Best Decision I have made for my company!!

Pros

The features we wanted and needed in or software and love about Lightspeed are:
100% Cloud based solution
True Omni Channel environment
Streamlined processes
Extremely well written software and Knowledge base
Ability to upload vendor price list, descriptions to Lightspeed All of our vendors information is at our finger tips, before we would have to hunt or go looking for this information now it’s just there.
Growing a retail business today can be done with lightspeed, since they have thought out whole process, and added a robust interface of features
A seamless connection to QuickBooks online.
We went out and reviewed, demoed almost 20 POS vendors some that were more specific to our industry and some that weren't and the boiled it down to 3 for all of our staff to review since they were going to be using the software daily and focused on the employee that has the most stress related to their respective job and targeted it first and secondly everyone else
We had to have 24/7 support
The most important feature we needed was it had to empower our team thru the business model we run and grow the team in all aspects of our business

Cons

It took a lot of time to get the information together from our 30+ year old company to go over to lightspeed platform from our old systems, and it was quite a chore for a small company. And not all of our information could come over in the initial installation lightspeed was somewhat limited, we could not bring our customers history and vendor history either. Reporting could be better and should be included with the base product, you will at some point "have to have the reports add-on" it is however an amazing extension on the base product. You have to have a good internet connection since you will be using a 100% Cloud based product, and you will have to have a backup internet connection, so you are always connected.
We went out and reviewed, demoed almost 20 POS vendors some that were more specific to our industry and some that weren't and the boiled it down to 3 for all of our staff to review. We focused on the employee that gets the most stress with their respective job and targeted it first and secondly everyone else and Lightspeed has done this.

Fantastic Inventory Management

We've been open a little over three years. When we first opened, we explored over a dozen Point of Sale systems including Revel, Shopkeep, Vend, Lightspeed Retail, Square, and several others. We decided on Lightspeed, but discovered they didn't have a clear roadmap for Apple Pay, and so we went with our second choice, Shopkeep. Shopkeep was fantastic for the first year, but as our inventory grew (we carry over 10,000 unique SKUs), it's inventory management features started to feel sluggish, and receiving orders each week started to take a significant amount of time. During our second year, we started reevaluating all the players again, and setup a trial account with Lightspeed Retail. Certain things seemed counter intuitive at first - if we mistakenly created an item, we couldn't simply delete it, for example. This is because Lightspeed Retail strives to preserve all financial and transactional data; since an item could contain a sales history, it can't be deleted. Instead, it's archived, and can be restored to visibility with the click of a button. Over time, we've come to appreciate this feature, and the sheer amount of data that is provided through the system. Inventory Counts can be done quickly - grab an iPad and a bar code scanner, and just start scanning items on your slat wall, shelf, or other display area. When you're done, you can review the counts, reconcile them, and get information on shrinkage, etc. Acquiring product and receiving it is a breeze. We can build our POs in Lightspeed Retail - using trigger points or by simply adding items to an open PO. We can then email that PO directly to our distributor, who processes it. When the items come in, we can quickly receive them either using a barcode scanner, keying in the item counts line by line, or doing a visual confirmation and clicking the "receive everything and do the right thing" buttons. Printing labels with barcodes is a breeze. What really sets Lightspeed apart is their service. I can honestly say that I have no idea how to setup the label printer on our Lightspeed system, because whenever we install a new laptop or desktop that needs access, I simply chat with Lightspeed support and they remote into our system and do the right thing. When we set our printer up the first time, the print was a little too far to the left for my liking. They tweaked the templates on the fly, with me offering help like "No, a little more to the right" until it was done. They're insanely helpful.

Pros

- Excellent Purchase Order Workflow
- Easy tool to do inventory counts quickly
- (Beta) Import Tool makes it easy to bulk load new items, or update existing ones
- Supports custom fields to add additional information to items (Release Dates, for example)
- Phone and online support is fantastic

Cons

- May seem pricey if you aren't leveraging all the features
- Limited barcode scanner compatibly
- Custom fields are not currently searchable

Excellent software for growing businesses.

Overall the software is amazing and the good outweighs the bad and a tested about 10 different PoS softwares when I was shopping around and none of them encompass everything I have mentioned so i know my expectations are very high....which is why I state again...if they added in these features it would make them industry leaders and really a phenomenal PoS system. (its 90% of the way there for me...just a few more features and if would be the best)

Pros

The integration with xero accounting has been a true time saver for my business. It transfers all sales data at the end of the day seamlessly so I don't have to. The ability to use the front end off site has been super helpful as well as it doesn't tie me down to the store and I can do a lot of my work on the go. Creating products, invoicing clients, setting up the main screen custom to what I want is extremely simple once you run through it once.

