From Dubai to Miami to Shanghai, JRI and Lightspeed join forces to deliver elevated dining experiences around the world

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. is thrilled to announce that it has entered into a preferred partnership with the iconic Joël Robuchon International group of restaurants. Powering the world’s best businesses, Lightspeed is the unified POS and payments platform for ambitious entrepreneurs to accelerate growth, provide the best customer experiences and become a go-to destination in their space.

It’s no secret that every JRI location runs like a well-oiled machine. To match that exceptional level of service, JRI needed a  global unified payments and point of sale solution that could deliver exceptional results at their restaurants, no matter where they’re located around the world. Insert Lightspeed: the cloud-based platform with the necessary global presence and powerful insights—not to mention singular flexibility—that fit JRI’s vision. 

Lightspeed and JRI share the same core principles: excellence, simplicity and consistency. As the late Chef Robuchon said, “To make a grand meal, you have to make it simple.  To look simple is very complicated.  You need the highest quality products, the best equipment and you have to keep the focus on the original flavor of the product.”  Whether guests are enjoying an unforgettable experience in one of JRI’s new unique concepts, having an elegant meal at an illustrious L’Atelier Robuchon or making a quick stop at a sophisticated Deli Robuchon, Lightspeed’s platform brings a simple, seamless experience to staff and customers.

“I grew up watching Joël Robuchon’s cooking shows. This is incredible. It’s such an honor,” said JP Chauvet, Lightpseed’s CEO. “Chef Robuchon built an empire. His restaurants were awarded 31 Michelin stars. It’s still a world record. His whole cooking philosophy—centered on the customer—echoes Lightspeed’s mission to deliver something that appears to be simple but is, in fact, incredibly complex.”

“As we continue to expand to multiple locations around the world it is essential for our future success that we partner with a company like Lightspeed to ensure we customize, streamline and effectively manage all our locations,” said Richard Clark, CEO at JRI. “I am personally very excited to be partnering globally with Lightspeed and look forward to a successful, collaborative partnership.”

JRI joins a growing list of Michelin-starred restaurants using Lightspeed to deliver unparalleled dining experiences, including Alinea (Chicago), Clover Hill (New York), Zilte (Antwerp), Le Chalet de la Forêt (Brussels), Restaurant 212 (Amsterdam), Kei (Paris), Anne Sophie Pic (Lausanne), JAN (Munich) and Da Terra (London).

Read the full press release here.

Lightspeed’s latest updates are helping sophisticated businesses stay ahead of the curve. With enhanced tracking abilities, merchants can streamline scheduling, inventory and orders to save time and focus on what matters

 Lightspeed Commerce Inc. is announcing the launch of advanced features designed to streamline merchant operations: Time Clock, Shipment History and Automated Ordering. Powering the world’s best businesses, Lightspeed is the unified POS and payments platform for ambitious entrepreneurs to accelerate growth, provide the best customer experiences and become a go-to destination in their space.

Lightspeed Retail makes it easy for sophisticated omnichannel businesses to stay on top of everything with these new features:

• Time Clock brings punch-in-and-out to the POS so staff remain focused on selling while retailers can streamline payroll processing, monitor employee attendance and ensure accurate pay through third-party integrations.
• Shipment History allows merchants to track shipments received against placed purchase orders, eliminating the need for manual reconciliation.
• Automated Ordering simplifies complex inventory issues by leveraging Lightspeed Analytics to automate reordering processes.

“Our current economic climate makes running a retail business extra challenging,” says Ana Wight, GM of  Retail at Lightspeed. “These latest updates are designed to make day-to-day operations for merchants more efficient. They give business owners their time back, so they can focus on what counts: connecting with customers.” 

Hello Time Clock, goodbye manual timesheets or switching apps 

This new feature eliminates the need for antiquated time tracking systems or using many unintegrated apps which increases training and compliance costs.

• Punch in and out: Time Clock records start and end times to provide a clear attendance record. 
• Accurate, efficient tracking: paper timesheets or Excel spreadsheets can be time consuming and rife with errors. Time Clock keeps time tracking precise with a single solution. 
• Seamless integration: Time Clock is integrated into Lightspeed Retail which eliminates the need for employees to shuffle between different systems to record their time. Instead, Lightspeed Retail can keep retailers’ payroll systems up-to-date.
• Streamline payroll processing:  with its trusted record system within the platform, Time Clock helps merchants make sure staff is paid accurately when integrated with partners.  

More shipments than purchase orders? That’s no problem with Shipment History 

“[With Shipment History] we can easily see what has been checked into our inventory on a certain purchase order” says Tim Phares, Manager at Active Endeavors, an outdoor equipment retailer in Davenport, Iowa. Merchants who use Lightspeed Retail to place purchase orders can now track the inventory they receive–even when it arrives in multiple shipments. 

With Shipment History,  retailers can track what was received against what was ordered–and make sure they only pay for what arrives.

• A single source of truth: Shipment History lets you keep track of orders, whether they arrive in one fell swoop or in multiple packages.
• Build an archive: each purchase order has a clear shipment history. 
• Streamlined processes: Shipment History saves time and reduces the risk of errors, particularly when it’s time to reconcile invoices. 

Maintaining the delicate balance of supply and demand with Automated Ordering

Powered by Lightspeed Analytics, Automated Ordering generates a list that suggests what to order, when to order it–and in what quantities. Automated Ordering analyzes data to determine what’s been selling well and forecasts when stock needs to be replenished. It eliminates the guesswork.

These are the latest in a string of innovative updates from Lightspeed. Recently, Lightspeed has also announced: 

• NuORDER Assortments
• Unified Payments
• Gamechanging features like:
  • B2B Catalog
  • Scanner App
  • Price Management across locations and customer groups 
  • Advanced Marketing
  • Enhanced eCom
  • User Permissions

You can find out more about Lightspeed Retail’s powerful features by visiting  https://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail/.

Read the press release here.

Lightspeed Restaurant now drives more efficiencies in hospitality thanks to streamlined ordering and payments on smartphone devices, Advanced Insights, Intelligent Tip Management, advanced APIs, and robust offline capabilities

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for
merchants and restaurateurs around the world announced today the release of the latest version of its powerful restaurant solution: the Next Generation of Lightspeed Restaurant. This update, now available in the United States, revolutionizes restaurant operations by offering faster ordering and payments options on smartphones and by leveraging the power of data.

New functionalities include:

• ‘Pay at Table’ – Uniquely designed by Lightspeed, this simplifies group dining with smart
  and easy check splitting
• ‘Tap to Pay’ on iOS – Increases table turns by transforming every smartphone into a
  payment terminal
• ‘Scan and Pay’ – Boosts order value by allowing guests to order or close a check themself
• Self-serve Capital – Helps restaurants fund their next stage of growth
• Tip Management – Builds staff loyalty with great tip management
• Enhanced APIs – Gives access to data to customize the Lightspeed experience
• Advanced Insights – Unlocks a previously unavailable layer of business intelligence

“We are helping US restaurants reimagine the way they run their front of house operations, not only to improve efficiency but to help drive additional revenue and change the guest experience for the better,” says Peter Dougherty, GM of Hospitality at Lightspeed. “Lightspeed is on a mission to radically change the restaurant industry, empowering restaurant operators with real-time insights at their fingertips.”

Streamline Ops to Serve Customers Faster
Lightspeed Restaurant helps business owners optimize their time so that they can spend more of it focused on their customers.

• The speed of the Lightspeed Restaurant platform means orders from the server to the
  back of house staff are on average 40% faster* than the competition.
• Improvements to how customers order and pay thanks to the seamless experiences offered with ‘Pay at Table’, ‘Tap to Pay’, and ‘Scan and Pay’ means restaurant operators can say goodbye to unnecessary waiting as guests dine, order, and pay – all from their seat.
• Tip Management means that operators can maximize server earnings with intelligent tip
  suggestion and reporting.
• Enhanced APIs means that external systems can easily integrate into the platform allowing for real-time inventory management.
• A strong offline mode ensures business continuity, even without internet connectivity.

Access to Capital
In the current challenging economic environment, restaurant operators are looking for more options to secure funds. Lightspeed Capital is now easier to access thanks to self-serve Capital embedded within the platform. Qualified restaurant owners can now easily get connected to Lightspeed’s merchant cash advances via in-app functionalities.

Harnessing the Power of Advanced Insights
Lightspeed Restaurant is an industry-leading, lightning-fast solution that offers comprehensive, data-driven insights to help businesses navigate the complex landscape of restaurant operations.
Exclusive features include:

• Server Performance: Empower staff with feedback that improves services and boost
  earnings through performance insights.
• Menu Performance: Use data to discover the dishes that keep customers coming back by
  using a proprietary data matching algorithm to link customer preferences to their profile.
• Time Optimization: Make data-backed staffing decisions to drive peak efficiency.
• Logbook: Keep a finger on the pulse of restaurant operations, even when you’re not there, by automating and connecting restaurant staff together across shifts with a virtual log book.

Read the full press release here.

* Based on internal testing in August 2022 of industry peer check management and other workflows.Lightspeed Restaurant POS requires on average 40% fewer clicks for completing check splitting, discounting and other basic POS workflows than certain industry-leading POS systems in North America. Results outside such internal testing could vary depending on location and other factors

Embedded financial services offering facilitates growth and innovation for ambitious retail and hospitality businesses

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. has expanded Lightspeed Capital, its merchant cash advance program, to the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Quebec. Bolstering Lightspeed’s embedded financial services offering, the launch aims to empower businesses with flexible funding in the face of rising inflation costs and turbulent economic conditions. Powering the world’s best businesses, Lightspeed is the unified POS and payments platform for ambitious entrepreneurs who wish to accelerate growth, provide the best customer experiences and become a go-to destination in their space.

“Businesses are the backbone of our communities, and Lightspeed’s goal is to make owning a successful business easier than ever,” said Asha Bakshani, Chief Financial Officer at Lightspeed. “We are thrilled to have expanded the Lightspeed Capital offering throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Quebec. This expansion aims to empower merchants who want to invest in their business. Our goal is to help alleviate roadblocks that traditional funding channels may require so our merchants can continue to focus on what matters most: growing their business while providing the best customer experience.”

Retail and hospitality entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Quebec can welcome a new era of business funding with Lightspeed Capital’s merchant cash advance program. Lightspeed Capital empowers business owners with its unique approach to funding:

• Simple Application: A quick, seamless and stress-free application process for merchants with no personal credit checks
• Flexible Funding: Working capital is available in as few as 2 business days and can be used for any business need, from inventory and equipment through to staffing
• Transparency & Stability: Flat-fee pricing, and no high or shifting rates, allows business owners visibility and peace of mind
• Empowering Growth: Merchants have access to the cash flow they need to expand and take their business to the next level

Capital that can be trusted

On the heels of Lightspeed Capital’s successful launch in the United States, the Lightspeed Capital cash advance program for merchants has taken on new territories, heading to Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Quebec. The program is revolutionizing how traditional business funding works. Exclusively available to Lightspeed Retail and Lightspeed Restaurant users, it boasts the added benefit of personal insight into their specific business needs. Lightspeed’s existing relationship with merchants makes for easier eligibility, underwriting and risk mitigation.

How does Lightspeed Capital work?

• Cash Up-Front: The cash advance program provides working capital up-front to grow and support the merchant’s business
• Predictable Payments: Merchant payments are a percentage of their daily sales; they pay more when their business is doing well, and less if things are slow
• Secure Fees: Flat fees mean merchants don’t have to worry about fluctuating rates
• Clear Communication: Merchants receive notification, in app or by email, that outlines how much they’re eligible for as a cash advance and the flat fee
• No Deadline, No Interest: Merchants remit at the speed of their business. With no strict deadline, merchants can gradually pay the advance as a percentage of their daily transactions

“We had already taken out large loans to open a second store and we didn’t want to sign up for anything additional that might affect our business credit,” said Lightspeed customer Robert Stokes, Techzone Geelong. “The fact that Lightspeed Capital doesn’t count as a loan or impact our business credit reporting really helped take some weight off of our shoulders.”

For business owners, trying to secure funding can be stressful and time consuming. Lightspeed removes the roadblocks and frustrations that merchants face from traditional sources, making access to capital simple, secure and stress-free. The Lightspeed cash advance program is tailored to merchants to support and strengthen their operations and fuel their ambitions. Now with even more Lightspeed users in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Quebec being eligible, more merchants will have the freedom to transform their businesses.

“We believe real-time access to capital is one of the largest challenges facing merchants today,” said JP Chauvet, Lightspeed CEO. “This expansion of Lightspeed Capital provides a simple, streamlined opportunity for our merchants to invest in their business. Our goal is to help turbocharge their operations … all through a single, integrated commerce solution.”

Lightspeed powers the world’s best businesses, including: Playbill, Arctic Spas, Ildico, Elite Supps, Leica Camera, Imagine Exhibitions, Dr. Barbara Sturm, Filson Canada, Melissa Joy Manning, Neal’s Yard Remedies, W Cosmetics, L’Osteria, Mamma, and Kei.

Read the full press release here.

New solution enables brands to upgrade assortment planning with an online platform built to help solve all merchandising needs in a visual, collaborative digital environment

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. launches NuORDER Assortments, a groundbreaking solution that revolutionizes the way brands plan assortments. The cutting-edge technology allows them to visualize, merchandise and plan their assortments—all in one collaborative online environment. NuORDER Assortments gives brands the capability to optimize their assortment to plan for the right mix of products in the right place at the right time. The ability to develop a more localized assortment ensures customers can find what they’re looking for, helping reduce markdowns and increase overall margins.

Traditionally, brands struggled to assort their own retail stores due to manual processes and disconnected data systems. These outdated practices result in continuous updates and errors, leading to inefficiencies and wasted resources. NuORDER Assortments allows brands to bid farewell to cumbersome procedures and embrace a streamlined, collaborative online environment that empowers them to visualize, merchandise, and plan assortments across multiple storefronts more effectively. 

“Our new assortment planning solution is a gamechanger for brands,” said Heath Wells, General Manager, B2B at Lightspeed. “Enabling them to visualize what each store assortment will look like, combined with the ability to slice and dice data  by any product attribute to make more informed decisions, is really something that’s never been done before. NuORDER Assortments empowers brands that own and operate multiple retail locations to optimize their inventory allocation, identify merchandising gaps, and make more informed decisions—all in one unified platform. This technology has been successfully utilized by our esteemed retail partners, including Nordstrom, Saks, and Macy’s, and we’re excited to bring its benefits directly to brands themselves.”

NuORDER Assortments offers tangible benefits to brands that own and operate their own retail locations, streamlining the pre-season assortment planning process and leading to significant time savings. Early adopters of the solution have reported a 55% reduction in time spent on fixing errors, a 40% reduction in time spent on sizing, and an impressive 60% reduction in time spent on manual data entry.

“Implementing NuORDER Assortments meant more accurate roll ups and a clear process to write smarter buys,” said Stephanie Gin, Director of Buying, Brunello Cucinelli. “We now get an immediate visual of the assortment thus making it much easier to analyze and review. The tool has improved collaboration between the merchandising and planning teams, they are now able to analyze and pull live data  throughout the writing process. The tool has replaced all manual processes and has become essential to our buying process.”

