Lightspeed
Lightspeed gives retail and restaurant owners one cloud-based system to manage inventory, process payments, and sell across in-store and online channels.
Overview
Lightspeed is a cloud-based point-of-sale platform built for retailers, restaurants, and golf operators. It handles inventory management, integrated payments, eCommerce, loyalty programs, and reporting from a single system. The Basic plan starts at $89 per month and includes one register, integrated payments at 2.6% plus 10 cents per transaction, inventory management, and 24/7 chat support. The Core plan at $149 per month adds advanced reporting, landed costs, and accounting integrations. The Plus plan at $289 per month unlocks API access, custom workflows, custom user roles, and forecasting tools. All plans include built-in eCommerce and access to the NuORDER wholesale network, which lets you place supplier orders that sync directly into your POS. One retail customer reported cutting purchase order data entry by 80% after connecting NuORDER with Lightspeed. Another reduced payment reconciliation from a full day to ten minutes using Lightspeed Payments.
Features
- Integrated payments at 2.6% plus 10 cents per card-present transaction
- Inventory management with purchase order sync through NuORDER wholesale network
- Built-in eCommerce on all plans
- In-store and online loyalty programs
- 24/7 chat and phone support on all plans
Best for
Lightspeed fits independent retailers, boutiques, and restaurants that want one system to run in-store sales, online sales, and inventory without stitching together separate tools. It also suits businesses planning to grow to multiple locations, since the platform supports custom plans for multi-location operations.
Why this SMB score
Lightspeed delivers strong inventory and payments capabilities for retailers and restaurants, but the tiered pricing structure pushes the most practical features to higher-cost plans, which raises the real monthly cost for small businesses that need more than the basics.