Cons

Theres a few simple features that are missing from the PoS software which I would like to see integrated and would make it hands down the best in the industry for small businesses.
1) Getting an integrated payment terminal that accepts chip, pay pass and swipe options would avoid any mistakes between manually punching in the amounts on the debit/credit machine and would avoid any back end work after the day closes to be able to balance the day
2) Allowing me to enter the details of the invoices (supplier name, invoice number, total amount being paid, gst, pst, etc.) that are being paid out on a daily basis and having that information transferred to xero would alleviate tons of paper work after the close of the day.
3) There is no way to pull out a month end statement for corporate clients that pay their account once a month. Checks have to be cross referenced manually with the bills that have been put on tab. You should be able to at the very least select which tab invoices are being paid from the list of invoices on the clients account. This would show which ones are outstanding at a glance rather than having to refer back to the paper invoices that the system creates.
4) A front facing screen to display pricing of items being charged, advertisements, and other information is something I have been asking for since day 1 (3 years now). And I would love to see this feature incorporated.
5) Having the ability to offer a discount for a bulk purchase is something that should be automatic.

Lightspeed Retail review from retailer

Pros

We have used Lightspeed Retail for over 2 years now for our seasonal retail business as well as a small wholesale operations that includes manufacturing/production. While small scale compared with many POS users, we have unique and demanding needs and have struggled to find a good software interface. Lightspeed has been a solid performer and worked well for us.

We have a wide range of part time employees with various levels of tech savvy and expertise. Lightspeed is intuitive and user-friendly in basic procedure – checkout, returns, applying discounts, holding or suspending sales and adding customers. Lightspeed was on time with EMV-certified terminal support by the October 2015 deadline and has worked well with Cayan.

Adding products is straightforward. We only use the most basic features of purchase orders and inventory management – we do not rely on Lightspeed to generate orders based on stock but those look like useful features for larger operations.

Reporting is comprehensive and makes it easy to track sales and trends and reports are easily exported to Excel.

Customer service has been prompt and when there are long wait times, you have the option to leave your number and receive a return call. Follow through on issues has been good and while there have been challenges, problems are resolved in a timely manner.

For the products we produce, the “build” function works well to create the pieces from parts in inventory.

Cons

The main unresolved issue I have had with Lightspeed is that it rounds the cost of items to two decimal places. We deal in 100s of pieces that are fractions of a cent and therefore simply cannot track costs. All of these items show as have no cost which is extremely problematic and exponentially so when a piece is created from several “no cost” items. I was told almost two years ago that a fix had been requested by many customers and indeed it was listed several times in the “Lightspeed Ideas” but to my knowledge nothing has been done. If this could be fixed, Lightspeed would be an almost perfect POS solution for us!

Also it is spendy. But I guess you get what you pay for.

Packed with features, with room to grow

Pros

Great reporting, easy to use simplicity. Constantly improving the software, interface, features, etc. It is superb for inventory management. Gift Cards are easy to use, re-use, re-charge, etc. Customer loyalty programs are being integrated, once more are integrated, this platform will be far above the competition.
This platform is great for starting small, or large. It has all the features you didn't know you would need. With constant feedback from customers like myself, they are constantly listening and improving the retail POS systems.
I know I list quite a few things I don't like, but the software's great qualities far exceed the negatives, which may be phased out sooner or later with updates.

Cons

Cloud based, when it has issues, you are stuck with just an iPad or Computer. Nothing can be done with the systems. No sales, no reports, nothing. The Technology division reports that they are working to improve infrastructure, so I hope that happens before the 2015 holiday season. They are a very popular POS system and are growing very fast.

Credit Card readers are subpar with Element Payments, but improving. Plus the EMV card readers are due in a couple of months. I've used both the headphone & lightning connector styles for the iPad. Each have positives and negatives. The headphone card reader wears out if you swipe alot, I swipe approx 25-50/day and its lasted about 8 months and is constant on reading cards. Lightning connector card reader isn't designed to be used while charging your iPad. So if you run 50+ transactions in a day on the iPad, you will need to remove the card reader to charge the iPad mid day, because charging the iPad through the card reader takes so long that the iPad uses power faster than its recharged, so removing the card reader to keep the iPad charged is a nuisance. Also the micro usb charging port on the Lightning Card reader looses its connection like all micro USB connectors typically do with wear. The iPad uses Wifi & Bluetooth all day for the internet and barcode reader, so it drains the power quickly. I may switch to the computer versions for holidays when we are busy and cant be recharging the iPad all the time.

