New product updates focus on providing merchants with a deeper understanding of their–and their competitors–businesses
Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform empowering merchants to provide the best omnichannel experiences, today highlighted some of the key product innovations launched in the past quarter to support the Company’s customer base in retail and hospitality.
Focused on improving business effectiveness and operational efficiency, the releases in the past few months have streamlined business management to help create faster workflows, predict sales opportunities and compare the health of their business against industry benchmarks.
“This past quarter we’ve delivered on some exciting and cutting-edge technology innovations,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lightspeed. “Whether you’re a retailer looking to better capitalize on product sales opportunities, or a restaurateur who needs to better understand their business in context to your peers, we’ve opened up real opportunities to improve business performance and maximize sales.”
Lightspeed’s Q2 innovations brought a number of new products and feature sets across the retail and hospitality industries, including:
Retail
- Increased sales opportunities and better inventory management with Retail Insights
Launched globally in August, Retail Insights allows Lightspeed customers to close the gap on missed sales opportunities by using historical and real time data to forecast demand which factors in stock-outs, and create purchase orders ahead of demand.
- Keep your sales, and peace of mind, with Offline Mode
With Offline Mode, Lightspeed Retail merchants can continue to run business as usual even during outage situations. When a terminal detects that the internet connection has been lost, Lightspeed’s POS will be prompted to enable offline mode to process payments. Merchants can manually enter the sale amounts and have the customer pay using a card payment like normal. The payment will be stored on the terminal until the internet connection has been restored. All stored payments will then be transferred to Lightspeed for processing and merchant portal payments will be updated accordingly.
- Automatic Order Distribution to Multiple Locations
Distributing stock from a purchase order to multiple locations can be challenging. With Lightspeed Multi-Location Ordering, retailers can now create one purchase order for multiple locations and after receiving it at a warehouse automatically create transfers to distribute the stock out.
- Instant Payouts for Retailers Comes to the UK
Cash flow is the most crucial part of running a business. With the launch of Instant Payouts to UK merchants, eligible Lightspeed merchants will be able to access funds immediately after the transaction–even on weekends and holidays–and manage daily expenses, pay suppliers and invest in growth opportunities. Instant Payouts is already available to Lightspeed Retail customers currently based in the U.S.
Hospitality
- Groundbreaking AI-driven Benchmarks & Trends for the Hospitality industry
Through the power of machine learning and AI, Benchmarks & Trends gives restaurateurs the insights they need to help boost revenue, streamline operations, and gain a competitive edge in a crowded dining landscape.
- Spot trends faster with the new Sales Summary page
Leveraging improved data visualization, customers can now better understand what’s happening with their business, identify sales trends and pinpoint where losses are happening. This visual guide clearly outlines the busiest periods throughout the week and provides insights into what’s affecting performance.
- Happy Hour on Order Anywhere
Extend POS happy hour pricing to Order Anywhere. This feature allows businesses to dynamically adjust their menu pricing, allowing guests to take advantage of happy hour pricing ordering online from their table.
- Menu management made easy through bulk actions
Customers can manage their menu faster than ever with new bulk actions in the item library. Assign static categories, accounting groups, production instructions, etc. Archive or unarchive up to a hundred items at a time.
- Issue partial refunds directly from the POS
Partial refunds directly from the POS are now enabled for all merchants. This feature gives users the flexibility to refund specific items, service charges and tips, making it easier to provide excellent customer service.
eCommerce
- Endless opportunities with custom sections for the Instant Site
Merchants and partners can now develop and design new sections for Lightspeed eCommerce Instant Site. Giving merchants and developers the tools to build unique customer experiences tailored to their business or design an online store that matches their vision and takes their brand to the next level.
Lightspeed powers the world’s best restaurants and retailers including: Taverne Atlantic (Montréal), Tony’s Chocolonely (Amsterdam), Alinea Group (Chicago), L’Occitane (New Zealand), and Kei (Paris).
For more information, see https://www.lightspeedhq.com/.