Key features will enable brands to:

• Identify & Fill Merchandising Gaps: Conduct visual style-outs with increased visibility. Roll-up and review plans by store or any product attribute.
• Improve Internal Collaboration: Buying, planning, and allocation teams can share and edit assortments in real-time. 
• Streamline Product Allocation: Use pre-set size curves and bulk distribution to more accurately allocate products across stores.
• Boost Productivity: Spend less time on manual data entry.  Robust ERP and backend integrations feed up-to-date product data into the platform.

“We are thrilled to introduce NuORDER Assortments to the market,” added Wells . “To date, the NuORDER by Lightspeed product offering has focused on developing innovative technology to streamline the wholesale buying and selling process. NuORDER Assortments is our first direct to consumer solution, expanding our product offering to revolutionize the way brands merchandise their own stores. Now, brands can transform their planning process, gain valuable insights, and drive more efficient and profitable assortments.”

Read the full press release here.

The rollout of new Lightspeed Retail features such as B2B Catalog and the Scanner App helps established businesses maximize margins and serve customers faster, amidst growing inflation and staffing shortages

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. launches a series of new omnichannel features in its flagship Lightspeed Retail platform to help high GTV merchants weather the turbulent economy. Powering the world’s best businesses, Lightspeed is the unified POS and payments platform for ambitious entrepreneurs to accelerate growth, provide the best customer experiences and become a go-to destination in their space.

New best-in-class Lightspeed Retail features for sophisticated omnichannel businesses:

• B2B Catalog: A transformative integration unique to Lightspeed that gives bike retailers access to supplier inventory data to help streamline product management, with plans to expand to other verticals
• Scanner App: Turns iOS and Android devices into a powerfully simple inventory management tool, enabling easy stock look-up, counting and order fulfillment 
• Price Changes: Maximizes margins and helps retailers stay agile with easy pricing updates across outlets 
• Advanced Marketing: Merchants now have access to a full omnichannel marketing suite integrated with their POS and ecommerce solution to ensure their marketing efforts are driving sales
• Enhanced eCom: New features include improved data visibility and funnel management to help merchants increase ROI, expanded internationalization capabilities to unlock markets across borders and omnichannel payments
• User Permissions: Advanced security and viewing options give owners flexibility and peace of mind while empowering their teams with the right level of visibility
• Unified Payments: Seamless POS and Payments integration captures valuable data, helps reduce fraud and errors through supporting hardware and boosts efficiency by simplifying bookkeeping and onboarding

“Lightspeed is the solution for today’s ambitious retail business owner—and the pain points they’re facing,” says Ana Wight, GM of Lightspeed Retail. “Our advanced omnichannel tools streamline processes across channels and locations, allowing sophisticated merchants to focus their time and energy on what they do best. And with Lightspeed’s move to one flagship retail platform, our best-in-class development team is now even better positioned to continually innovate and evolve our product.” 

Innovative Inventory Management 

Lightspeed Retail’s advanced inventory management features help omnichannel and multilocation retailers with complex inventory gain visibility and efficiency across their in-store and online operations. Lightspeed’s transformative B2B Catalog gives retailers direct access to brand product details, drastically reducing time spent on inventory. The integration is currently available to bike retailers, and will expand to additional verticals in future. In-store tools such as the Lightspeed Scanner App make it easier across the board when receiving and fulfilling orders. “The stocktake process for us used to involve a lot of spreadsheets,” explains Paul Stephens, Head of Data & Technology at Neal’s Yard Remedies. “Now with Lightspeed, people can use devices to scan easily and update the stock record.”

• One-Click Uploads: Empower staff with easy access to omnichannel supplier catalogs to unlock key flows.
• Business Bird’s-Eye-View: Access extensive product information needed by both staff and management from leading suppliers. 
• Stock Lookup: Allows business owners to scan products and see stock inventory across outlets for insight into restock or transfers.
• Fulfilling Orders: Scan items in as they are picked for online orders that are fulfilled by in-store stock.
• Receiving Stock: Save time on inventory with B2B Catalog. Scan in and receive products using a quick-add model, easily importing product details (including images and descriptions) from supplier catalogs to get the products on the shop floor and never miss a sale.
• Stocktake: Gain efficiency with multiple team members using the barcode scanner to count stock and leave notes for managers receiving and updating inventory levels.
• Lists: Create product lists by simply scanning products and sending as a PO or export to CSV.

Advanced Omnichannel Marketing Tools

The new Advanced Marketing module for Lightspeed Retail connects sales data with unique customer profiles, unlocking powerful insights so merchants can optimize their marketing and boost sales, both online and in-store.

• Advanced Customer Segmentation: Merchants can better understand who their customers are, what they want, and how they shop.
• Seamlessly Connected In-store and Online Marketing: Retailers can now sync sales data from their POS and ecommerce tools, and link them to unique customer profiles.
• Detailed ROI and Campaign Reporting: Merchants can now leverage their data to sell smarter with personalized, AI-assisted campaigns.

Expanded Ecommerce Features

New Lightspeed eCom features enable merchants to unlock new revenue streams, increase the ROI of online marketing and advertising efforts, expand to new international markets and easily manage their ecommerce store through their mobile device. 

• Internationalization Tools: New eCom features enable retailers to expand across borders, from a fully translatable storefront and custom checkout fields to multilingual SEO fields to help boost site rankings in new markets.
• Data Visibility and Funnel Improvements: It’s now easier and faster for merchants to connect customer data with Google, helping to offset the cost of customer acquisition, while UTM parameter history helps focus advertising efforts to maximize ROI.
• Pre-Order Improvements: Lightspeed has streamlined their pre-order functionality enabling retailers to quickly and easily add a new revenue stream and manage and sort pre-orders. 
• Enhanced iOS and Android App Features: Lightspeed eCom users can now manage orders on-the-go with greater ease, setting order reminders by phone and accessing instant delivery details in one place.

Price Management

Lightspeed Retail now gives customers the power to easily update pricing across multiple outlets, staying agile in response to inflation and rapidly evolving supplier pricing. Retailers with the ability to change pricing are able to better respond to industry and economic trends to maximize their margins—a particularly valuable feature for high-end and multilocation retailers, where small tweaks can make a big difference. 

New Security and Permissions Capabilities

Lightspeed’s security capabilities mean retail owners and operators with expanding teams can ensure everyone has access to what they need, while keeping confidential information and system of record data safe and secure. New features give retailers:

• Ease of information and flexibility in share controls allowing retailers to adjust permissions for different staff roles 
• Access on the go to all operational workflows for teams and locations
• Flexible user permissions to empower staff from sales to operations
• Adaptable limits to customers’ personal profiles
• Report access from any location at any time to optimize visibility 

Unified Payments & POS

Lightspeed’s unified platform reduces complexity for retailers by streamlining support, simplifying bookkeeping and providing deeper insights through reporting. Focusing on a single, best-in-class omnichannel payments solution allows Lightspeed to innovate and bring new value to customers faster. 

• Daily visibility of cash flow reconciliation within your POS 
• Supporting hardware helps to reduce fraud and errors 
• In-app uploads for AML documents to boost efficiency and speed up onboarding

“Lightspeed having unified payments makes stuff a lot easier on my end,” says Atticus Conway, Manager at Electric Movement, a Chicago-based e-bike retailer and service shop. “With us only having to run one batch at the end of the day, it gives me more face-to-face interaction with our customers. We’re looking for high efficiency,” continues Conway, “and efficiency equals dollars.”

Read the full press release here.

Lightspeed Restaurant empowers ambitious businesses to make data-driven decisions on how to do more with less and drive more revenue

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and create exceptional customer experiences, will be showcasing new features on its flagship hospitality platform, Lightspeed Restaurant, at the 2023 Restaurant Canada Show April 10-12.

“Since showcasing the brand new Lightspeed Restaurant at last year’s RC Show, we’ve definitely taken things up a notch,” said Peter Dougherty, GM Hospitality, at Lightspeed. “As we continue to add more value for our ambitious customers, we’re excited to demonstrate how our expanded offering empowers restaurateurs to make confident, data-driven decisions to optimize their operations.”

Revamped with best-in-class modules, such as Lightspeed Advanced Insights,  fueled by transaction data captured by Lightspeed Payments, and  savvy integrations including OpenTable, Lightspeed Restaurant is helping  independent restaurateurs around the globe do better with less. The easy-to-use system provides clear and actionable insights that restaurant operators can leverage to make the right decisions faster,  such as which menu items will turn a guest into a repeat customer. Restaurant operators will find everything they need to help save time and money, drive  revenue and scale their business.

The one-stop commerce solution for businesses with big ambitions, Lightspeed Restaurant, will be on display in the Tech Pavilion at Booth #1227 at the Enercare Centre. Product experts will be offering live demonstrations of features like Advanced Insights, Order Anywhere, Automated Inventory, Lightspeed Payments and more.

Lightspeed powers the world’s best restaurants, including: Five Guys (Canada), Daniel Boulud Group (NYC), Alinea Group (Chicago), Canlis (Seattle), Big Mamma  (Europe), Kei (Paris)  and Maybe Sammy (Sydney), and is now available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and Australia.  Click to see Lightspeed Restaurant in action.

Read the full press release here.

Lightspeed Restaurant experiences a change of scenery, delivering votes, decisions, and more in one-of-a-kind reality show

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, has partnered with Netflix on a new reality series, “Pressure Cooker,” released today.

In the first culinary competition of its kind, Pressure Cooker follows 11 chefs, living under one roof, as they navigate gastronomic challenges while managing the politics and social dynamics of the group. As their own judges, the contestants will showcase their craft while strategically competing for the favour (and votes) of the other chefs. A “virtual host,” in the form of Lightspeed’s flagship hospitality solution, Lightspeed Restaurant, delivers news of the next challenge, opportunity, or obstacle.

“We’re thrilled to see Lightspeed Restaurant take on a personality of its own, as the ‘host’ of this saucy new series,” said Peter Dougherty, General Manager, Hospitality, at Lightspeed. “As the culinary industry continues to transform, we’re excited to be part of this new take on back-of-house competition. We’re even more excited for viewers to get a glimpse into what Lightspeed Restaurant can do.”

Smart POS solution, Lightspeed Restaurant, comes to life to communicate tasks and act as the chefs’ voting station, ultimately transmitting the decision of who will stay and who will go. The chefs will need to impress their peers with culinary and leadership skills alike, as they compete for votes, and the grand prize of $100,000. 

In addition to its newfound celebrity, Lightspeed Restaurant provides the following key merchant resources to help restaurant owners back data-driven decisions about how best to run their business: 

• Advanced insights:
  Lightspeed Restaurant informs operators what turns customers into regulars, who their best wait staff are and why and makes them feel like they’re on the floor every day even across multiple locations.
• Speed and automation for the front of the house:
  Optimized by years of user testing, Lightspeed Restaurant is easy to use and train on, key for hiring and retaining staff and running smoother shifts in busy environments.
• Comprehensive integrated inventory:
  Track and automate inventory without breaking the bank. Know exactly how much product was sold, how much is still on hand, and how much is needed from a supplier for the next order.
• Innovative ordering and payments with Order Anywhere:
  Fully integrated with Lightspeed Restaurant, Order Anywhere provides contactless ordering and payments for dine-in, and commission-free ordering for takeout, with the flexibility to either pre-pay online or pay at pick up, while avoiding expensive third-party fees. 
• Real-time data:
  Restaurant owners, chefs and managers receive a daily email detailing everything they need to know before doors open, and a shift prep email detailing reservations, VIP guests, and notes for the service ahead.

Pressure Cooker is now streaming on Netflix. Learn more about Lightspeed Restaurant here.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, has today announced the initial launch of it’s flagship hospitality product, Lightspeed Restaurant in the Australian market – a unified hospitality commerce and point-of-sale (POS) platform to power Australia’s restaurant revival.

Unveiling at Fine Food Australia, and coming soon to Australian businesses, Lightspeed Restaurant, an industry-leading cloud platform, combines an innovative POS, contactless integrated payments, online ordering, advanced inventory, industry leading analytics and more; enabling operators to run smarter, more efficient restaurants. The local launch of Lightspeed Restaurant integrates cutting edge technology to build a single product that incorporates the best features of Australian leading Kounta and the breadth and sophistication of Lightspeed’s market leading capabilities, and comes as Australia’s world-famous dining industry continues to defy economic pressure.

Data from a subset of Australian restaurants, cafes and bars using Lightspeed in July found that year-over-year revenue was up 50.3% in restaurants, 48.5% in bars, and 25.7% in cafes compared to the same month in 2021. Remarkably, July was the sixth successive month of year-over-year growth*. 

Peter Dougherty, General Manager of Hospitality, at Lightspeed, said: “Bringing Lightspeed Restaurant to an Australian market famed for the vibrancy of its hospitality sector is an exciting moment for Lightspeed. Restaurants have rapidly accelerated their digital transformation in recent years, and today merchants can’t compromise when it comes to technology. Lightspeed Restaurant allows Australian restaurant owners to take control of seat level ordering, multiple service environments, complex printing setups, and more, all through a single commerce platform – providing the solution they need to meet and exceed the needs of their customers, empower their team and overcome the challenges of today.”

Key features of Lightspeed Restaurant include:

• Advanced insights: Lightspeed Restaurant informs operators what turns customers into regulars, who their best wait staff are and why, and makes them feel like they’re on the floor every day even across multiple locations.
• Comprehensive integrated inventory: Track and automate inventory without breaking the bank. Know exactly how much product was sold, how much is still on hand, and how much is needed from a supplier for the next order.
• Speed and automation for the front of the house: Optimised by years of user testing, Lightspeed Restaurant is easy to use and train on, key for hiring and retaining staff and running smoother shifts in busy environments. 
• Innovative ordering and payments with Order Anywhere: Fully integrated with Lightspeed Restaurant, Order Anywhere provides contactless ordering and payments for dine-in, and commission-free ordering for takeout, with the flexibility to either pre-pay online or pay at pick up, while avoiding expensive third-party fees. 
• Real-time data: Restaurant owners, chefs and managers receive a daily email detailing everything they need to know before doors open, and a shift prep email detailing reservations, VIP guests, and notes for the service ahead. 

Bluebonnet Barbecue, Melbourne’s iconic Texas-style BBQ venue, has been using Lightspeed Restaurant  in the initial launch phase. Bluebonnet’s Manager, Mikey Buchanan, said the platform gives the business a competitive advantage and the foundations to overcome challenges and provide better experiences for customers and employees alike.

“We’ve been looking for a platform like Lightspeed Restaurant for years. The access to real-time insights has given us a deeper, more accurate understanding of our business than we’ve ever had before. It’s incredibly powerful and sophisticated, but also user-friendly, which is so important in a transient industry where staff come and go. 

“Rather than using different systems for different business functions everything is on one system, driving operational efficiencies which benefit our team and, ultimately, our customers. We’re passionate about our craft and our customers, and with Lightspeed Restaurant we spend less time working on administration and non-revenue generating tasks and more time delivering the food and experiences that bring people together.” 

