Lightspeed POS Reviews (2024)

Lightspeed POS Reviews for Restaurants

The restaurant point of sale (POS) space can be highly competitive, especially as technology, applications, and software continue to grow and evolve. From brand new restaurant owners to veteran restaurateurs who are expanding their businesses, understanding the top options for restaurant POS systems takes a lot of research — from knowing expected costs and potential add-ons for the system, to what features the POS system will bring to your employees.

Lightspeed is an iPad-based POS system that can be utilized by a wide range of restaurants and bars of varying sizes, service types, and business models. Offering an intuitive approach for front-of-house staff, Lightspeed is an adaptable system that includes features like delivery and contactless online ordering, acceptance of different payment methods, and built-in inventory tracking and automation. Larger restaurants, bars, and takeout locations can use it just as easily as a single checkout terminal in a food truck business.

How does Lightspeed compare to the best restaurant POS systems on third party sites?

G2 is one of the world’s most trusted tech marketplaces, that provides buyers and sellers in-depth research on a range of industries. Their G2 Grid® is used to score products and vendors based on reviews that are collected from their user community, in an effort to provide a one-stop location for those interested in products like restaurant POS systems.

The G2 Scoring Grid presents real-time consumer sentiment that pulls from over 1.6 million reviews that can be viewed on G2’s site. Toast ranks as #1 in the Restaurant POS System category, as of May 2022. 

G2’s unique algorithm pulls from user reviews to calculate both customer Satisfaction and overall Market Presence scores, to determine where a product falls on the G2 grid. Further data from online sources and social networks are aggregated into G2’s algorithm, to place POS systems like Toast and Lightspeed on their live grid.

The Satisfaction rating is calculated by a number of different factors. G2’s methodology behind this rating includes:

• Statistical significance and popularity based on the number of reviews on G2
• The quality of reviews — the more fully complete a review is, the heavier weight it will have
• Age of reviews — more recent reviews offer the most relevant and up-to-date information about how a POS system is operation for users
• Overall customer satisfaction and Net Promoter Score based on G2 user ratings
• Customer satisfaction with end user-focused

The second element taken into consideration in the G2 Scoring Grid calculation is Market Presence. This score is a combination of 15 different metrics that are pulled from G2’s direct user reviews, third party sources, and publicly available information — both for the individual product itself and the vendor. A few of the metrics used in the Market Presence score include:

• Reviews published on G2
• Web presence (i.e. vendor site traffic, SEO rank, and internet search volume)
• Growth (both web presence and employee growth over the last year)
• Vendor age
• Number of employees (as found on social networks like LinkedIn and public sources)

Once the Satisfaction and Market Presence ratings are calculated through G2’s algorithm, they then appear on the grid. The X-axis represents the Satisfaction rating while the Y-axis represents the Market Presence rating. The individual quadrants visible on the grid include leaders, contenders, high performers, and niche. 

Toast, as ranked #1 in the POS System grid, is visible in the top right as a leader. This indicates that G2’s algorithm has determined that Toast has both a strong Satisfaction rating and a strong Market Presence rating that places it in such a high position. 

Based on Lightspeed reviews on G2, Lightspeed does come in at #3 in the same category, appearing just below Toast on the grid.

Third Party Customer Ratings and Reviews of Lightspeed

Lightspeed reviews on third party sites like G2 and Nerdwallet offer a look at what exactly users are experiencing and getting out of the POS system. This helps present a better understanding of where Lightspeed stands with its users and what is and isn’t working.

Below, we explore both strengths and weaknesses that users have shared in Lightspeed reviews.

Lightspeed Strengths

User friendly software + customizable

Lightspeed offers a user-friendly layout that affords restaurant owners a simple set-up process. Training employees to use the POS system is straightforward, with a sleek and reliable interface that is highly customizable. Lightspeed reviews make note of the fact that the software can be as simple or as complex as needed — depending on the restaurant service type, layout, and individual needs and procedures established by the restaurant team. 

