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Lightspeed eCommerce review

Lightspeed offers complete webshop software for both beginners and professionals. Want to start your own webshop and don't know yet which software to use for it? In this article we will tell you exactly what Lightspeed eCommerce has to offer and for whom it is a suitable choice.

What is Lightspeed?

Lightspeed is a software developer focused on sales and web shops. For example, they offer POS and hospitality systems. One of their biggest successes is their webshop software: Lightspeed eCommerce. This popular all-in-1 webshop software gives beginning and experienced webshops the ability to arrange everything in one place. This is also Lightspeed's strongest point. Control your inventory, payments, customer relations, shipments, social media, SEO, email marketing and data in one system. So you no longer have to look at different plugins and applications to separately arrange your payments or inventory. You are ready for most of all your sales and marketing in one go.

How does Lightspeed eCommerce work?

Want to try Lightspeed eCommerce? You can try it for free for 14 days. In doing so, you get access to all e-commerce tools and find out if it really suits you. Once you want to start working with the e-commerce system, you need to take out a subscription in which you pay per month. We will tell you more about the exact prices in a moment. Are you used to WordPress? The back office of Lightspeed webshops is quite similar to WordPress in terms of layout and ease of use. Therefore, the system will immediately feel familiar.

You can start with a demo version that can later be converted to a live version. You can link your domain yourself, but Lightspeed can also help you with this. You design and set up the webshop from within Lightspeed itself. You can choose from 50 free themes to design your webshop with. Then you can add your company data and start filling and fine-tuning your webshop. From your Lightspeed webshop, you can also activate the payments and shipping methods Lightspeed offers. Automated mails are also included. Has someone placed an order? Then send a personalized - but automated email with a thank you and update.

Who is Lightspeed webshop software suitable for?

Lightspeed web shops are suitable for small and large e-commerce businesses. There are several e-commerce packages to choose from. With these, you specify how big your business is and what all you need. Lightspeed is very easy to use. It requires little to no technical knowledge. The menu is self-explanatory and shipping and payments are even taken care of for you.

What are the prices?

Three packages are offered by Lightspeed: Essential, Advanced and Professional. As the name implies, the first Essential package is suitable for starters. Are you just starting out with one webshop and are you the only one getting started in it? Then the Essential package will probably be enough for you. You can create one user account and sell products in your own country. Do you have more than 250 products or colleagues who also have to work in the back office? Then Advanced is a suitable option for you. It allows you to add as many as 5,000 products. You can create three user accounts for you and your colleagues. Whereas with the Essential package you could only sell nationally, with the Advanced package you can also sell internationally. Do you have an advanced webshop with up to 10 employees and up to 15,000 products? With the Professional package you get everything you need as a professional shop. If you have even more products and employees, please contact us for the Enterprise package.

Below we summarize for you what is possible with the different packages:

Lightspeed Essential (€49 per month)

  • Up to 250 products
  • Create 1 user account
  • Omnichannel opportunities
  • Selling domestically
  • Support for your Lightspeed webshop via email
  • Trainings (annual payment only)
  • Importing and exporting products
  • Sales Summaries
  • SEO tools

Lightspeed Advanced (€89 per month)

  • Up to 5,000 products
  • Create 3 user accounts
  • Omnichannel opportunities
  • Selling Internationally
  • Support for your Lightspeed webshop via email & phone
  • Trainings (annual payment only)
  • Importing and exporting products
  • Sales Summaries
  • SEO tools
  • Extensive blog capabilities
  • Apply product filters
  • A/B testing for checkout page
  • Return Merchandise Management (RMA).
  • API access
  • Making customizations in CSS or HTML

Lightspeed Professional (€189 per month)

  • Up to 15,000 products
  • Create 10 user accounts
  • Omnichannel opportunities
  • Selling Internationally
  • Support for your Lightspeed webshop via email & phone
  • Trainings (annual payment only)
  • Importing and exporting products
  • Sales Summaries
  • SEO tools
  • Extensive blog capabilities
  • Apply product filters
  • A/B testing for checkout page
  • Return Merchandise Management (RMA).
  • API access
  • Making customizations in CSS or HTML
  • Create discounts
  • Wholesale
  • Product bundles

Lightspeed sample websites

Want to see what a Lightspeed website looks like? Of course, what Lightspeed looks like in practice differs per type of webshop and theme. Here you can view the different themes to get an idea of what you will soon be able to do with your webshop.

Why choose or not choose Lightspeed eCommerce?

As should be clear by now, Lightspeed has many advantages. But why would you actually choose a Lightspeed webshop and not just a free WooCommerce one? Below, we have summarized the various advantages and disadvantages of Lightspeed for you:

  • Complete webshop software
  • Link your warehouse or store inventory with online inventory
  • Easily arrange your payments and shipments from Lightspeed
  • Take advantage of built-in SEO and marketing tools
  • Send automated & personalized emails
  • Import and export product data with spreadsheets
  • Several features can be found in free webshop software
  • Relatively pricey compared to free webshop software
  • Fewer themes than with WordPress, for example
  • Every package has its limitations

Some features in Lightspeed eCommerce don't seem very special. For example, even in free webshop software you can arrange your payments, using an API from Mollie, for example. In free software you can also manage your inventory, send automatic mails and download SEO tools. Especially for WooCommerce you can download a lot of plugins that will eventually get you close to all the possibilities Lightspeed offers. You also have a lot of themes for WooCommerce, for example. On the other hand, with Lightspeed eCommerce you're done in one go. You don't need any plugins and don't have to work with CSS and links.

In our opinion, the biggest advantage of Lightspeed eCommerce is stock management. Many webshops struggle with linking inventory. How do you make sure your online inventory is updated as soon as a sale has taken place in your physical store? For such links you pay a very large amount of money at some software developers. Lightspeed has integrated the link between offline and online stock in a complete webshop package and is therefore certainly a progressive party. Highly recommended if you have both a physical store and an online shop.

What is the Lightspeed eCommerce store?

Are there still certain features you are missing or would you like to take your webshop to the next level? In Lightspeed's eCommerce shop, you can install various apps and plugins to expand your shop even further. Think for example of a live chat, checkout link or zip code checker. Some plugins are free and some charge a small monthly fee.

To buy or not to buy a Lightspeed webshop?

So with Lightspeed, you have a complete package to handle everything concerning your online sales. Although you pay a monthly fee for it, it is definitely worth trying out. The system works very easily for beginners and pros. Lightspeed takes many worries off your hands, think of payments, shipments and the overall design of your webshop. This makes it a very progressive party.

Although many of the features are also possible in free webshop software, or with plugins, Lightspeed is an easy all-in-1 option that gets you up and running right away. What we are particularly impressed with is the ability to link your offline and online inventory. This is why we particularly recommend the software for companies that also have a physical store. Do you want a complete webshop where everything works immediately and where as much as possible is taken out of your hands? Then Lightspeed is also highly recommended.