The initial launch of Lightspeed Restaurant in Australia follows the recent launch of Lightspeed Payments, an integrated, contactless payments processor that gives hospitality and retail businesses the ability to process customer payments directly from their point-of-sale. 

Read the full press release to learn more.

*The anonymised data was collected from the monthly revenue figures and year over year growth of restaurateurs using Lightspeed restaurant products from January 2021 – July 2022.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the expansion of its systems integration partnership with OpenTable (part of Booking Holdings Inc.,), a leading restaurant platform and provider of online restaurant reservations. 

The rich integration between OpenTable and Lightspeed enables the two systems to communicate in real-time, streamlining the core information restaurants need to run an efficient floor all in one place. Those using the Lightspeed and OpenTable systems integration can better understand diner behavior and spending, get up-to-the-minute updates on table status, and track revenue in real-time, harnessing the power of both systems. 

The partnership expansion comes as restaurants continue to face a difficult operating environment with rising costs and staff shortages, putting a new emphasis on the need to drive efficiencies, without compromising the guest experience. 

Restaurants using the integration can benefit from:

• Improved table turnaround times with up-to-the-second updates, so hosts know the status of every table. 
• Automated check creation once a meal is completed. 
• Quickly viewing information on past visits including average spend, previous order info and more, allowing staff to provide a greater level of customer familiarity and hospitality. 
• Interactive reports available anytime, anywhere, giving restaurateurs real-time access to restaurant performance, revenue, and more.

“Lightspeed restaurants are always looking to help provide the best possible guest experience. This partnership gives management and staff in-depth guest details for every reservation,” said Lightspeed Hospitality GM Peter Dougherty. “OpenTable is an industry-leading restaurant platform, and we’re proud to bring more resources like this to our customers around the world.”

“Our integration partnership with Lightspeed gives restaurants even more tools to help provide exceptional hospitality while protecting their bottom line,” said Susan Lee, Chief Growth Officer for OpenTable. “We’ve seen success in Europe, and we look forward to bringing these capabilities to more owners and operators across North America.”

The new flagship Lightspeed Restaurant and the OpenTable integration are must-have tools for the busy summer ahead in hospitality. To learn more about the OpenTable partnership, click here. 

How Craft House Improved Sales and Table Turn Time with Lightspeed & OpenTable

Blake Mellgren, chef and owner of Craft House bar and restaurant in Dana Point, California has seen success with the integration: “The big driver for us was the ability to keep track of guests through the whole dining experience, and quantify those experiences.” 

Now that many restaurants see turn times as a key opportunity to optimize the ROI of each shift, Mellgren says: “Instead of having to walk through the restaurant and status everybody, which wastes time, the host knows exactly where the meal is. Using the OpenTable and Lightspeed integration helps create a better workflow so everybody is on the same page, allowing us to be one step ahead.” 

Using the OpenTable and Lightspeed Restaurant integration has also helped Mellgren have a better sense of his VIP guests’ preferences. “Seeing in the Lightspeed and OpenTable integration what your customers are ordering on a regular basis is a nice feature. We may not know them as a regular yet, but you can access that data if you want to connect the dots and it’s all at your fingertips,” said Mellgren.

Read the full press release to learn more.

Lightspeed Payments for Golf features new hardware and seamless, integrated payments technology from booking to the pro shop and hospitality services.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the launch of Lightspeed Payments for Golf. This expansion advances Lightspeed’s commitment to bring seamless, integrated payments to its customers globally across products and industries. 

“Payment processing has historically been fragmented and costly for golf operators. Managing a business comes with a myriad of responsibilities, and operators see value in being able to consolidate where their services come from. Lightspeed provides a complementary set of tools and services that alleviate these pain points for modern golf courses and resorts,” said David Hope, General Manager, Golf. “Lightspeed Payments will help our customers streamline their online and physical revenue centers under one integrated payments technology while offering built-in reporting and administrative tools right in their POS.”

Lightspeed Payments is an easy-to-use integrated payment processing solution that empowers merchants with more insights about their business and customers while providing the ease and time savings of working with a single vendor across software with embedded payments. The continued expansion of Lightspeed’s integrated payments solution is core to their strategy of simplifying the customer experience.

“This expansion equips our Golf merchants with the same caliber of payment technology available to major global enterprises from directly within their Lightspeed commerce platform. This gives them more data, resources, and most importantly, time back in their day to focus on their business and their passion,” said General Manager, Payments Jona Georgiou. 

Key features of Lightspeed Payments for Golf include:

• Frictionless, faster processing at competitive rates: Save on payment processing fees across an entire golf operation (online or in-store, tee time bookings, pro shop, or hospitality).
• Comprehensive reporting and robust analytics that interact directly with Lightspeed Golf: access accurate, easy-to-read reports faster with native reporting.  
• Manage your business in one place: simplify your operations with a one-stop solution for payment processing and POS software to improve booking and check-in for staff and golfers.
• Receive free, personalized support from one provider.
• Reduce no-shows with the option to require pre-payment online. 
• Enhanced payment security backed by a global network: EMV, tokenization, and end-to-end encryption. A single source for operational support with chargebacks, fraud, and customer queries. Flexibility with a range of localized payment options, as well as access to Lightspeed Capital for those who qualify. 

Fairways Golf saved on POS operational costs by switching to Lightspeed Golf Payments

For over 10 years, Fairways Golf Membership has prided itself in being Ohio’s best value option for golfing. Offering accessibility for golfers at Mallard Creek, Pine Brook, Briarwood, and Hinckley Hills Golf Clubs, Fairways Golf Membership has a goal to grow the game of golf.

By signing up with Lightspeed, Fairways received a complete commerce solution that helps them operate their restaurant and pro shops all from a single provider. Additionally, with Lightspeed’s transparent payments pricing, Fairways was able to significantly reduce processing costs. Neil McGrew, Director of Sales and Marketing, knew he needed a POS that could manage four busy golf courses from the restaurant to the pro shop. Not only did Lightspeed cost significantly less than their previous system, but it allowed Fairways to offer fast and contactless transactions at every facility. “Lightspeed Payments’ new card readers are fast and easy to use—whether the card’s inserted or using the tap to pay feature,” said McGrew. “This is a benefit to help us run daily operations more efficiently to keep the experience enjoyable for all.”

As commerce becomes increasingly digital and consumer-driven, integrated payments are a cornerstone that connects systems and software to keep a business running smoothly. This integration allows omnichannel merchants to process payments quickly online and off, and streamline their business operations all from a single commerce platform, with premium analytics, reporting, reconciliation, and resources to win chargeback disputes and recover lost sales at no added cost.

Read the full press release to learn more.

Combining the power of the original Lightspeed Supplier Network and NuORDER by Lightspeed, the new Lightspeed B2B will connect thousands of the world’s best brands and retailers, empowering merchants to instantly order and seamlessly sell on any channel.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the launch of the new Lightspeed B2B platform to North American fashion, outdoor, and sports retailers, with broader vertical and feature availability in the coming months. The launch of this transformative new solution will bring together thousands of the world’s best brands and retailers with a cutting-edge supplier network tool that integrates B2B orders directly into the point of sale (POS).

“After four years of owning a retail business, I’ve never been so excited for a retail product in my entire career,” said Lightspeed B2B user Christine Iksic, Founder and CEO of 3 Rivers Outdoor Co. “I’m so happy the Lightspeed B2B platform exists, and I’m going to tell every brand they need to just switch to Lightspeed B2B.”

This innovative, first-of-its-kind solution is the culmination of integrating technology from Lightspeed’s acquisition of NuORDER into the Lightspeed Retail platform. The Lightspeed B2B platform boasts thousands of brands, including Tom Ford, Coach, Theory, Black Diamond, and Outdoor Voices. Retailers will be able to use this platform to order directly from brands in the Lightspeed Commerce platform.

“We saw an enormous opportunity to transform how retailers work with their brands,” said Lightspeed CEO JP Chauvet. “With the technology and expertise brought in through the NuORDER acquisition, we’ve been able to create a truly transformational, integrated brand supplier network for the retail industry. We’ve completely re-invented the buying and inventory process for brands and retailers, and Lightspeed B2B is bringing them a robust, high-end brand network.”

Today, the wholesale supply chain between independent retailers and brands is riddled with inefficiencies and archaic processes. Both sides run systems completely independently and without any connection or integration of data – until now. Existing workflows do not meet the modern needs of retailers when it comes to inventory acquisition, management, and distribution, resulting in risks to revenue for all sides. Additionally, sell-through reporting is siloed, meaning brands have near-zero visibility into what sells to consumers. Without this visibility, brands cannot assist retailers by proactively helping with refills, exchanges, and anticipating the needs of the consumer.

The new Lightspeed B2B platform improves the connection between brands and retailers, automating the omnichannel retail experience, and liberating retailers from manual, time-consuming workflows. Lightspeed B2B reduces friction, saves time, and offers additional insights by putting a single network at the fingertips of brands and retailers.

Benefits of Lightspeed B2B for Retailers

• Accessible on-demand ordering. Digital catalogs available directly in the Lightspeed B2B platform make it easy to browse and order products from existing brand partners.
• Massive inventory and ordering time savings for retailers and omnichannel enablement. No more photographing or cataloging new inventory. Retailers place an order directly from their Lightspeed Retail platform and save time by having all order details, products, and inventory updated in their POS immediately, ready and available for sale in-store or online on any channel.
• Discover and connect with new brands as a verified retailer. Lightspeed B2B’s deep brand relationships bring in-demand brands directly to the back office of every Lightspeed retailer.

Benefits for Brands

• Robust data insights. Once the initial Lightspeed B2B rollout is complete, brands will get direct insight into sell-through data about their products across retailers in the Lightspeed ecosystem, bringing them closer to consumers with a direct feedback loop of product intel.
• Control catalogs and share important attribution. Easily share and maintain a brand catalog across the network of qualified Lightspeed retailers.
• One location for all orders. Once the initial Lightspeed B2B rollout is complete, brands will be able to receive orders from across the Lightspeed customer ecosystem all in one place.

“Wholesale retail ordering is a broken industry and we have always felt a responsibility to solve for both sides of the brand and retailer equation,” said Heath Wells, General Manager of the new Lightspeed B2B platform, and co-founder of NuORDER. “With this launch, we’re offering transformative value for brands and retailers that represents an inflection point in the history of retail. This new tool enables independent businesses to discover new products, gain insights that were previously unattainable, and gain access to product catalogs and integrated ordering on one network. The disruption of the last two years has cemented the need for independent retailers to leverage technology to remain agile and the new Lightspeed B2B Network is deeply in line with our mission to strengthen their operational resilience.”

The completed Lightspeed B2B will provide brands with robust tools to sell in real-time with real-time data and feedback about their products, accelerating feedback loops between consumers and brands so they can evaluate trends in real-time. Lightspeed B2B is now rolling out exclusively to Lightspeed Retail customers in North America in the fashion, outdoor, and sports verticals. Select retailers can access Lightspeed B2B directly from the Lightspeed Retail platform.

Read the full press release to learn more. 

Hospitality is BACK! The Lightspeed Restaurant team attended back-to-back events at Toronto’s Restaurant Canada show and the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago in May, and it was great to reconnect with our customers and see so many people back at hospitality trade shows. This was also our first opportunity to show off the new flagship Lightspeed Restaurant commerce platform, and the response was really exciting.

This year at NRA, I was joined on the main stage by customers Jarred Drown and Sam Barton of Terrace Bay. Terrace Bay was an early user of the new flagship Lightspeed Restaurant platform, and shared their experiences using technology, data, and advanced analytics to run a more efficient and profitable hospitality business. Terrace Bay is a hotel with a restaurant, coffee shop and banquet business that was purchased by Drown in 2016. He and his team breathed new life into the established business, but their key focus was to really make the restaurant its own brand, amplify that brand with consistent marketing, and really make their restaurant operations more efficient. Their previous POS partner was slowing them down – updates could only be made from the back office, and any issue required hours on the phone with customer support. Switching to Lightspeed Restaurant was a game-changer.

Just like every business, the last two years hit Terrace Bay hard. “In the spring of 2021, staffing was critically low to the point that we considered reducing our dinner service,” said Terrace Bay owner Jarred Drown. “We decided to change our strategy and start offering higher wages, healthcare, 401Ks, and shorter workweeks to our staff. To accommodate this, we had to raise our prices significantly to keep profits in line.” Terrace Bay also faced the same issue many restaurants currently face with rising food costs. Their solution was to diversify their inventory providers and work with local vendors, and to really make sure their service and ambiance matched current prices. “The costs are up across the board so we just have to raise prices,” said Drown. “You can only trim costs so much when you’re working with quality ingredients.”

To ensure their service is on point, the Terrace Bay team uses Lightspeed Restaurant’s custom reports to make sure their servers are turning tables faster, upselling, and providing high-quality service. They also used Lightspeed Restaurant PMix data and new cooking equipment to streamline kitchen operations so dishes are moving out of the kitchen faster, also contributing to improved table turn times, since more tables-per-shift mean higher revenues. They’ve also implemented Lightspeed pay-at-table devices and iPads to take orders and accept payment faster.

“With Lightspeed, the data is easier to access and customize than any other POS,” said Drown. “Every manager wants to push their staff in different ways, and Lightspeed’s custom reports help us drive incentive programs for the servers. Being able to look at each server individually is really helpful.”

Another key feature of their new POS technology is how much time they save every week on everything from updating menus, to bookkeeping and payments reconciliation. “In the past, we tried shopping around to find the lowest processing fees from a payments provider,” said Drown. “But with Lightspeed Restaurant, we’ve found it’s much more convenient to have everything in one place. When you’re dealing with refunds or chargebacks, having a fully integrated payment solution is the way to go. We love that Lightspeed offers that as an option. We’ve also leveraged Lightspeed’s tableside payment solution, which really speeds up service and helps us turn tables faster.”

Front of House and F&B Manager Sam Barton shared that the new system has saved her hours a week in managing menus and training, and has also saved hours a week for their bookkeeper who now has access to all of their sales data in one place. “With our previous POS vendor we did not have full access to manage the system remotely,” said Drown, “That’s been awesome for Sam to manage remotely and see those changes instantly. Lightspeed also has a full suite of operations for our hotel and restaurant dining as well as the coffee shop. It was the most flexible solution for our span of operations.”

The other key insights shared by Terrace Bay were around their robust marketing strategy. The team moved their marketing budget from TV and Radio to Facebook traffic ads, targeted within an hour radius of their restaurant, and changing every few weeks. “Many businesses see it as an expense rather than an investment,” said Drown. “But we weren’t afraid to invest because we knew it’d pay off.” Barton noted the team’s investment in really responding to every social media comment has also built their online relationship with customers. “We post more often and when people have questions we really answer, vs having a bot or canned response,” Barton said.

Drown and his team also invested in branding the restaurant as a stand-alone entity vs. just a hotel dining room. This creates more demand from local customers, and they are constantly evaluating their menu to make sure what they’re offering is unique to the area. Additionally, the business now offers and widely advertises free birthday dinners in exchange for an email sign up. This has helped them grow their email list to over 7,000 customers which is nearly 25% of the entire county! With this list, Drown and team reach out directly about events, specials, and new menu items.