When you create your account, be ready to be charged for each employee after you have more than 7 in the system. If you don't keep track of employee sales, times, etc using the system, then a single pin for each sale will work, but if you want to use all the employee tracking features for sales, time, you have to pay for each employee you add to the system after 7 I believe. I use 9-12 employees off and on, so I have to pay for each one for the full year after #7. The employee's should be included in the package price, up to 15, then have a price structure for the next 5, not each one. It becomes more expensive as you grow as a business and want to keep track of employee data.

It has no commissions structure. So if you want to give commissions, you have to do that manually with your reporting data.

Exceptional - It's amazing what you can do with Lightspeed Point of Sale & eCom

Quick reliable and organized access to: sales, inventory, customer information. A software system that allows me to create POs, send them electronically to vendors, document all aspects of product ordering. A system that provides an eCommerce public facing front-end that is highly customizable.

Pros

Ease of use (given how flexible and intricate the program is). Browser based for legacy PCs - with multiple browser tabs allowed to easily switch between POS modules. iPad based app for portability to remote sales locations. Even works on smartphones for quick updates and status checks. Cloud based - therefore, access your business information anywhere you are Internet connected. Great support staff - knowledgeable, friendly and insightful. eCom module (additional fee) plugs in seamlessly allows you to sync retail SKUs so that they are public facing via your Lightspeed hosted website. Item sold on-line via eCom is immediately updated to the cloud and reflected in POS (and vice versa).

Cons

While the POS and eCom integration is wonderful, you still must manage inventory on both platforms in order to get the desired results. For example, when new inventory arrives you receive the items through your POS based purchase order. This boosts your inventory and handles new/updated cost, retail pricing, etc., and passes all of this on to eCom. However, you then need to access eCom to update public facing product narratives, SEO related fields, related products, additional category related references, etc.. So, while both programs are great and work together - it will be even better when FULL integration of the two programs is achieved.

The best POS we have had in our 91 years in business

Our experience with several POS systems over the years indicates that it is important to understand how a proposed POS system works and what the costs are and what the assurance is that the system will work for us. Time spent in learning how well the POS matches our processes is very important. Fortunately, we took the time to go over our needs in depth with Lightspeed sales and were able to be sure the solution fit our needs before purchase. We are very happy with our Lightspeed product and service.

Pros

We have used Lightspeed Retail for about 5 years and have integrated it with their Webstore ecommerch for 2 years before changing over to Lightspeed Ecom for the past 8 months. Getting POS and integrated ecommerce to work together takes more work than most people realize, so it is important to have technical support available that is willing and competent. We have found Lightspeed to be flexible enough to work with our preferences for POS and ecommerce. And, we have had excellent experience particularly with the Ecom help and also with Lightspeed POS help.

Cons

We have found very few problems with the POS and Ecom products. There is a small rounding issue so that occasionally PO's need to be adjusted by a few cents to match an invoice amount from a supplier. We have almost always been able to get the results we need by calling tech support and telling them what we are wanting to do and getting their suggestions about possible solutions.

Transferring from Onsite to Retail after nearly 10 years of service..

Pros

We have been using Lightspeed POS systems since 2008. As we made our transition from Onsite to the Cloud based server in the Summer of 2018, Lightspeed has gone the extra mile to make sure that their product worked with our relatively unique business. Although not without its stumbles along the way, The reps have gone out of their way to make sure that we are well prepared for whatever may come our way. Both the reps follow-through, attention to detail, and never-ending patience have been exemplary.

Cons

There were some aspects of Retail that were told to us as if they were included, but we soon realized many of the benefits of Retail are add-ons (aka cost extra money) and needed to be heavily jerry rigged to work for our specific business. A lot of small yet important issues, like record keeping of outgoing emails with receipts, or the ability to change a purchase after it has been completed. We used to be able to edit invoices on Onsite, and now even an owner, admin or manager does not have that option. Furthermore, if a customer decides to ship their purchase after it has completed, there is no way to alter the invoice to make it so. Or that we cannot use any of the same labels or gift cards that we once used with Onsite. There are just many small things that were not made clear that we would be losing when we moved over

Robust Information Effectively Presented

Lightspeed's customer support is excellent overall. At least half the time when we experience a problem, it's due to our lack of understanding rather than a shortfall of the product. Their responses are usually prompt and helpful. Also, in almost three years of using the product, we have had virtually zero downtime and have seen nary a hiccup through numerous system updates and the occasional hotfix.

Pros

Tons of valuable information for every product we sell. And in contrast to some other systems that try to pack everything on a single page, Lightspeed Retail allocates product information across a menu of pages so you can quickly navigate to the data you want (and ignore what you don't want). And much of the information is searchable in ways that help our business create purchase orders and determine which products to stock or discontinue.
We have been cautious in taking advantage of partnerships available through Lightspeed (i.e., their ecommerce platform and loyalty program), but our recent experience with both of those has been excellent.

