Lightspeed Retail vs. Oracle Simphony POS Systems

It is perfect for any small business looking for inventory control, Tracking purchase history, and just an all round easy to use software for retail and beyond. I would not use it if I have only a few hundred items or was a larger company that can afford to build my own POS software.

Incentivized

In my experience, there has not been a resolution on outstanding tickets opened two years ago during the initial implementation. Simple things like time reporting, creating buttons, and marking items as "unavailable" have issues. The system has a lag when servers log out of checks that prevents them from opening the checks on another terminal without a wait that feels like an eternity in the restaurant industry and with direct impact to the guest. Good luck calling support. Most of my experience involves the person I spoke with having no idea how to fix my issue and having to "escalate the ticket." This escalation process will last weeks, months, and in our case, years with no resolution.

• Very very user friendly.
• Easy iPad interface that is easy to upgrade to new hardware if an iPad breaks, etc.
• On the Advanced plan the reporting is outstanding.
• Very easy to train new employees, especially younger employees raised on phones and tablets.
• We use their payments system and it's a very easy integration. I believe Stripe is their payment provider.

• Micros' hardware has above average longevity, so long as you don't have a touchscreen in the kitchen.
• Micros has a number of companies that allow integration into the POS, allowing you to add on pieces as you see fit.

Incentivized

• They have not had major updates to their system in years. The inventory system is stagnant. Although their inventory system is robust, it is outdated.
• They do have 24-hour support, however, wait times are excessive and representatives have challenges understanding your issues.
• Trying to get issues resolved can take months or never at all. Management is non-existent. Trying to reach a supervisor is impossible.
• They have a culture of telling you what you want to hear but have no intentions of actually following through.
• Lightspeed is a great solution if you are a small business just getting started. But if you are intending to grow and expand, Lightspeed will become detrimental to your growth.
• The reporting/analytics is basic at best. They do offer paid options that are very expensive, but it is very robust. The basic reporting is very minimal.

• Difficult to learn "coding" screen setup.
• Outdated back of house operating system.
• Hardware space - We always seem to run out of space on our back of house computer due to the size of the MICROS files.
• Customer service is subpar. Reps on the phone never seem to know who I need to be transferred to to resolve my issue.
• Hold time on customer service phone line. Every time I've called MICROS for help the call never takes less than 30+ minutes.
• Customer service operations consistency. There's always a different solution for an issue when I call.

Incentivized

Simply well designed with obvious icons per component, making it easy to interface with.

Incentivized

I gave the rating of a 9 because ninety percent of the time when I talk to their support they're very helpful. One of the only real issues I have is there are times where the queue will be 7-9 people deep. When you have an error you don't know how to fix, sometimes this is very troubling. But overall their support is usually quick and friendly.

Incentivized

We used Microsoft Retail Management System before this and this was in a whole other league of its own with features and ease of use. I really like using Macs also. They are much more reliable and longer lasting than IBM or Similar computers. The cloud based system is great also so you do not have to have another unit to store you database on

Incentivized

CenterEdge is the point of sale we replaced 5 years ago and it was not by choice. I could get into specifics as to why the change was made to Micros but for our type of business, it is just not a good fit. I've said this countless times and I will say it again, Micros is great for restaurants and bars just not for our business model. If you have one of those types of businesses where you just sell food and drink, go for it! But if you need something that will tie multiple attractions, food and beverage, and entertainment into one point of sale. Look elsewhere like CenterEdge, which I have reviewed on here and is great for FECs. We have moved back to as it works with our type of business.

Incentivized

• I have to spend a lot less time training my employees because Lightspeed is so easy to use!
• Keeping track of our inventory is as simple as clicking a few buttons.
• Our online sales have grown tremendously since changing to Lightspeed

Incentivized

• Moderate cost; less experience than our previous software Peachworks
• Streamlined integration from 2 programs to one
• Entering employee information is easy and quick
• Payroll reporting and fixing errors is easy and quick

Incentivized