We’re so grateful to all the customers, operators, and restaurateurs who stopped by our booths to say hello and check out the new Lightspeed Restaurant, and to Terrace Bay for sharing their knowledge and experience on the main stage.

-Peter Dougherty, GM, Hospitality

New Lightspeed Retail is packed with exceptional new features and integrations to power commerce everywhere for global retailers of all sizes

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the launch of Lightspeed Retail, a groundbreaking new retail commerce platform that unites advanced POS, payments, and ecommerce into one cohesive and powerful solution. Leveraging the power of headless commerce, powerful integrations, and a completely reimagined interface, Lightspeed Retail is the ultimate commerce platform to help business owners elevate their strategy while managing the complex challenges of the evolving retail landscape.

“The core of Lightspeed’s vision for retailers is a seamless commerce platform that tackles the key challenges modern merchants face not only today but also five years from today,” said Lightspeed CEO JP Chauvet. “The new Lightspeed Retail is the culmination of strategically combining Lightspeed’s leading technology and talented teams with those of our acquisitions, creating the ultimate product for the modern retailer. Not only are we bringing to market the best of ecommerce, payments, and POS so busy merchants can do it all from one platform, but this launch lays the groundwork for everything that is coming next, from fully-integrated supplier solutions to even more powerful consumer and buying data for our merchants.”

Today with Lightspeed Retail, merchants around the world can self-serve modern retail commerce tools, with a custom solution that fits their unique business needs. The new Lightspeed Retail is available on all platforms, web, iOS, and Android, meeting the needs of more customers with more flexibility for hardware configuration.

The new Lightspeed Retail is now available in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, and South Africa, unleashing the power of headless commerce to meet consumers where they prefer to shop with integrated cross-channel selling and complex multi-store inventory management. This omnichannel solution comes to market at the right moment: new data from a Lightspeed and Checkmarket survey of over 7,200 global merchants and consumers shows that omnichannel retailers are growing revenue faster than any other sector.

“We’ve truly built a product for every retailer, whether they’re starting out, scaling, or expanding globally, with tightly-integrated technology all in one tool,” said Lightspeed Retail GM Ana Wight. “The value of this fully integrated solution will only expand as we continue to bring industry-leading innovation to our customers, suppliers, and their consumers.”

Whether starting out or looking to scale, retailers can achieve ambitious goals with Lightspeed Retail’s user-friendly suite of connected solutions, backed by best-in-class support from in-house industry experts.

Key Lightspeed Retail Features:

• It’s never been easier to run a business online or in person. Transform any website (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, etc.) into an ecommerce engine. The new Lightspeed Retail is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. Brick-and-mortar stores can move online in just a few hours with seamless self-serve tools.
• Reach customers where they are, in-store and online. Sell and advertise products where customers spend their time, directly on key social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok where Lightspeed has core partnerships, as well as other leading marketplaces like Google, Amazon, and eBay. Flexibility to sell whatever you want, wherever you want with direct, time-saving integration from a single viewpoint for orders and inventory.
• Unmatched sophisticated retail technology. Flexible, simple, workflows allow retailers to customize their POS and back office to their specific needs. Product serialization, as well as external partner and supplier integrations, provide cutting-edge tools to merchants scaling their business. Retailers can track performance at their fingertips with the new Lightspeed Retail app and use any smart mobile device to manage inventory.
• Manage a retail business and back-office seamlessly with integrated payments, inventory, and advanced reporting. One login, one provider for ecommerce, POS, and payments. Easily customize reports to fit a retailer’s personal business needs.  Seamlessly manage inventory across online and physical stores to ensure you have everything shoppers need.
• Scale with a single solution. Turn an ecommerce shop into an empire or take a brick-and-mortar business online. Lightspeed Retail has all the tools you need with a flexible and modern comprehensive platform for online and in-person operations.

State of Retail 2022: Omnichannel is Do or Die

Lightspeed today also released the State of Retail 2022 report, which shares data collected this year from over 7,200 global retail owners, managers, operators, and customers to see how they’re responding and reacting to a shifting retail landscape.

• Omnichannel merchants are outpacing their peers.
  • An average of 48% of global omnichannel merchants reported that revenue was higher or significantly higher year-over-year, compared to just brick and mortar retail merchants (37%) and just ecommerce merchants (31%).
• 68% of retailers said technology adoption has had a positive impact on their business over the last two years.
  • In 2022, 66% of global merchants reported they will invest to improve their inventory and supply processes to enable ecommerce growth, and 64% will specifically invest in more technology for ecommerce growth.

  Read the full State of Retail 2022 report here and the full press release here. Visit Lightspeed’s website to learn more about Lightspeed Retail.

Merchants can link their account to TikTok and grow their business via integration

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced that Lightspeed eCommerce merchants using the recently acquired Ecwid integration can sell to consumers directly through TikTok.

“Lightspeed acquired Ecwid in 2021 as part of a vision for a powerful single platform for headless, omnichannel commerce,” said Lightspeed eCommerce GM Ruslan Fazlyev. “Social commerce is a key element of that, and TikTok is the hottest platform for social selling. We’re looking forward to seeing our merchants take advantage of this integration to scale their business and customer base.”

With users starting viral product trends with the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt and #AsSeenOnTiktok hashtags, TikTok is creating a new paradigm shift in shopping behavior. According to an Adweek-Morning Consult survey, 49% of TikTok users said they’ve purchased something after seeing it advertised, promoted or reviewed on the platform. This partnership empowers merchants to seamlessly tap into TikTok’s power of community commerce and reach their ever-growing consumer base.

“The shopping experience on TikTok is all about discovery – we’ve seen businesses of all sizes use our platform as a creative outlet to engage new audiences, and ultimately drive sales,” said Melissa Yang, head of ecosystem partnerships at TikTok. “We’re thrilled to be working with this innovative group of partners and making it easier than ever for their merchants to be discovered by our community.”

This announcement comes months after an initial integration with Ecwid that powered advertising management on TikTok directly through the Lightspeed platform. Direct selling on TikTok For Business is now available to limited Ecwid by Lightspeed customers in the U.S. and the UK.

Read the full press release here.

Lightspeed continues U.S. expansion with cutting-edge hospitality technology

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the expanded launch of the all-new Lightspeed Restaurant, a unified hospitality commerce and point-of-sale (POS) platform. This announcement comes on the heels of the company sharing that U.S.-based Lightspeed hospitality customers outperformed their peers, with Same-Store GTV ^[1] increasing 52% year-over-year in 2021 versus the industry average sales growth of 31% for the same period. This expansion of Lightspeed Restaurant includes order throttling to help manage demand spikes, the expansion of Order Anywhere in Europe, as well as integrated payments for  Canadian Lightspeed hospitality customers.

“On the heels of a successful North American launch, we are thrilled to expand new features to our Lightspeed Restaurant customers,” Peter Dougherty, GM, Hospitality, Lightspeed said. “Lightspeed Restaurant is a market-leading solution for savvy restaurants and hotels, and we’re proud to provide a powerful hospitality platform in North America that is continuing to grow as we further invest in our US footprint and customers.”

The digitalisation of restaurants has been accelerated by market volatility over the last few years, and today merchants can’t compromise when it comes to technology. The new Lightspeed Restaurant allows restaurateurs to operate across in-person dining, curbside pickups, deliveries, multiple ordering services, selling meals and merchandise, all through a single commerce platform.

“It Keeps Evolving” – How Cafe Lola and Terrace Bay are Growing Their Business with Lightspeed

Tara Morrow runs Cafe Lola, a bistro with an extensive wine and cocktail menu in Johnson, Tennessee. They recently switched to the new Lightspeed Restaurant and have been thrilled with the results. “We did some demo sessions with Toast and Square, and Lightspeed was the best,” said Marrow. “It was simple and easy to understand. It was exactly what we had in mind. So far it has been amazing.”

The flexibility of cloud POS has been key for running her restaurant in unpredictable times. “I just love the ability to be able to access my POS everywhere or anywhere,” said Marrow. “I’ve used Aloha, POS Touch, and Micros. I’ve used pretty much everything out there and once you buy it, you are just stuck with it. But with Lightspeed, the technology keeps evolving, which I like. I love the customer service too; whenever you call the Lightspeed support number everyone is always on top of it and super helpful.”

Terrace Bay on Lake Michigan also recently started using Lightspeed Restaurant and has expedited service and streamlined shifts with integrated payments and pay-at-table technology. “Lightspeed Restaurant has helped a ton. With integrated Payments for Lightspeed Restaurant, it’s just that little bit extra that helps the server handle that fifth table they might have. It helps the flow and helps you turn the tables faster,” said owner Jarred Drown. He also finds working with a fast, efficient cloud-based system has streamlined operations: “I like being able to change things in the back office and then seeing those updates immediately without bogging down the system.”

Technology for Today’s Restaurant Challenges

According to the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 1 million workers left the hospitality industry in the U.S. in November. Automation is the only way that operators, having to wear multiple hats, can continue to succeed. Lightspeed Restaurant’s deep inventory and ingredient management, robust analytics, and automated online ordering allow restaurants to save precious time and accomplish more with less staff. Lightspeed Restaurant gives operators visibility into margin expansion and cost reduction opportunities across their business, right down to the menu item level.

In spite of all of these changes in the industry, guests still expect a VIP experience to meet their pent-up demand for dining out. Lightspeed Restaurant enables restaurants to deliver, using AI and blockchain technology to track individual food preferences, leverage loyalty programs and member benefits, capture unique customer data to optimize menus, and offer customized experiences to their most valuable guests.

Lightspeed Restaurant is leveraged by Five Guys, Daniel, Kei, Canlis, and Alinea. These new Lightspeed Restaurant features are now available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Germany.

Learn more about Lightspeed Restaurant on our website and read the full press release here.

^[1] Key Performance Indicator. See “Key Performance Indicators“

Working with marquee brands like Coach, rag & bone, and Citizens of Humanity, Lightspeed accelerates its mission to connect brands, stores and consumers under a unified network

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and create exceptional customer experiences, is revolutionizing the modern retail ecosystem by bridging the merchant and brand experience to aid in addressing supply chain challenges in the industry. The NuORDER by Lightspeed platform utilized by The Bay and other mega-retailers as well as household-name brands like Coach, rag & bone, and Citizens of Humanity, will empower merchants and consumers to avoid future delays in the “last mile” of global supply chains – where the right products need to be available, for the right customers, at the right time.

The NuORDER by Lightspeed platform directly connects buyers and brands with its user-friendly and elegant interface to help retail buyers make data-driven decisions, collaborate with vendors, and expedite the go-to-market process.

“Major retailers are adopting the innovative technology that Lightspeed is bringing to the market, which ultimately benefits the independent businesses we care deeply about. This democratizes access to technology that will help eliminate waste and inefficiency in retail and help overcome supply chain delays,” said Lightspeed President JP Chauvet. “The entire buying and merchandising process is being revolutionized with NuORDER by Lightspeed’s powerful technology that supports both retailers and brands. These latest announcements highlight our traction in the industry and the demand we are meeting with our platform.”

Lightspeed recently acquired NuORDER to help create an industry-leading bridge between the merchant and brand experience by simplifying product ordering for retailers and offering brands crucial insight into how their products move. This integration will build out Lightspeed’s ability to serve not just independent merchants, but brands and large-scale retailers as well – leveraging data and resources across these groups to benefit merchants, brands, and customers across the globe.

This new solution will help democratize commerce, enabling large and small merchants alike to better maximize efficiencies using the same enterprise-quality technology. Lightspeed will connect buyers and brands to build better product lines with minimal friction, ultimately benefiting consumers shopping in their homes or in the store and taking pressure off over-taxed global supply chains.

The NuORDER by Lightspeed platform directly connects buyers and brands for The Bay in real time to visualize and develop assortments, localize and cater to different markets, and complete orders and deliver products to consumers. NuORDER by Lightspeed’s technology will accelerate the digitization of The Bay’s buying and merchandising processes with its visually-driven and intuitive platform to help buyers make data-driven decisions, collaborate with vendors, and expedite the go-to-market process.

“We are driving a customer-centric approach across our business, and the NuORDER by Lightspeed platform now streamlines our internal process with significant speed and efficiency, and allows us to elevate and cater to market preferences through curated on-trend assortments,” says Laura Janney, Chief Merchant, The Bay.

Read the full press release here.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the expansion of Lightspeed Payments in Australia and to U.S. merchants who joined via the acquisition of Vend, extending merchant reach for Lightspeed Payments across new geographies and products. Lightspeed Payments is a powerful and easy-to-use integrated payment processing solution that has transformed the way merchants run their businesses.

Lightspeed Payments is currently available to U.S. and Canadian retail customers, U.S. hospitality customers, and hospitality customers in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. As of today, Lightspeed Payments becomes available to tens of thousands of additional customer locations in Australia and the U.S., with additional retail customer locations in Australia and the United Kingdom coming by the end of the calendar year.

“Independent businesses throughout the world deserve the same tools and resources as big enterprises,” said Lightspeed President JP Chauvet. “The global launch of Lightspeed Payments is just the beginning. Through the depth and breadth of our global commerce solutions and domain expertise, Lightspeed is in a favorable position to expand financial service solutions with stronger, more innovative customer experiences.”

Lightspeed Payments is uniquely tailored for each global region and vertical, to ensure legal and tax concerns, languages, and consumer payment preferences are localized for each region.

As commerce becomes increasingly digital and consumer-driven, integrated payments are a cornerstone that connects systems and software to keep a business running smoothly. Lightspeed also provides merchants with a fully integrated omnichannel experience, reducing the typical friction of a third-party provider with a single solution for online, offline, and curbside or tableside payments. This integration allows merchants to process payments more efficiently and streamline their business operations all from a single commerce platform, with premium analytics, reporting, reconciliation and resources to win chargeback disputes and recover lost sales at no added cost.

Visit Lightspeed’s website to learn more about Lightspeed Payments, and read the full press release here. 

Lightspeed eCommerce integrates the top features of Ecwid giving customers the tools to unlock their true omnichannel potential

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and create exceptional customer experiences, announced today a new flagship eCommerce product built on the integration of its acquisition of Ecwid, a leading, global eCommerce platform. This launch is an important step in providing retailers a powerful, flexible, and unified offering for eCommerce and omnichannel solutions.

Lightspeed eCommerce offers a new starting point for merchants to join the Lightspeed ecosystem and grow their businesses with the help of sophisticated in-store and online commerce tools, advanced data, simple product ordering functionality and streamlined access to suppliers.

“Commerce has evolved beyond a basic online store or a single-function POS. True modern commerce is meeting your buyers where they are, whether that’s on TikTok or Main Street,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder and CEO, Lightspeed. “Lightspeed eCommerce represents the omnichannel vision that we have believed in for years: that retail merchants need to be able to scale and customize tools to fit their unique business without compromise, whether they operate primarily online, in-store, or both. We’re proud of the rapid progress we’ve made on this integration to further improve our offering for our customers.”

