analytics and
reporting:
you can benefit from advanced retail analytics by using the Lightspeed system
like your best-sellers, info on recurring and new clients, and your stock. You
can also track the performance of all of your employees and how successful
their activity is. Last but not least, you can do everything remotely 24/7 by
using a mobile device;
- Client
management: another
interesting and useful feature of the Lightspeed POS system is the possibility
to manage gift cards, promotions, and loyalty programs. You can keep them all
in one place and go from there;
- Integrated
payments:
thanks to the Lightspeed system, your business can accept all kinds of payments
regardless if they are cash, mobile, or card. The whole process is compliant
with the PCI regulations. This means that your client's data is secure at all
times;
- Integrations: the Lightspeed POS system is
compatible with about one hundred apps. The most important of those are Clock,
Cludbeds, Ask Emma, 1-Click, and Agendrix. You can integrate pretty much
everything into your system with just a few clicks.
Requirements
In order to use the Lightspeed
system, you only need an iPad or a computer. However, the official Lightspeed
website also offers you the possibility to buy special hardware. You can order
everything you need or you can buy special bundles that will fit your business
like a glove. Moreover, they can be customized so they can fit with the
aesthetic of your business.
Lightspeed sells iPad and
desktop hardware kits which come with different items. The iPad kit includes a
cash drawer, a LAN receipt printer with paper, a Bluetooth scanner, and an iPad
stand. The desktop one comes with a USB scanner and receipt printer and cash
drawer.
Plans
& Pricing
Lightspeed has differently
priced packages that you can buy depending on the type of business you own. You
can pay for them monthly or yearly. All of the plans come with 24/7 support,
free training, one on one onboarding, similar rates, and an account manager.
Therefore, for businesses in the retail industry, the prices are as follows:
-
The Lean Plan: it costs $69/month and it’s
the most basic plan. It includes one register, a retail POS, and integrated
payments;
-
The Standard Plan: it costs $119/month and it’s
the most popular plan. Apart from the aforementioned features it also comes
with eCommerce and accounting features;
-
The Advanced
Plan: it costs
$199/month and also comes with omnichannel loyalty and advanced reporting
tools;
-
The Enterprise
Plan is
meant for larger businesses and you can get a quote for it by contacting the
company.
For restaurants, these are
the prices for the available plans:
-
The Essentials
Plan: it costs
$39/month and it comes with the most important features like a POS register,
mobile and takeout access, menu manager, analytics, reporting, 24/7 support,
inventory, a table mode, and a dedicated manager;
-
The Plus Plan: it costs $119/month and,
apart from the aforementioned features, it also comes with gift cards and
loyalty features;
-
The Pro Plan: it costs $289/month and,
apart from the aforementioned features, it also comes with advanced insights
and inventory features;
-
The Enterprise
Plan is
meant for larger businesses and you can get a quote for it by contacting the
company.
As for gold courses, the only way to find out more about the prices is to contact Lightspeed and obtain a personalized quote. Keep in mind that you will have a free 14-day trial regardless of your plan choice so that you can test every feature and make an educated decision without paying first.
Ease
of Use
As a whole, the Lightspeed
POS system is very easy to use and has an intuitive interface. Both the front-end
and back-end tools work great and are certainly helpful for all kinds of
businesses. Its design is simple enough for it to be user-friendly but also has
a lot of features that require a learning curve for you to use it correctly.
However, your dedicated account manager will guide you through every step of
the process. They will also offer you precious advice on what you should do
next.
The configuration and setup
phases are also easy to get through because they come with a step-by-step
wizard. When it comes to the management tools, they come in categories so it’s
easier to pick the right one. This also means that the probability of you
making a mistake is very slim with Lightspeed. With just a little bit of time
and effort, you will find the system effortless to work with and extremely
intuitive too.
Customer
Support
Lightspeed is excellent when
it comes to providing professional customer support. Its official website has a
plethora of educational resources and useful information on each particular
product. There are also a lot of tools, webinars, events, and a blog section
that you can use for informative purposes. You can also contact the company by
calling 866-932-1801 which is a toll-free number
Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 9 PM and Saturday to Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM.
Lightspeed has numerous
branches spread all over the world and all their contact info is displayed on
the official website. You will find their phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail
addresses, working hours, and addresses in one place on the website. Last but
not least, there is also a live chat bubble available in the bottom right
corner of the website that you can use to talk to a representative.
Contract
Terms
The standard term for the
contract offered by Lightspeed is fourteen months but you can always pick the
14-day free trial before committing to it. The company also has a 30-day
hardware guarantee which is then transferred to the manufacturer.
Conclusion
All in all, Lightspeed is a very good choice if you have a retail or restaurant business and want to benefit from multiple features. The system is easy to use, comes with a lot of integrations, and its customer support is professional. In short, the Lightspeed POS system is a good choice regardless of the size of your business as long as you want to evolve and make your job easier.
Physical Address
700 St-Antoine Est, Suite 300,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2Y1A6
711 Capitol Way South, Suite 705,
Olympia, Washington, United States, 98501
