The Plus Factor grows the business by 50% with Lightspeed

Before switching to Lightspeed eight years ago, The Plus Factor used a traditional cash register that offered zero visibility into their stock performance.

"We had no way of pulling any form of reporting, [no way of knowing] where we were short or where we were overstocked. We just kind of flew by the seat of our pants and it wasn't working for us," recalls Becky Boileau, Marketing Manager at The Plus Factor.

She adds that the lack of a modern, efficient POS system was causing significant challenges in managing and growing the business.

"When I started with the company, it was not in good shape. We knew we had to implement some form of inventory management system to stay afloat."

In addition to inventory struggles, Becky says the team also faced challenges because their POS didn't integrate with their ecommerce store. If they sold anything in-store, they would have to manually update their inventory to avoid discrepancies.

"It was a nightmare. I don't work weekends, so whatever the girls sold on weekends wasn't tracked at all. When an online order came in, my heart would sink because I'd worry we might not have the item in stock," shares Becky.

The Plus Factor upgraded to Lightspeed Retail, which proved to be a game-changer for the business.

Thanks to Lightspeed, they gained full visibility into their inventory and sales performance. Everything from their top products and categories to their sales and profit margins is now easily accessible and trackable.

Lightspeed's reports also empower them to make informed decisions about their stock levels and product catalog.

"We hired someone to plan our inventory and with Lightspeed, she can pull all the necessary reports, letting us know which categories are overstocked or understocked and what individual items we need to sell through," says Becky.

The Plus Factor also made the switch to Lightspeed Payments, which helped them not only save money but also streamline the refund experience.

From a cost perspective, Becky says Lightspeed Payments offers a more merchant-friendly rate and the business saves about $600 a year on processing fees.

"One of the biggest benefits is that we don't get penalized for accepting American Express anymore,” says Becky. “Previously, we used to tell customers we didn't accept it, but if they used it, we'd get hit with high fees.”

Returns also used to be a hassle with The Plus Factor's previous payments provider. They had to be done manually, and the customer had to be present with their card. With Lightspeed, the process is effortless.

Staff can simply pull up the receipt and process the return electronically, even if the customer isn't in the store.