The benefits and features of Lightspeed eCommerce include:

• Easy to use and set up
  Lightspeed eCommerce is a great fit for retailers who have minimal to no eCommerce experience. Setting up an online business is incredibly easy, with advanced features every merchant can take advantage of to grow their business.
• So much more than just a web store
  Designed to perform in a world of ever-changing online consumer behavior, Lightspeed eCommerce empowers merchants to sell directly on social media, online marketplaces, and search engines. This includes a direct partnership with TikTok, allowing Lightspeed’s merchants to seamlessly access core functions of TikTok For Business Ads Manager without leaving the platform.
• Simplify and unify omnichannel operations
  Connecting the online and in-store platforms, Lightspeed retail merchants will be able to reduce the time spent on managing inventory, orders, and product details. Elevate the shopping experience with a suite of customer management features that are proven to boost sales (like abandoned cart recovery) and customer communication tools.

“I really wanted something that had my in-store point of sale and online store incorporated into one. I didn’t want to have to deal with two different sets of inventory and constantly having to update,” said Bellies and Babies owner Kassandra McMillan. “Lightspeed eCommerce is all-in-one and nice and simple. I don’t have the time or the knowledge to go and build a website, so the fact that it’s been so easy to use is really refreshing.”

Lightspeed eCommerce is now available to all of Lightspeed’s retail merchants around the world including customers that recently joined through the ShopKeep and Vend acquisitions.

Read the press release to learn more. 

Lightspeed Capital expands in hospitality and retail verticals, increasing qualified merchants by integrating recent acquisitions

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the expansion of its popular Lightspeed Capital program. This expansion means the Lightspeed Capital program is now available to eligible U.S. customers along with recently integrated merchants from the acquisitions of Upserve, ShopKeep, and Vend. This latest expansion increases the portion of Lightspeed’s merchant customer base to whom the offering is available by approximately 40%. Lightspeed currently anticipates further expanding the offering to retail and hospitality customers in APAC by the end of 2021.

Independent businesses continue to face barriers when trying to obtain capital. The expansion of Lightspeed Capital provides rapid access to funds, often as soon as the next business day. Lightspeed Capital is an extension of Lightspeed Payments, and this expansion puts Lightspeed in an opportune position to grow in international markets where it has successfully launched Payments. Lightspeed also aims to accelerate growth of its financial services to the Supplier Network (expanded via its acquisition of NuOrder). This next step will allow Lightspeed to power and integrate even more key business needs from a single commerce solution.

“Local businesses are the backbone of our communities, and Lightspeed’s goal is to make owning a successful independent business easier than ever. We believe real-time access to capital is one of the largest challenges facing independent merchants today,” said Lightspeed’s GM of Global Payments Jona Georgiou. “This expansion of Lightspeed Capital provides a simple, streamlined opportunity for our merchants to invest in their business. Our goal is to help turbocharge their operations as we approach the holiday shopping season all through a single, integrated commerce solution.”

With economies reopening, it’s crucial for independent merchants to have access to liquid funds. Lightspeed Capital provides flexibility, supplying cash when merchants need it. As the company continues to integrate products and customers from its recent M&A activity, Lightspeed Capital will continue to expand, offering a leg up to merchants around the world.

Lightspeed Capital is offered seamlessly through the Lightspeed Commerce platform, and can be used for any business-related expense such as new equipment, inventory, or staffing. Lightspeed Capital is not a loan, so applying does not affect the credit of the merchant. Merchants pay back a set percent of daily sales, so they pay more when the sale volumes are higher and lower as things slow down. The cost to a merchant never changes regardless of how long it takes to pay back the cash advance.

“When I first learned about Lightspeed Capital, it sounded good: easy approval, low fee, easy repayment terms,” said Melissa Wilsman, owner of The Groom Room. “The money was in my checking account the very next day. I couldn’t believe it. I was able to purchase new inventory that I had been on the fence about due to possibly running thin on operating capital. If I’m in need of some extra funds in the future, Lightspeed Capital will be my only go-to.”

This sentiment was echoed by Aarf Pet Central owner Susan Leisure: “Lightspeed Capital has been fantastic for us. It has allowed us to have a large influx of funds to increase our inventory at strategic times during the year. We have also used it for larger equipment purchases. We don’t have to worry about budgeting to make a payment every month, and it’s so much more reasonable than other capital loans or credit cards.”

View the press release here.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the launch of the all-new Lightspeed Restaurant, a unified hospitality commerce and point-of-sale (POS) platform.

The release of Lightspeed Restaurant is well-timed as consumers are returning to restaurants in droves, but business needs have fundamentally changed.

“Through strategic global acquisitions, Lightspeed has combined the power of leading hospitality tools like Upserve, Gastrofix, Kounta and iKentoo with new solutions and modules, to simplify processes and enable merchants to build thriving businesses for the future,” Peter Dougherty, GM, Hospitality, Lightspeed said. “Lightspeed Restaurant is a best-in-class solution built through years of strategic investments and innovation. It brings together a state-of-the-art, innovative POS platform, contactless integrated payments, online ordering, advanced inventory, and analytics solutions, to create a powerful hospitality platform for running a smarter, more efficient restaurant.”

Lightspeed Restaurant’s Key Merchant Resources Include:

• Robust Analytics
  Lightspeed Restaurant tells operators what brings their customers back, who their best servers are and why, and makes them feel like they’re on the floor every day even if they manage several locations.
• Data at your Fingertips
  Restaurant owners, chefs, and managers receive a daily email detailing everything they need to know before doors open, and a shift prep email detailing reservations, VIP guests, and notes for the service ahead.
• Comprehensive Integrated Inventory
  Track and automate inventory without breaking the bank. Know exactly how much product was sold, how much is still on hand, and how much is needed from a supplier for the next order.
• Easy-to-Use and Train Workflows
  Optimized by years of user testing, Lightspeed Restaurant is easy to use and train on, key for hiring and retaining new staff and running smoother shifts.
• Contactless ordering and payments with Order Anywhere
  Fully integrated with Lightspeed Restaurant, Order Anywhere provides contactless ordering and payments for dine-in, as well as commission-free ordering for takeout with the flexibility to either pre-pay online or pay at pick up while avoiding expensive third-party ordering fees.

The new Lightspeed Restaurant is now available in North America in a phased rollout to select restaurants after launching in Europe this summer with customers like fast casual mega-chain Dean & David.

“As we’ve seen from our new State of the Hospitality Report research, digital adoption has been an important lifeline for restaurants. Nearly half of the merchants in our latest research report are looking for technology to help automate tasks – a key requirement for a short-staffed industry. It’s clear there are greater efficiencies to be realized with new technology,” said Dougherty. “After years of strategically bringing together the best talent and technology in the hospitality industry, we’re excited to bring this long-awaited solution to the United States and Canada after a successful launch in Europe last quarter.”

Restaurants Ready to “Bounce Back”

Despite countless pandemic-related hardships, restaurant owners, operators and managers across North America, the UK, and Europe are highly optimistic about the future with nearly 60% of restaurant leaders claiming the outlook for their business is positive, according to Lightspeed’s new study. Of those, (20%) describe the future of their business as “successful” and “booming” and 40% state business is growing. The US market is even more optimistic, with 46% of restaurants surveyed describing their business as “booming.”

Once Finger Lakes (pronounced “on-ce” with a nod to the 11 lakes in the region and founder Antonio Arias’ Mexican and Spanish heritage) opened in the spring of 2021. They jumped at an opportunity to test drive an early version of Lightspeed Restaurant for their business. “The difference with Lightspeed Restaurant compared to other solutions is the accuracy of information,” said Arias. “When everything is on the same system and fully integrated, everything flows better. With POS, analytics, and inventory all under the Lightspeed umbrella, that’s the dream. It brings our whole operation to the next level.”

Lightspeed Restaurant is already live in Europe, where Brook Neale, GM of Mexiko Strasse has been using the hospitality commerce and POS platform since the beginning of 2021. “The quality of service and product really has an impact on the quality of my life,” said Neale, speaking particularly to Lightspeed Restaurant’s robust reporting and analytics. “A lot of people go into gastronomy out of passion and the less they have to worry about, the better. I really feel that Lightspeed is helping people get on with their businesses, and making a practical effect on their day-to-day life.”

Lightspeed Releases “2021 Global State of Hospitality Report”

In tandem with the launch of this product, Lightspeed also released their 2021 Global State of the Hospitality Industry Report today, surveying over 2,000 restaurant owners, operators, managers and guests around the world. In the Lightspeed study, 79% of global restaurant leaders claim their restaurant is more efficient today than one year ago after initiating new strategies like adopting or expanding online ordering (65%) and increasing or improving outdoor seating (47%). Furthermore, a majority anticipate continued momentum through the fall as 62% expect to return to or exceed pre-COVID levels of holiday business.

Key takeaways from the report include:

• On average, 87% of global industry respondents agreed that ​​new technology adoption over the last two years has been critical for their business’ survival.
• Once seen as a “job killer,” automation technology can now help support understaffed businesses so that the staff you have doesn’t become overworked and burned out. On average, 45% of restaurant operators plan to utilize some form of automation technology within the next 2-3 years.
• 48% of restaurant leaders globally say guests are more demanding now than before COVID, however, this number jumps to 64% in the US.
• 32% of global merchants are expecting a return to pre-COVID levels of holiday business and 30% are expecting to exceed pre-COVID levels of holiday business.

To learn more about Lightspeed Restaurant, read the full press release here. Visit the Lightspeed blog to learn more about what Lightspeed survey respondents said about technology trends, the future of hospitality, shifts in guest behavior, and more.

Lightspeed’s ecosystem is changing how retailers and suppliers do business. Our President, JP Chauvet, explains how the recent acquisitions of NuORDER and Ecwid (expected to close in the coming months as of this writing) have accelerated our product roadmap and created a clear path for us to achieve our long-term vision. 

Download or listen to the full episode right here.   

Transcript

Gus: Welcome to Inside Lightspeed, the podcast that takes you inside the one-stop commerce platform used by merchants around the world to simplify, scale and provide exceptional customer experiences. This podcast may include forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions and therefore subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to update these statements except as required by law. You can read about these risks and uncertainties in our filings with US and Canadian securities regulators. Our commentary today may include adjusted financial measures, which are non IFRS measures. I’m Gus Papageorgiou, Lightspeed’s Head of Investor Relations, and today I’m speaking to Jean Paul Chauvet, Lightspeed’s President. So let’s jump right in. Welcome, JP.

JP: Thank you, Gus. I’m very excited to be here.

Gus: Great. Now, JP, I know a lot of our investors have already met you and spoken to you personally. But before we get into the content of our podcast here, maybe you can just tell everybody a little bit of background about yourself and your time here at Lightspeed.

JP: Yeah, of course. So my background, my first job, was actually product manager. And I realized very quickly I needed to interact with people to be happy. But if you look at all of my career, I’ve basically been working with startups in the technology field and growing them. And I’ve done very early stage, I’ve done growth. And of course, my last venture for the last ten years has been Lightspeed. And I started Lightspeed as a CRO, so in charge of revenues. And over time I took more and more responsibilities. And today I’m now President of Lightspeed, really focusing on aligning product and go-to-market and focusing on also integrating all these businesses that we’ve acquired and generating a growth engine.

Gus: So you mentioned integration. I think, you know, when I talk to investors, that’s a topic that comes up a lot. We’ve done quite a few acquisitions here in the last year. And so there’s always the concern of, have we done too much? How do we integrate them? Just before you touch on that topic, I’ve noticed that the companies that we have acquired, like ShopKeep and Upserve, they all have the same technology approach as we do. So they’re all cloud based. They all have the same go-to-market strategy as we do. You know, it’s all centralized sales and marketing with inbound and they all measure the same things that we measure, like CAC, LTV, monthly retention rates, churn, ARPU. So it seems to me that the integration of these companies has been pretty seamless because we’re all, everybody, seems to be on the same page. Would you not agree?

JP: Yeah, well, look, I think, first of all, before we acquire companies, we want to ensure that there’s a really good fit with Lightspeed. So these are not, you know, overnight acquisitions. We know the companies, we see them progress, and we certainly know the companies in our industry that we like and those that we don’t. So I think from the get-go, when we acquire a company, we ensure that culturally it’s the right fit for Lightspeed and that there are a lot of synergies and a lot of upside from these integrations. So historically, we’ve done a lot. So I think the DNA of Lightspeed is very much the DNA of a company that knows how to acquire and how to integrate. And so I think, yes, you’re right. And even before Lightspeed, actually, that was a lot of my DNA was doing acquisitions because every company I worked for, we mainly acquired. And I think over time you learn, you develop a blueprint, you know how to integrate. So I think these have been very good. They’ve been very positive for Lightspeed. And also the last trick when we integrate these businesses, is we normally integrate the leadership and we try and give a very big role to the leadership of the companies that we acquire so that culturally, you know, we are constantly evolving. And this ensures that the integrations are really seamless and they create a ton of value.

Gus: Most of our target companies, these are companies you’ve known for a long time. It’s not like they’re new to you or new to the industry, right?

JP: Yeah. And I think that’s the key for success. Acquiring companies is a bit like a marriage. Not to sound cheesy, but you need to know exactly what you’re heading into. And I think the only way you know that is, is actually by evolving a relationship before you acquire the business with the founders, the CEOs and the leadership, so that once the deal is done, you know exactly what you’re heading into.

Gus: You know, if we look at the last two, like NuORDER and Ecwid, and Ecwid still has to close, slightly different approach. I mean, the first, if you look at ShopKeep, Upserve, Vend, that was really kind of to increase our geographical footprint, increase scale. NuORDER and Ecwid are more technology-focused acquisitions. I think the integration there should be a little easier because what we’re doing is basically taking that technology and integrating it into our platform.

JP: Yeah, the last two, you’re absolutely correct, are expanding our capabilities and actually not even expanding, I would say accelerating our capabilities. So if you look at NuORDER, we had a strategy which was to work upstream with suppliers and we had developed over a few years some capabilities there. But there was so much demand from our suppliers that the question we had to ask ourselves is do we put more resources and we take, you know, two, three, four years to get to the solution that’s actually needed versus NuORDER, which pretty much has out of the box everything we need. For us, the net result is overnight. We can now go to our customers. We can now go to our suppliers with a solution that is much better fitted for their needs. And that really helped us accelerate our roadmaps by at least five years.

Gus: And it’s not just the technology, the fact that they had three thousand brands, most of which were apparel and footwear, I mean, for us to onboard three thousand brands would have taken us years, right?