Cons

Some aspects of ongoing database management are not transparent to the technically nonproficient user. We have 5500+ SKUs that are constantly in flux, and our list of vendors also changes regularly. Our efforts to clean up the clutter of stale information are not always successful. And some types of searches are not well supported (so far).

Amazing Features! Highly Recommend!

Recommend to any size restaurant! Its highly scalable and can grow with you. I love the menu creation feature, and how it can do delivery and take-out with no issues, even add to the same ticket. The layout tool is a strong part of Lightspeed. It has every feature to design a solution that allows for the waitstaff to feel they have control over the flow of seating. Highly recommend Lightspeed!

Pros

Lightspeed has the features! I like the integration with the web on the retail side. It seamlessly integrates the our clients stores with the eCommerce site they have. This allows for much better inventory control, and allows to offer the same features as the big box stores. Things like order online, and pick-up it the store.

The lightspeed restaurant edition, is the one the best we have used or offered to clients. We directly tested and used this software looking for issues. We found very little, and nothing to sway from using. The server module which allows for table and waitress management is one of the best I have every used. Allow you to layout your restaurant exactly as you have it. You can even have multiple layouts which allows for if you change arrangements for evening dinning or large parties.

Creating your menu is something that lacks in many software for food service. Lightspeed offers full control over the menu! you can go as deep as you want in what you track right down to the salt and pepper per item. Allows for pictures, ingredients, costs, specials, limited time specials, up sale, add-ons, combo, you name it, it can be done. Highly recommend this software for any size food service business.

Cons

No real cons. They offer updates, the support is there. I would say that the cost per location can add up for multi-location businesses. Overall it is becoming one of the best.

Very Intuitive POS

Pros

We've been using Lightspeed Retail for close to a year now and have been very happy. My biggest compliment is how user friendly the entire platform is. The system is very intuitive which saves me hours when training a new employee. Any computer-literate person can jump in and figure out the essentials on their own in a matter of minutes. I'm still learning the ins and outs of some of the more advanced settings/reports, but if they're anything like the features I use daily, I suspect I'll be happy with those too.

I've had to call customer support several times over the last year, and each time has been a pleasant experience. Most recently, I was on hold, waiting for a representative to pick up. After about 30 seconds, I was offered to have them call me back once one became available. It worked well because I could go back to working on other things. About 20 minutes later, I got the call, the rep immediately fixed one of my issues, then said he'd have our account manager call back to help with my other question (he wasn't able to make the changes I was requesting). Our account manager called back later that day, and after doing some research, got us exactly what we were hoping for.

I can understand people's dissatisfaction with being on hold or waiting for someone to call you back. If it's an urgent issue, that would be very frustrating. Maybe we've been lucky, but none of the issues I've had to call about have been time sensitive so it worked really well having them call me back instead of being stuck on the phone waiting for someone to pick up.

All in all, we've be very satisfied with their service. Hopefully things continue to improve!

Cons

Honestly, I have very little complaints. Maybe have more support reps so there's no hold time? But I realize adding the extra staff would get expensive quick.

We made the switch to Lightspeed, from Quickbooks, in 2011 during a major expansion of our 1000 sq ft retail clothing store. It was the perfect choice to meet our quickly growing needs for a better organized and more functional way to track inventory, make sales and view reports -- in fact, we really regretted not switching earlier! The easy to use POS screen made training our employees a breeze and ensures that sales data is captured completely and systematically for each transaction -- something we didn't have the ability to do when we were hand-typing each sales invoice in Quickbooks. Plus, the addition of integrated hardware (a barcode scanner, barcode label printer, cash drawer and receipt printer) accomplished even more than faster transaction time and more accurate inventory records -- it made our sales staff seem more professional and our customers feel more comfortable. Inventory tracking is one of the biggest strengths of this software. You can determine how much information you want to enter about each product, depending on what data you want to collect - multiple suppliers and costs, UPC codes, margins, related products and packaging... It was revolutionary for us to be able to know exactly what we have in inventory instead of confusing spreadsheets full of inconsistently described merchandise. We love that we can see detailed information about which products we have on the floor versus what's in storage, that we can quickly compare expenses with profits, and that we can create reorders and customer - specific orders with a couple of clicks. We also added the Lightspeed webstore when we switched to Lightspeed - and we're so happy that we did. We'd tried using several different platforms for an online shop, but kept running into the nagging issue of inventory maintenance since we were listing the same products online that were for sale