Simple, effective, easy-to-use software

Pros

We have been using eCom for about a month now and it has been a great experience. From the customer service to the software itself, it is pretty straightforward and just works. Whenever a question or issue arises, I don't hesitate to call customer support as I know that there will be an answer or solution. The nice thing I like about calling them is that if there is a few people ahead of me in the queue, I have the option of leaving my number and having one of them call me so I don't have to waste time waiting on the phone. When it comes to using eCom, it isn't difficult to learn at all and is pretty painless to use. I like that I can customize everything about the website's theme, right down to the code, to suit my needs. I also like that I can add notes to customers' orders as this lets me keep track of issues in a more secure place rather than pen and paper. Overall, I would definitely recommend eCom to anyone who wants a simple, painless, easy-to-use program to manage their website.

Cons

The only con I've ran into is that if there is a problem with a designed theme, a ticket has to be placed on it and we have to wait to hear back from the developer of that particular theme. Luckily, I have knowledge of web development and was able to fix it on my own as they allow for that.

Great product and great support!

Great software with phenomenal support. We love and look forward to long-term partnership with LightSpeed.

Pros

This software can do 9 of 10 things in every every of my business. Great inventory management (10 out of 10), great sales( 9 out of 10), and great standard reporting(8 out of 10).

Cons

Inventory will not go to negative on hand, gift cards do not work online, and no bin location for each product.

Want fast ecommerce website? Don't choose Lightspeed e-commerse

So far, VERY frustrating. Every time I ask for information to get this started, I am sent to a video they link me up with and they walk away. When I ask for approval for payments, they tell me that my website is not up yet, DUH! I keep adding more and it puts me back more. Now that I am done on my end, I am still waiting after thier last demand to put un-nneded items on the website. Currently I am using my godaddy still and may not use lightspeed until I am ready, maybe 6 months. By setting all of these high bars that are un-needed (godaddy doesn't need them) it just seems that lightspeed just would rather go away than take credit card payments from my business. So for now, we are using godaddy again (turned it back on) and take square and paypal, neither business needed me to do nothing to take payments like lightspeed.

Pros

If it ever gets going, it should link my brick n mortar location inventory. The cost was also a plus as it fits small business's without huge amounts of cashflow. NCR wanted $6k a month and they only have 100 registers as a lowest sales pitch.

Cons

When you start lightspeed for your brick n mortar, its a LONG process. I have over 490 items that I had to create catagories and sub catagories. Took me 4 - 8 hour days! Then you have to create a part name, price schedule, internet price and more. (another 4 - 8 hours days) When I finally got it done, it's super easy to use. Then when I wanted to do the e-commerce part, what a pain! Instead of going though your own payment processor like Square, they want you to use lightspeed. (A little better price, but not much) Anyways, in order to use payments online even though you have been approved to use it on your brick n mortar, they want you to jump hoop after hoop. You have to have policies on your website that don't purtain to your business, they want you to put in disclaimers, general terms and conditions, disclaimer, and other stuff that godaddy NEVER required to take online payments. Godaddy allows me to use anyone I want ofr payments with ZERO hoops. Still after my "uneeded" content was done, I still havent used them yet. Doing the otehr side for ecommrce has taken me 2 x's as long do get this up and still not running. Free webpages are only built to sell jewelry or shoes, not industrial parts. IF this ever gets off the ground, it supposedly will link with my retail/ecommerce and even ebay (through a 3rd party provider of course (more $$))

Lightspeed is the right fit for our small business

We're very pleased with Lightspeed for our small furniture business. It works well with both sides of our businesdls: retail side as well as an on-site manufacturing side. The reporting feature allows us to see what items/vendors are most profitable And, our image with the customer is much more professional than before when we wrote paper receipts for each transaction. Our staff of 4 (ages 21-67) has adapted well to the software.

Pros

The reporting features are some of my most useful tools in the software. Tech support is really good, when needed Our non-tech savvy staff is able to use it effectively

Cons

The label feature only works with 2" labels or smaller Grouping items such as furniture sets is a multi-step process that can be time-consuming at checkout.

Great for MAC Users

Pros

Accurate reporting and a more thorough online presence. Ease of transfer of data over and in setting up new products Quick to respond technical support team ADDED - the support staff integrated payment processing and their Genius terminal.

Cons

No offline availability. If internet is down, you can't do anything. No automatic notice of duplicate customer names. No automatic account creation of customer names with credit card payments. Unable to add single item on multiple item sale to special order.

Works best when linked with Lightspeed Retail

This would be a great option if there weren't so many other great ecommerce options like Shopify, bigcommerce, etc... Otherwise, if you already use Lightspeed, this is the best option.

Pros

Very customizable with a wealth of themes and plugins. API support for Shipstation, which we use every day. Customizable statuses for orders which customers can see by logging into their accounts.

Cons

No easy way to communicate with customers about their purchases through the application (you can send an email through the app, but all communication then goes through external email. Also, once the message is sent, you can't view what you just sent.)

Easy to use POS but certain Limitations

Lightspeed is an affordable, easy to use POS. It is a great POS if you are using it to track all your inventory. If not, it has too many limitations to make it worthwhile.

Pros

Lightspeed is easy to setup and use. Its cloud version is great for managing multiple retail locations, allowing for transfers between locations. You can download a full lists of your products on Lightspeed. Easy to use and intuitive.

Cons

The biggest drawback we ran into with using Lightspeed is that it does not allow you to upload your inventory quantities. We use an external system to track inventory and it's frustrating not to be able to use a csv to upload inventory. The only we to update inventory is through doing a full physical inventory count, which we only do twice a year.

Product works, but there are others that are better....

Pros

The interface is incredibly easy to utilize. Loading products and walking through a sales process is simple.

Cons

The lack of integration between lightspeed and other inventory tools can be frustrating at times, but there are workarounds. Customer service is not the best - response times are lacking.