JP: Absolutely. So I think that it’s always the same thing. There’s a mix of know-how, there’s a mix of technology and then there’s customers. And of course, NuORDER comes with three thousand brands that are in the apparel space, which is a very big space for Lightspeed. So you’re absolutely right. It brings a lot of technology for existing customers, but it also brings a lot of new customers to Lightspeed and a lot of new partners to work with and to accelerate growth. But I think ultimately what I’m trying to say is the acquisition of a NuORDER really just enables us to do way more overnight versus spending the next five years trying to develop the skills and the know how. And at the same time, Ecwid is also an acceleration of capabilities. What we’ve all learned through Covid and the pandemic is that commerce is not what we thought it would be. And, you know, in the early days of commerce, everybody thought that commerce was about bringing people to an e-Commerce site and selling on that website when what we’ve understood now and what we’ve learned from looking at the behaviors is that commerce needs to be everywhere. It needs to be embedded in social media, needs to be embedded in a ton of applications. And all of this to say that Ecwid is a true headless commerce engine and for Lightspeed to redevelop our capabilities into being that platform would have taken us, again, years. It was on our roadmaps and here—great opportunity. And actually the meaning of Ecwid comes from e-commerce widget, and that’s really because it’s built from the ground up to be completely embedded. So I think for us here, it gives us incredible capabilities in e-commerce and it accelerates our capabilities for customers. And at the same time, as you said for NuORDER, Ecwid comes also with a number of customers that are a great opportunity to integrate into the Lightspeed ecosystem.

Gus: I mean Ecwid, in my mind too, provides us with a great deal of agility, because today social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are popular. But tomorrow demand might shift to TikTok or some other platform. And I think Ecwid really lends itself to being able to integrate into whatever media platform is popular at the time, right?

JP: Yes, and nobody knows what the future is built of. But I think the beauty of Ecwid, it’s a set of APIs that are completely embeddable anywhere. I think a good example I could give you is the platform Wix. E-commerce from Wix comes from Ecwid. And it’s so embeddable that from a user’s perspective, it looks like it’s a completely Wix-developed product. But the reality is it’s an embedded application that comes from Ecwid. And I think in a word that summarizes what you were saying is: who knows what the next platform will be? But one certainty, it has to be completely transparent for the consumer and we need to have the capabilities to embed these platforms in a very easy way without having to completely redevelop every time.

Gus: The one thing that I don’t think a lot of our investors quite grasp yet is what we’re trying to stitch together from the supplier to the retail or restaurant to the consumer. We have hundreds of thousands of points of sales. We’re going to have a very good view on what’s happening with our customer base, but also the underlying economy. Like we will know what is selling. We will know who is selling it. We will know what prices are being sold at. We will know what’s in inventory. We may one day know who’s actually buying specific products. So with all that, I mean, Lightspeed really is becoming a massive data play.

JP: Yeah, I think it’s always been a data play. But I think now when you look at the expansion and you look at actually the penetration we have in certain verticals, we are becoming de facto one of the largest vendors with the largest set of aggregate data. And I think the beauty that we’re putting together when you look at what we’re triangulating, we’re triangulating supplier data with anything related to store data and sell through and discounts and whatever, attach rates and baskets. And we’re also triangulating this with consumers. And so I think when you look at the world and what happened in our space, which is, you know, retailers and restaurateurs, we came from a world of everything disconnected and, you know, POSes and commerce engines that were on premise with proprietary systems and proprietary data. And now we’re going to a world where everything is online, everything is visible. And the beauty of Lightspeed is we normalize all the data, so there is tremendous value in this. And I think over time what we’re going to be doing is developing more platforms that are based on this data to create more value within the ecosystem of Lightspeed. And I think today, with a hundred and fifty thousand customers plus and growing, this is arguably one of the largest set of data you can find in any kind of retail or restaurant space.

Gus: It’s a set of data that has use for so many participants on that platform. Suppliers, for example. I mean, the fact that they are going to be able to see the sell through data of their products from hundreds of thousands of SMBs. I mean, that will really help them optimize their production, optimize inventory levels. I mean, it’s a very valuable source of data stream for these brands, right?

JP: Absolutely. And I think the most important thing for brands is really control of the quality and the experience and ensuring that your goods doesn’t end up at the wrong price with the wrong audience. And I think here what we enable brands to do is: one, we enable them to see the sell through and not just see what has been ordered and might be on the shelf somewhere, but to really see what has reached the customer and what value that has created to the customer. I think the other big advantage with Lightspeed and the normalization of data is I can inform brands or I can expand distribution networks for brands, which means we can tell them: here are a hundred stores that you are not working with, that we know when we look at the demographics and we look at their consumers, we know they would sell your brand well. So I mean, what Lightspeed now represents for brands, and especially with the context of NuORDER and all these very high luxury brands, we can help them now control distribution, but also expand distribution. And really with the consumers, we can feed back to the brands, all of the consumer data on an aggregate level. And so they can gain a much better understanding of what their customers are actually buying and what they want to buy from the brands. And so, easy example is, we can actually influence trends. We can actually feed back trends to the brands and say, certain patterns of materials sell much better this year than last year. So there’s just so much data we can use for the brands. And that’s the beauty of what we’re putting together. We’re really putting together the real network effects within the verticals where we operate, where we have a real triangulation between the brand, the store and the consumer. And everybody gains from this. And this is why we’re so excited about this.

Gus: And even for the stores, too. I mean, the one thing I was thinking is, if we can see on a macro level that certain products are selling, we can go to the retailers and say: look, product A seems to be selling quite strongly. You have quite a few left in inventory. You might want to think about increasing the price, right? Because this product seems to be hot. Like, we can provide that kind of data feed and optimize prices for the retailers.

JP: Absolutely. We can enable, actually, retailers, and we’re thinking of a lot of models here but, you know, just think about a green, orange, red. When they’re putting the pricing or when they’re establishing the pricing within the platform, we’ll enable them to put the right price. But I think, really what’s exciting for a retailer is, imagine a retailer logging into our platform in the morning. And what we’ll tell them is: here are five brands you should order that we know will sell within your verticals and here we’re really enabling them and actually proposing the opposite and saying, here are five SKUs that you hold in inventory that are dusty and we know other stores would want to purchase them. So you’re going to sell them to this other store. So really putting in place kind of typical merchandising rules of large retail stores—we can apply this to SMBs and make them more successful ultimately.

Gus: And I think by providing this kind of macro level view of what is selling, what isn’t selling, where, it’s more likely that we’ll be able to help industries put products in stores that consumers want to buy so that they’re less likely to pursue options online, right? That consumers can feel more confident that, you know, I can go into a store and I know what I want to buy is going to be on the shelves.

JP: Absolutely. So we will curate the experience in store by enabling the store owner to know exactly what their audience wants to buy. And I think that’s what’s exciting. The other piece that I think is very useful is we can grab a little bit of the purchase history to inform the store. So we could probably inform the store of what size, you know, this individual is, of what size of shirts they wear, what are the patterns that they like, what are the brands that they like? So that the experience can be much better for a consumer when they go to the store versus just buying online from one of the big marketplaces. And I think that’s the beauty of this is, as I said, is—everybody wins. If I’m a consumer, I have an amazing experience. If I’m a brand, I have full control, I can expand my capabilities. And if I’m a store owner, I’m really going to let the store owner know how they should run their business to be successful and what they should replenish and what they should have in stock. And I’ll also enable them to sell inventory that is not selling through their customers to stores who have those interests.

Gus: The other topic I want to hit on is verticalization. I know we’ve talked about this in the past. I mean, this is very important for us. We want to become indispensable in the verticals where we are focused. So here, let’s just use the bike vertical as an example. You know, you’ve mentioned that the LTV to CAC ratio for us in bikes is significantly higher than our corporate average. And as a result of several factors, right? Bike shops use more of our stack. They’re more likely to use payments. The CAC is lower. And because of these benefits, we see just a higher LTV to CAC. I mean, so let’s kind of go through this. Why is the CAC in bikes lower than the average, and how can we expand this to other verticals?

JP: Yeah. So I think maybe just before we talk about the bikes CAC, you’re absolutely right. The way we become extremely successful is by going into verticals and owning a significant market share of verticals, because once you have enough, I call it concentration, and that means you have enough stores so you have enough distribution. From that moment, you will have the ear of the suppliers who are going to want to use you. And I think ultimately the supplier is going to want to work with us because we provide them with sell-through, which is data that they need to adjust manufacturing. So going back to your question on bikes, why is CAC so low in bikes? CAC is low in bikes because nobody at Lightspeed needs to sell inside the bike industry. Everybody within the ecosystem is selling Lightspeed. So if I’m a supplier, so let’s give a few names, so if I’m Giant or if I’m Specialized, who are the two largest suppliers in the bike industry, they are now forcing their network. So that means they’re forcing any store who wants to buy from them to be on a Lightspeed commerce platform. And the question is why? Well, they’re doing this because they can only see sell-through with Lightspeed. And so for them, this is significant because what would happen before Lightspeed is that a bike [store] would not know exactly what was sold. They would receive orders every quarter at the replenishing, but they didn’t know between those order points what was happening. And now we enable them to see what is exactly selling so that they can adjust in real time manufacturing.

And this is transformational for them because they always end up having enough supplies of what’s selling. And so, because that is so important to them and that sell-through is so important to them, they are now forcing the network for Lightspeed. And so this is very exciting because I think there’s value for the suppliers. And the stores love Lightspeed within the bike industry because they don’t have to restock in any of the catalogues or any of the parts or order outside. We have a fully integrated ordering process. So that means if I’m a bike store and I’m, you know, I’m going low in supplies, I can now directly order from Lightspeed. And this goes directly to suppliers and gets shipped. So, again, obviously the consumers gain from this because everything they’re looking for is always available in store. So if you take this model and you try and apply it to, you know, I don’t know, electronics, golf, pets, jewelry, furniture, toys, luxury goods, apparel, like what we’re doing with NuORDER, it’s very exciting because then once that ecosystem is in place, CAC is going to go down because we don’t have to sell anymore. The suppliers are going to force the network because they want to see the sell-through. And that’s the beauty of this connected world we’re trying to build within the verticals that matter for Lightspeed.

Gus: And then obviously the second part of the equation is LTV. But because we do have the integration into the suppliers, they’re more likely to use more of the stack, right? So as, you know, the system becomes more useful to you as a store owner, the relationship is more trusted. You’re more likely to adopt Payments. You’re more likely to perhaps pursue Capital from Lightspeed. So we see an increased use of the platform from these verticals.

JP: Absolutely. But I think the first fundamental rule is they’re going to be more successful with Lightspeed within that vertical because of the integration. So that means just de facto LTV is going to go up because failure rates are going to go down. So I’ll give you a few examples. If I have fully integrated catalogues and I could just click a button and sell online and using exactly the same inventory without having to rekey anything on Shopify or a third party e-Commerce engine, well, why would you do that? So that means, again, it’s very sticky and the beauty of the integration between the parts make it very sticky. The second example, of course, is Payments. As soon as you use Lightspeed Payments, you can have a fully integrated view of what’s sold and what hits your bank account. So we do more. But also, as soon as you use Lightspeed Payments, we will be giving you Capital that we will then withhold as people buy the goods. But so here again, more value. You know, you don’t have to go to the bank. You don’t have to negotiate a loan. Here at Lightspeed, the platform is going to tell you: hey, click here and you can get your money. So again, another good way to expand. And I think finally when we’re talking about Loyalty, and it’s a big piece also of our customers, is understanding how to use points and Loyalty and rewards, et cetera. Well, here having a fully integrated Loyalty platform that works with your e-commerce and works offline and enables the triangulation of the consumer piece between suppliers and stores—very useful for the store owner again. So I think ultimately over time, they’ll buy more from us, they’ll be more successful. And that’s why CAC goes down, and LTV goes up.

Gus: And churn will decrease because, again, we should be able to help them become more successful.

JP: Absolutely. Because we’ll help them understand, you know, what sells in their demographics, what are the new goods they should replenish. What are the trends? We basically own information nobody else has. And now we need to make it available on a macro level to our customers so that they can be more successful.

Gus: The other topic I wanted to hit on is, and you mentioned earlier in our discussion is that high speed network as a distribution center, right? We’ve stitched together what I think is a very compelling commerce platform. Obviously, we have to look for several ways to monetize this and we’ll continue to offer our SaaS offering and with NuORDER we’ll extend to suppliers and retailers in hospitality and Payments, obviously should be a strong area for us. But given this vast network of retailers and restaurants, combined with the data insights, we’ll be looking for potentially new revenue models. And the one that you’ve been talking about in the past is this Lightspeed as a distribution network. Can we talk a little bit about that and kind of the monetization opportunities we see there?

JP: Yeah, I think there’s a few things in mind when we think about the future and we think about distribution. The first one is: ultimately, because I know exactly what’s selling in the network on a monthly and quarterly and annualized basis and actually on a daily basis, I know what goods need to be replenished and what goods need to be bought. And here, unfortunately, every store, when you’re an SMB, your buying power is much lower if you’re buying individually versus if you’re doing an aggregate buying. So I think one of the things we’re thinking of is: can I do aggregate discounts for the Lightspeed network? And that means instead of having every store individually negotiate the buy price at a much higher cost, I could probably, given the volumes that go through our network, buy the goods at a much lower cost and then enable the network to access this privileged pricing—which will enable then the stores to compete against the Amazons of the world because they’re using the same strategy, which is bulk buying at a much lower cost. So I think that’s the first thing we’re thinking of. As soon as we go deeper into verticals, we need to work with suppliers and we need to buy goods.

Gus: And our data set gives us confidence in the inventory that we’re buying because we’ll be able to see what is selling. So it reduces the risk.

JP: That’s why, in that case, it’s no dissimilar to an Amazon or, you know, we have huge volumes that are selling through the network and we know we can make very safe bets on what we want to buy, at what price. And again, the view for Lightspeed is to enable the store to land the goods at a much lower cost than what they’re currently doing. So that’s the first thought process when we think about distribution. The next thought process is: I can tell within Lightspeed what brands would sell, within what areas, within what stores. And it kind of models like Fair or, you know, these are models where instead of saying, “I’m going to sell the goods”, these are models where I’m going to say, “You know what? I’m going to enable a store to sell those goods and I’m going to take a distribution fee.” And if you look at companies like Fair who take 25% of the first order, when they expand the network they take 15% on follow on orders. So here with Lightspeed, very easily, when I look at similarities of inventory and I look at the outliers in certain stores, I can very easily identify how these outliers could sell in other countries, in other regions.

And I can now go and see those brands and say, you know what, here are 100 stores that you’re not working with today that I’m going to introduce you to, so that the stores can order. I can actually even use Lightspeed Capital to fund the stores to order from that. So when you start aggregating all of that profitability and you think about Lightspeed Capital and then you think about how they’re going to buy with Lightspeed Payments and then we’re going to make a transaction fee on that. And then you think about distribution and how I’m going to be paid from the supplier side and you start aggregating all this data. There’s a lot of money and I think we can really expand the ARPU, but I think ultimately we’ll do it in a way that benefits everybody. Benefits the suppliers because they’re expanding their networks and benefits the stores, because we’re enabling them to access Capital and to access supplies that they’re not currently looking at and that we know will sell within their stores.