Lightspeed’s customizable system allows managers and owners to create custom restaurant layouts for customer oversight — including seeing which tables are full or have available seating. Users can experiment with different configurations and layouts to figure out what works best. There can be a slight learning curve when getting started with customization options as well.

Comprehensive data + insights

Lightspeed describes itself as an adaptable POS system that provides restaurant owners with a range of built-in tools and access to in-depth analytics. The data and analytics collected by Lightspeed are comprehensive, allowing restaurant owners to have easy access to useful data that can help guide business decisions, including trending menu items, granular sales, staff performance reports, and more.

Restaurant owners receive a breakdown of their menu’s performance, which can lead to further optimization of their menu by understanding which items are top performers, underperformers, and hidden gems. Data and insights are accessible from mobile devices and computers.

Lightspeed Weaknesses

Add-ons are an additional cost

Like a number of POS systems, Lightspeed offers a range of functions built into the software. But for some restaurant owners, further functionality may be called for. Lightspeed does support add-ons that provide more functionality and customization, but they can quickly add up.

Lightspeed’s pricing is quote-based, which can make it difficult to get a basic understanding of the potential cost until you’ve received a custom quote. For the restaurant owner interested in additional functionality outside of Lightspeed’s base software—such as a rewards program or additional reports—expect a higher quoted price.

Internet connection needed at all times

Lightspeed is a cloud-based platform. This means that the POS system requires an Internet connection to operate at all times. This offers restaurant owners access to their data reports, insights, and other key restaurant information from anywhere as long as they have Internet access on a mobile device or computer. But should there be an Internet or power outage, a restaurant would effectively be without their POS system — leaving them without means to actively take new orders.

This can be rectified with the purchase of Lightspeed’s LiteServer, which serves as a small local server and allows a restaurant to continue limited business operations like taking orders and creating receipts. But like other add-ons and extras that Lightspeed offers, LiteServer is a separate cost. And while LiteServer is an external back-up of sorts, it doesn’t allow employees to take credit or debit card payments.

Lightspeed vs. Toast POS

Now let’s take a closer look at what Toast offers restaurant owners like you, no matter where you are in your career.

Toast is an all-in-one POS system for restaurants and bars that allows you to easily run your entire operation. Orders, sales, payments, and more can all be managed in one location with cloud-based access, and it’s an easy to use system that can handle business for locations that are ready to increase revenue. 

With an ever-growing list of tools and features that make running your restaurant easier, Toast is here to provide stability and support for all management needs.

Designed for Restaurants

Toast has been built since day one for restaurants, by restaurant people. From the front of the house to the back, Toast is specifically built to take on a wide range of tasks that restaurants handle on a daily basis, like inventory management and an easy to access menu configuration.

Back of house inventory management provides centralized inventory data that gives you total control over costs and waste tracking, and it helps you and your team to understand the total value of your inventory at all times. 

Attention to small details through inventory management and other restaurant-specific features like splitting checks helps you to streamline management with Toast.

POS Reliability

Toast’s POS system is as reliable as they come. Built with hardware that’s durable for bustling restaurants, your business will function with a reliable ethernet connection and automatic backups in the cloud, to ensure that you never lose important customer information and functionality.

As a cloud-based POS system, Toast features a fully offline mode that keeps payments, orders, and other vital restaurant actions moving seamlessly, even during Internet outages. 

Finance and Payments

Toast keeps payment processing and restaurant management all in one platform. Our transparent payment processing fees ensure that you understand exactly where every dime is going — with no hidden fees or markups. You can expect a single flat rate that will be custom-built to your restaurant’s credit card mix and operations.

Payment security is a top priority as well. Toast’s systems and hardware come equipped with both EMV and NFC technology that helps prevent fraudulent transactions — through both chip cards and mobile payments. 

Curious to see how Toast compares to other POS systems? Check out how we stack up to the competition here.

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