Gus: Yeah, and I think that what has a lot of people are excited internally is our ability then to capitalize on the GTV that passes through the network increases substantially, right? So, you know, right now, if we look at a retailer, we’ll get the software and we’ll get the Payments. But in this distribution model that you’re talking about, and this is a purely hypothetical example, so let’s say we introduce a new supplier to a store and they order $1000 worth of inventory. Now, if we insert ourselves into the financing, we’re pretty confident this inventory will sell and the supplier says, well, if you pay up front, I’ll give it to you at list less 10%. So we advance the money to buy at list less 10. We sell to the retailer at list less five. We make $50 right there/ And then we get, if we introduced the supplier to the retailer, we get the 10% percent, right, 10% distribution fees. So there’s another $90 and now we’re at $140. If they pay, B2B, using Lightspeed Payments, we’ll clear roughly another $6 there. So now we’re at $146 and then they mark it up, say 50% and then they sell it to the consumer using Lightspeed Payments, there’s another $10. So now we’re at $156 that we’ve monetized through that one order, through that one retailer. It really is several times higher than what we can do currently.

JP: Yeah. That’s why I think we’re so excited about this. The expansion is incredible. There’s literally no limits. And I think that is the beauty of the data. And, you know, we talked about Lightspeed being a data play. From the moment you understand the data well, you can derive all these business models that benefit everyone or benefit everybody, I mean. That’s why we’re not too worried about expansion or ARPU, we know there’s a lot of growth there. And that’s why I think for us, going back to the first question, which were these two acquisitions, they’re very important—Ecwid and NuORDER—because they enable us to complete this vision. This is like, you know, case complete of what we’re trying to put in place. And it enables us to not just do bikes, but to really expand what we’re doing in bikes into many different verticals. And apparel, being a very big one for Lightspeed, we now have 3000 suppliers that are fully integrated. So what we have to do now is ensure that the experience for our customers is amazing, that we integrate those businesses well into Lightspeed and the platforms, and then we can just start going well and monetizing every single angle of the relationships.

Gus: And apparel really would be the toughest nut to crack, right? Because if you look at verticals like bike or pet or electronics, we’re talking about a fairly concentrated list of suppliers. There’s not thousands of them, there are a few dozen that really matter. And so it’s easy to get them onto the network. But in apparel, again, there’s so many apparel brands that it would have taken us years to really get scale of suppliers onto the platform. And that’s something that, again, NuORDER has done for us virtually overnight.

JP: You’re 100% right. The apparel list of suppliers is a long tail list. But I think the beauty, going back to what they’ve built, is all of these brands also need a commerce engine for their stores. They need a commerce engine for their distribution network. So I think that’s why it’s kind of a win win for everyone. We now, with NuORDER, we have this ability. I mean, they come with about 100,000 locations of small stores that are ordering in their platform. And these are typical Lightspeed customers. They come with 3,000 brands that are typical Lightspeed customers that could be using our platform within the stores and selling online. So I think, again, a lot of upside, a lot of synergies between these two businesses.

Gus: So, JP, if we look out ten years from now, obviously there’s still a lot of execution, we have a lot of hard work, a lot of heavy lifting ahead of us, and everybody’s got their head down and working hard. But if we look out ten years at what the company is going to look like, I mean, I think financial services are safe to say it will be a much bigger portion of our revenue stream, correct?

JP: Absolutely. You know, I always say this, but, you know, we have more data than the bank. And if we execute our plans well and we go deep into the verticals, I mean, we will own data that nobody else has. And that means we’ll be in a better position than anybody to do all types of financial services within the ecosystem. So that’s really very exciting. And so I think that’s why if I project ten years from now, I probably see Lightspeed becoming a dominant player within the verticals we’ve identified. Probably everybody within the ecosystem will gain from working with us. And at the core of this, you’ll have a data play and a financial services play that basically provides a ton of value to everybody.

Gus: And the B2B side will also be much more important, right? Right now we’re very much B2C, but with supplier, the B2B aspect will become much more important for us, I think.

JP: Absolutely. I’m almost 100% certain that in ten years from now the suppliers will see us as the largest distribution network within the vertical. So even a new supplier who wants to launch a good within one of the verticals where we operate, we will be, you know, we will be the best way for them to reach the audience ultimately. So, again, I think there’s going to be a ton of opportunity there. And you’re right, ultimately we’ll have two customers. We’ll have the stores and the store owners, which is our historical. But we also have all of the suppliers, and I think we might also be providing industry data and selling macro level industry data, because there’s a lot of companies, you know, in those verticals that are doing this and aren’t doing as well as we’ll be doing and won’t have the aggregate data we’ll have.

Gus: We have real time data.

JP: Absolutely. And we can go much, much more granular than what is a market share per state. We can actually say what is the average basket size, what is the basket composed? What are the brands that are often found in the same basket? So I think it’ll be used also even for the suppliers, for M&A, for product development. I mean, it’s just so exciting when you look at the opportunities we have ahead. There’s so much we could do. And that’s why I think we’re just scratching the surface. But at the core, we own data nobody else has, and we’re going to provide a ton of value within the verticals where we operate.

Gus: Okay, so we’ve got the B2C side, we’ve got the B2B side. Do we think we can extend somehow to the consumer directly at some point?

JP: Well, I think we will be working with consumers because ultimately, we talked about curating the experience for a consumer going to one of our stores. And I think you can probably expect also to have, probably, portals or marketplaces within the verticals where we operate. And I’ll give you a good example. We have arguably the largest set of glasses to view the inventory of bikes in the US. It makes no sense for us not to say, well, why wouldn’t we have a portal for a consumer who wants to buy a bike and enable them to access the largest repository of all bikes in the US? So I think we will do that. We will do that as a value add to the stores because we want to enable them to sell and reach more audiences. But I do think Lightspeed will be a brand that will be recognized by consumers within the verticals where we operate.

Gus: But it will be a portal supporting local merchants. So, for example, like I live in Toronto, I want to buy a certain Da Vinci bike. I could go into a Lightspeed portal and say, okay, this is the bike I’m looking for. And it could bring up for me, these are the stores that are near you that carry this bike.

JP: Absolutely. But we could also say, do you want to buy it? From what store? Do you want to reserve it and pick it up in store? So we are going to put omnichannel models for the consumer. And I think also we will probably have—and this is, you know, maybe a bit of a reach—but I think we’ll probably have now that we’re, you know, talking about this, we’ll probably have a loyalty program ten years from now across stores within bikes that enables a consumer to go from one store to the next, that is on Lightspeed, and have the rewards and redeem the rewards. And we’ll also have probably one login across all of the locations that are using Lightspeed. So that, again, just focusing on the experience of the consumer to be sure that it’s curated and it’s the best experience you can find.

Gus: So there’s no shortage of what’s on your to do list over the next five years.

JP: I think we’re an ambitious bunch and we are in one of the largest markets and the market needs a lot of change and so we want to be the agent of change and we want to, of course, become one of the largest players in the industry.

Gus: Great. Okay, I think we’ll wrap it up with that. JP, always a pleasure speaking to you. Thank you for spending the time with us today. And thanks everybody for joining us.

JP: Thank you very much, Gus.

Gus: Thank you for listening to Inside Lightspeed. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow Lightspeed on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Our handle is Lightspeed HQ. Original music for the episode was composed by Timothy LeClaire. The episode was edited by Jonathan Beaton and produced by Lightspeed. See you next time.

Expansion follows launch of integrated financial services in the United Kingdom

Lightspeed, the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and create exceptional customer experiences, today announced the general availability of Lightspeed Payments for hospitality merchants in Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Lightspeed Payments is currently available to retail businesses in Canada and the United States as well as hospitality merchants in the United States. In the coming months this is planned to expand to serve Lightspeed merchants in the Asia-Pacific region, including customers of the recent acquisition of Vend. The expansion of Lightspeed’s integrated financial services offerings to these new markets is a milestone for Lightspeed as non-North American markets comprise over 40% of Lightspeed’s global customer locations.

Lightspeed Payments provides independent hospitality businesses critical tools such as mobile and contactless payments, allowing them to process payments faster and manage their businesses from a single platform. In a constantly shifting hospitality market that has become increasingly digital and consumer-driven, integrated payments provides an advantage for successful restaurateurs.

“The hospitality industry in Europe is rebounding just in time for summer holidays and this is a crucial time for the small and medium-sized businesses we serve in that region,” says Jona Georgiou, Lightspeed’s global General Manager of Payments. “This expansion empowers our customers around the world to generate faster, more secure transactions that give them richer data about their business and meet the needs of their guests.”

Lightspeed survey data gathered from both small-business owners and consumers in the United Kingdom and Europe, shows that 94% of small-business owners in the United Kingdom believe that integrated payments provide significant cost savings. New data also shows that over half of French consumers now prefer to pay with a credit or debit card or make mobile payments, while 62% prefer contactless payments for their speed and sanitary benefits. Similarly, a majority of German consumers signaled they believe that independent businesses should be required to offer at least one electronic payment option in addition to cash payments, according to a representative study by the German digital association Bitkom.

“The COVID-19 health crisis accelerated the use of contactless solutions, a necessary evolution but also a real asset that saves a lot of time. Lightspeed Payments combines convenience, transparency and cost reduction,” said Maxime Barré, founder and owner of Michelin-starred French restaurant, La Belle Étoile. “The transparent transaction rates and the ability to immediately credit a customer’s account in the event of a cashier error encouraged us to make this choice.”

To learn more, read our official press release.

Announcement comes on the heels of Lightspeed’s Order Anywhere launch in Europe and the UK

Lightspeed, the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and provide exceptional customer experiences, has today announced a partnership with one of the world’s leading providers of online restaurant reservations, OpenTable. The partnership will see a rich integration between Lightspeed and OpenTable, furnishing restaurants with a suite of tools to streamline service and boost efficiency as they look to recover from the pandemic and provide a safe dining experience as lockdown lifts.

Data from Deutsche Bank and OpenTable suggests the United Kingdom is currently making a “roaring comeback” across all sectors, including the restaurant trade. According to OpenTable data, numbers for seated diners are up on average 42% between the 17th and 23rd of May versus the same days in 2019, as diners return to indoor spaces. As pubs, restaurants, and other hospitality venues reopen their doors to indoor dining, having a powerful reservation solution is critical to managing restaurant capacity, keeping track of guests, and ensuring they adhere to COVID19 safety measures.

“This partnership gives management and staff the ability to provide a VIP experience with every reservation with guest details at their fingertips,” said Adrian Valeriano, Managing Director of EMEA, Lightspeed. “OpenTable is the industry leader in the online and mobile reservation space and Lightspeed powers the businesses that are the backbone of the global economy. We’re proud to bring more resources like this, and Order Anywhere, to our customers in the United Kingdom to help them elevate hospitality and maintain safety with every reservation.”

In early April, OpenTable restaurant bookings were approaching pre-COVID levels (down by only 21% compared to 2019). In Manchester, the seated diner data told an even more encouraging story, as reservations were up 53% from 2019.

As the UK hospitality industry anticipates a busy few months ahead, the partnership between OpenTable and Lightspeed will provide restaurants with timely, unique benefits, including:

• Increase table turnaround with up-to-the-second table status, so hosts know the progress of every table in real-time down to the course being experienced.
• Turn tables faster and streamline service with automated check creation for every seated reservation.
• New guests created in OpenTable are synced to Lightspeed, creating new customer profiles and giving managers deeper insights to better understand their customer base.
• Check data from Lightspeed pulls into OpenTable, so that a restaurant can quickly learn more about their guests’ favorite menu items and provide more personalized service.

Order Anywhere Delivers on the New Era of Hospitality

With global adoption of takeout and meal delivery, hospitality businesses are looking for solutions to manage and streamline takeout and delivery services. Lightspeed’s Order Anywhere is the latest addition to their innovative product suite for the hospitality industry, now available in the United Kingdom, France, and Switzerland. For restaurateurs, Order Anywhere brings all dine-in, takeaway, and online orders together in one dashboard, eliminating the need for expensive marketplace solutions, and allowing contact-free ordering, dining, and payment – anywhere, any time, using any device.

Order Anywhere enhances Lightspeed’s hospitality commerce platform into a powerful digital hub where restaurateurs can simplify and easily scale their businesses:

• Seamless integration and real-time updates: Accept online orders directly from the Lightspeed system, managing your online, take out and table service orders all in a single location. Send email updates to guests so that they are informed of the status of their order from start to finish.
• Effortless and contactless ordering: Offer your guests a wide range of secure and flexible collection and dine-in options, including the ability to order and pay via a QR code at the table, or place an order online for now or later. All this without paying any commission to third parties.
• Streamlined Online Experience: Lightspeed Order Anywhere gives users the ability to personalize and customize their website information such as opening hours, cooking times, and pick-up options.
• Offer an accessible and feature-rich Digital Menu, including multi-lingual item descriptions and allergen notifications, with accurately described dishes to captivate your guests and increase check size on each order.

For businesses looking to grow, adapt, or become more efficient, Order Anywhere empowers restaurants to offer a personalized, flexible omnichannel experience. Both Order Anywhere and the OpenTable integration are must-have tools for the busy summer ahead in hospitality.

To learn more about the OpenTable partnership, click here. To learn more about Order Anywhere, visit our blog.

Integration allows omnichannel retailers to automate ads and real-time inventory levels directly from the Lightspeed platform

Lightspeed (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), a leading provider of cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platforms, today announced a global integration with Google. As small and medium-sized businesses seek to capitalize on current and future economic reopenings and consumer preference to shop locally, Lightspeed has released a comprehensive retail integration that will allow independent retailers to manage their online presence and display accurate inventory levels to local shoppers directly from their Lightspeed commerce platform at no additional cost.

This announcement comes as new data from Google suggests consumers are interested in shopping local, and start their journey with an online search. Searches for “local” + “business(es)” have grown by more than 80% year over year, including searches like “local businesses near me” and “support local businesses.” Searches for “who has” + “in stock” have grown by more than 8,000% year over year, including searches like “who has gym equipment in stock.”

The New Google + Lightspeed Integration

The global collaboration between Lightspeed and Google integrates three crucial tools directly into the Lightspeed platform: Google Local Inventory Ads, Google Smart Shopping Campaigns, and Google My Business. This complete integration is vital for omnichannel retailers, who use a multichannel approach to provide a seamless customer experience online or in a physical store. The new Google integration includes:

• Google Local Inventory Ads: Reach local customers with local inventory ads, from directly within the Lightspeed platform. These ads help nearby shoppers know what you have in stock, driving more visits to your physical shop.
• Google Smart Shopping Campaigns: Today’s consumers are shopping across platforms and devices, online and offline, seamlessly. With Smart Shopping campaigns, products are eligible to show up across all of Google’s properties and reach users wherever, and whenever, they’re searching or consuming content.
• Google My Business: Lightspeed customers can get and manage a professional Google My Business listing straight from Lightspeed’s commerce platform. Keep customers up to date with your latest information, whether it’s store hours or COVID-19 safety protocols in place.

“We know that so much of business today starts with a Google search,” said Lightspeed CEO Dax Dasilva, “By combining forces, Lightspeed and Google are eliminating the pain points that prevent SMBs from effectively promoting their products online to the communities who prefer to shop local, providing them a springboard to simplify and scale their businesses as they prepare for the welcomed return of in-store shopping.”

Fueling the “Shop Local” movement

Enabling access to these digital tools directly within the Lightspeed platform is strategically aligned with Lightspeed’s mission to simplify entrepreneurship and level the playing field for independent merchants. The integration, when combined with the Lightspeed Supplier Network, creates a seamless path for local retailers to scale their omnichannel businesses.

“Small and medium-sized businesses have been hit the hardest during the pandemic, but globally we’ve seen a rallying cry to support them,” says Sabrina Geremia, VP & Country Director, Google Canada. “Customers are shopping both online and in-store and expect a seamless shopping experience between both. As we look towards recovery, this integration with Lightspeed will provide a scalable solution for Lightspeed merchants of all sizes looking to reach customers in this new omnichannel reality”

Case Study: Customers see a 54% increase in revenue after one month

Three years ago, JP Scholten opened the OCTOPODES dive shop with his girlfriend who ran a SCUBA school. After seeing their diving students loaded up with unnecessary gear from other stores, they decided to open a one-stop-shop for the school, and got up and running with Lightspeed Retail and eCommerce.

Scholten quickly jumped at an opportunity to test the new Google partnership. “It was so easy, with three clicks I set our local radius, and that was it. In 24 hours we were everywhere,” Scholten told Lightspeed. “It’s amazing to see it now in our orders as well.”

For OCTOPODES, the new Lightspeed Google integration resulted in an immediate uptick in online orders for specialty items they carry. “In the first month, our traffic went up 24%, we increased new visitors 48%, and average transaction revenue was up 54%.” While business is growing, Lightspeed is simplifying Scholten’s day-to-day. “It removes the struggle,” he said. “Now I see my Google campaigns in the Lightspeed platform where I am every day, just one click away. You don’t have to think about it, Lightspeed does it for you.”

Life of the Party in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been serving up costumes, wigs, and makeup for almost 40 years. Brandon Lilly and his wife purchased the store in 2018 and began upgrading their technology. “We chose Lightspeed because we wanted to be able to grow, to utilize both desktop and mobile, have good, strong reporting, and really good inventory management,” said Lilly.

Lilly was an early tester for the Google integration and it has already saved him time and driven new customers to his store. “Having Google’s local inventory ads through our Lightspeed platform is really beneficial in helping reach people that don’t know about us,” said Lilly. “That absolutely translates to new customers and drives additional sales. It’s a great marketing tool. It drives both new customers and repeat customers, which is what really keeps us in business.”

This new offering from Lightspeed and Google will give retailers increased opportunity to meet consumer needs in 2021, which have fundamentally pivoted to prioritizing shopping local. Google My Business and Local Inventory Ad integrations are currently available to all Lightspeed retail customers. Lightspeed’s Smart Shopping Campaign capability will become available in the coming months.

For more information, read the official release.

In a recent poll conducted by OnePoll, Lightspeed found that business owners in the United Kingdom reported spending five to eight hours a week on their business finances, and 66% said they still manually track their books, which can lead to significant reporting errors. Lightspeed (NYSE:LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), a leading provider of cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platforms, today announced the release of new integrated accounting tools for Lightspeed Accounting that help independent business owners securely automate bookkeeping tasks, saving hours a week by eliminating the need to manually transfer data, connecting their Lightspeed platform directly to their accounting software. 

Simplified Accounting with a Broad Range of Tools

The direct integration allows business managers to automate sending all their sales data directly to a broad range of accounting softwares like Quickbooks, Xero, Sage, and more. By automating the data transfer, business owners reduce the hours spent on their business finances. Lightspeed Accounting users spend on average five minutes a day on bookkeeping tasks that would previously take hours to complete manually. 

The new Lightspeed accounting integration:

• Reduces the likelihood of human errors by automating manual processes
• Provides an automated daily summary of sales
• Tracks revenue streams across multiple locations with complete accuracy 

“No one starts a small retail business or restaurant because they’re passionate about paperwork,” said Lightspeed Founder and CEO Dax Dasilva. “Business owners pride themself on their products and customer service. At Lightspeed, we try to make the complex work easy, so they can focus on the tasks they are passionate about. Using integrated accounting tools, much like integrated payments, saves time and money for entrepreneurs.”

A “Nightmare”: Majority of Merchants Still Manually Track Their Books 

Lightspeed’s integrated accounting tools have been a game-changer for Virtuosity Musical Instruments, a Boston-based instrument sales, and repair shop. 

“With Lightspeed, my books take me five minutes a day and we’re done. It’s really quite simple,” said owner Steve Johnson. “My bookkeeper was very excited to have something that would just drop into Quickbooks on a daily download.” 

The key to simplicity for Johnson is the integration with his Lightspeed platform. “Errors happen when you have to manually input something more than once,” he said of his previous accounting system. “It gives me nightmares when I see people using a spreadsheet for their accounting. Lightspeed Accounting lets the tools work for you.” 

In the OnePoll survey, Lightspeed found that:

• 78% manage their financials on their own. 
• 66% are still using manual entry into spreadsheets to track their accounting. 
• 51% spend 5-8 hours a week just on business finances. (Lightspeed accounting user spends on average 5 minutes a day.)
• 33% said they need more support with accounting and tax management, while 42% said they need more overall support with financial management. 

Kamal Chami owns two restaurants in Canada and uses Lightspeed Accounting for both. “Lightspeed Accounting simply does everything for me,” said Chami. “I get 30 minutes back every morning due to all my information being sent directly to my QuickBooks accounts. With this new automated workflow, I now only have to confirm the data and I can spend the rest of my time on other tasks.”

This enhanced integration replaces the existing accounting integration that Lightspeed previously offered to customers in North America and the United Kingdom. The enhanced version of Lightspeed Accounting is a completely new and improved integration and is fully integrated into the Lightspeed platform to improve the customer’s experience. The initial rollout is available immediately to hospitality merchants in the United States and Canada, and will soon expand to the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. For Retail businesses the tools will become available over the summer wherever Lightspeed Retail is sold.

Lightspeed brings Lightspeed Payments to UK customers as 94% of UK-based merchants look to integrate payments to simplify and scale their businesses 

Lightspeed, a leading provider of cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platforms, today announced the initial availability of Lightspeed Payments for hospitality merchants in the United Kingdom and Europe. Lightspeed’s integrated payments experience gives small and medium-sized businesses in the hospitality industry access to key functionalities made crucial by the global pandemic, including mobile and contactless payments, ahead of anticipated economic reopenings. 

Lightspeed Payments will be rolled out to hospitality merchants in the United Kingdom, followed by retail. This will continue for Lightspeed merchants throughout France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. The United Kingdom is an underserved market when it comes to payments, especially in the hospitality sector, and Lightspeed is thrilled to support these businesses as they begin to re-open for full-capacity dining. 

94% of UK SMBs See Financial Value of Integrated Payments

A study Lightspeed conducted with London’s OnePoll and over 300 small business owners found that:

• 94% said having integrated POS payments saves money and 79% believe it saves time. 
• 83% are using mobile payments.
• 78% manage their financials on their own. 
• 34% said they need more support preventing fraudulent payments, while 42% said they need more overall support with financial management. 

“This is a crucial time for the small and medium-sized businesses we serve and they need simplified solutions that save them time and money,” says Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Lightspeed. “This launch empowers many of our global customers to generate faster, more secure transactions that give them richer data about their business. The United Kingdom has historically seen rapid adoption of new payments solutions and we are excited to add new capabilities and flexibility to the businesses that are the backbone of that economy.”

To integrate with local financial infrastructure, Lightspeed has partnered with the global payments platform Adyen in the United Kingdom and Europe to provide reliable, secure payment processing for customers.

Simplified Payments Provides Relief for SMBs

Lightspeed Payments proved to be essential for many North American businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Operating from a single system of record, merchants eliminate the inconvenience of a separate payments provider, gaining a globally-backed, secure platform. 

LeAnna Brun runs Brunmillers Soapworks, a small retail business in Texas. While COVID-19 and recent ice storms wreaked havoc on her tourism-driven business, being able to run her shop online using both Lightspeed eCommerce and Lightspeed Payments has helped keep her business afloat. 

“Lightspeed has made everything so much easier,” Brun said. “It keeps business moving and having an integrated system is really important. With Lightspeed Payments, I love checking my bank account in the morning. It’s the most painless part of my whole business. Being able to control inventory and payments for online sales and in-store from a single location is extremely valuable. It’s also important to me that my customers feel secure when checking out.”

Today’s announcement furthers Lightspeed’s commitment to the tens of thousands of customer locations it supports throughout the globe and extends Lightspeed Payments beyond North America, where the company has offered the solution since 2018. 

To learn more, read our press release here. 

Lightspeed (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), a leading provider of cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platforms, has announced the initial availability of the Lightspeed Supplier Network for North American retailers. 

The launch of the fully integrated stock ordering solution transforms supply chain management for SMBs, democratizing access to the strategic inventory visibility once reserved predominantly for enterprise retail and eCommerce giants as the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to place pressure on supply chains in 2021.

Revolutionizing the SMB-supplier relationship

Lightspeed Supplier Network’s direct integration between businesses and brands provides merchants with an automatically updating supplier catalog system, easy order management tools and automated shipment handling directly within Lightspeed’s cloud-based platform.

It enables SMBs to more easily adopt a demand-focused inventory model to remain nimble, placing independent businesses on equal footing with large chains while providing suppliers access to a ready-to-buy customer base and real-time sell-through data.

“Connecting SMB retailers directly to their suppliers through the Lightspeed Supplier Network is nothing short of revolutionary. This new tool enables independent businesses to discover new products, more easily sell online and make better use of their capital to strategically increase order frequency,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder and CEO of Lightspeed. “The disruption of 2020 cemented the need for SMBs to use technology to remain agile and the Supplier Network is deeply in line with Lightspeed’s mission to strengthen their operational resilience.”

“With the growing demand for bicycle-related products and supply being lean, product curation and inventory visibility are key to success for SMBs,” said Charles Bisaillon, Retail Success Leader for Specialized Bicycle Components. “The direct integration our brand has with Lightspeed creates an ecosystem that ensures our retailers have full visibility of Specialized products to satisfy that growing demand, a critical capability in 2021.”

Key advantages of the Lightspeed Supplier Network

• A harmonized marketplace: Provides the same direct supplier access and inventory visibility as the big box stores, easily managed through a single platform.
• Automated manual ordering and consolidated supplier portals in the POS: Improves transparency of when a shipment will arrive and what goods will be included, shortening the receiving cycle and getting items into consumers’ hands more quickly.
• More discoverable new suppliers and products: Product details, including photos, are imported into the POS with a click of a button, eliminating a barrier to selling online.
• Increased control of supplier branding: Easy import workflow for retailers ensures merchants are using brand-approved names, product descriptions and high-quality imagery.
• Aggregated and anonymized sell-through data in real-time for suppliers: Brands are granted unprecedented visibility of goods sold by independent merchants.

The Lightspeed Supplier Network will be initially available for retailers in the bike, outdoor sport, jewelry and pet verticals. Click here for more information and to become part of the growing marketplace.

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Lightspeed (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD) recently announced the initial availability of Lightspeed Subscriptions, a new module that allows local retailers using Lightspeed Payments in North America to collect recurring revenue seamlessly through their POS. 

Gaining a foothold within the thriving health and wellness vertical, Lightspeed introduces the new feature to provide retailers an innovative tactic to build customer loyalty and future-proof their business.

Equipping merchants to serve changing customer behavior

Nearly half of consumers will fundamentally change the way they shop as a result of COVID-19, with 34 percent indicating they would pay more for local products. 

Coupled with an increase in demand for subscription boxes and services driven by the global pandemic, Lightspeed Subscriptions equips independent businesses with a vital sales strategy as consumers shop local and support their communities. 

Lightspeed Subscriptions supports a multitude of complex SMBs at the core of Lightspeed’s retail customer base. For example, retailers can sell subscriptions that will regularly replenish a buyer’s favorite products or surprise customers with new specialty items every month. Other businesses like gyms or spas can offer subscriptions that grant consumers access to regular services or exclusive rewards.

“The introduction of Lightspeed Subscriptions further adds to our comprehensive toolbox of solutions for complex retailers,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder and CEO of Lightspeed. 

“Local retailers need to gear up for a dramatic shift in shopping habits. With this in mind, we’re equipping merchants with an exciting new service that promises a source of uninterrupted revenue and will continue to fuel their businesses into the New Year.”

Securing revenue through Subscriptions

Key advantages of Lightspeed Subscriptions for local retailers include:

• Provides Stable Revenue: Recurring payments guarantees income at regular intervals, which merchants can depend on during unpredictable times
• Builds a Loyal Customer Base: Convenient and personalized product/service offerings boost brand loyalty and customer retention
• Integrates Directly into POS: As an add-on to Lightspeed Retail, ensures simple and unified set-up within the existing POS platform
• Ensures Secure, Automated Payments: Credit card information is securely stored for future automatic Subscription sales with customer consent (PCI Compliant). Failed payments are also automatically reprocessed and expired cards will continue to work, even as the bank replaces the physical card to ensure minimal interruption for the customer

This latest solution follows several other recent Lightspeed innovations for retailers such as Mobile Tap, Digital Wallet, and Analytics Core. Following this initial launch, Lightspeed also will be developing plans to roll out Lightspeed Subscriptions for eCommerce.

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Lightspeed (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD) has announced the availability of Order Ahead, a cost-efficient online ordering management system designed to facilitate takeout, enabling North American restaurants to provide customers with a completely contactless dining experience. 

Meeting new hospitality challenges with technology

As COVID-19 drives growth in the restaurant-to-consumer delivery market worldwide, hospitality businesses are turning to technology to reduce friction and high fees in the takeout and delivery experience. Order Ahead integrates fully with Lightspeed eCom for Restaurant, creating a powerful digital hub that equips restaurants with new revenue streams as they future-proof their business.

“As the pandemic continues to accelerate the digital transformation of the food service industry and consumers intend to make more takeout and delivery purchases, reaching diners outside restaurant walls has never been more important to ensuring long-term success,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder and CEO of Lightspeed. “With Order Ahead, restaurants can integrate a new sales channel directly into their existing POS and provide a contactless end-to-end experience.”

Key features and benefits of Order Ahead:

• Seamless integration and real-time updates: Restaurants can accept orders made online that appear directly into the Lightspeed POS, streamlining all orders into the prep queue. Merchants can now send real-time status updates via text message, so customers can track their orders from start to end.
• Convenient and contactless ordering: Offers customers a variety of safe and flexible pick-up and delivery choices, including the option to place an order for now or later and accept contactless payments.
• Streamlined online experience: Provides users with the option to customize branding and adjust hours of operation, preparation time, as well as pick-up with curb-side options.

Offering a new suite of online hospitality tools

“COVID-19 has changed how we run our business, and we knew we needed a technology partner that was fully integrated with an online ordering platform. Lightspeed and the Order Ahead integration is simple to use and keeps my staff safe,” says Juliana Carlucci, owner of Happy Burger in Toronto, Ontario. “We now know we can generate income in the coming months, even if the pandemic keeps dining rooms closed.”

The launch of Order Ahead builds on Lightspeed’s innovative product suite for the hospitality industry.  

Most recently, Lightspeed unveiled eCom for Restaurant to help users seamlessly transition their businesses online. Whether for bespoke dishes, limited edition merchandise or grocery items, this new eCom platform allows restaurants to continue to maintain strong customer relationships and diversify revenue.

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