Lightspeed Retail vs. Vend

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Lightspeed Retail
Score 6.2 out of 10
N/A
Lightspeed Retail is a retail PoS system from Lightspeed headquartered in Quebec. Core retail POS features are expanded on higher service tiers with ecommerce option and payments gateway, an accounting system, and a customer loyalty program.N/A
Vend
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Vend is a cloud-based point-of-sale and retail management platform. The vendor says it’s used by retailers of all types and sizes to create the ultimate customer experience and manage sales, inventory, customers and more. Vend also works offline and it automatically resyncs the user’s sales once they are back up online. The vendor offers a free 30-day trial and no credit card is required.N/A
Pricing
Lightspeed RetailVend
Editions & Modules
Basic
$79.00 ($69.00)
per month (when billed annually)
Starter
$119.00 ($99.00)
per month (when billed annually)
Standard
$139.00 ($119.00)
per month (when billed annually)
Advanced
$189.00 ($169.00)
per month (when billed annually)
Pro
$259.00 ($229.00)
per month (when billed annually)
Enterprise
Contact Sales
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Lightspeed RetailVend
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Lightspeed RetailVend
Considered Both Products
Lightspeed Retail
Chose Lightspeed Retail
Vend was terrible for inventory management, as was Square. Neither worked with Shopify. We selected Lightspeed when it was still MerchantOS based on cost and functionality, and haven't left because we haven't had time to research migration costs or alternatives.
Chose Lightspeed Retail
The challenge with this is that because Lightspeed has such poor reporting with their POS, and the ability to actually see your data, it is nearly impossible to move to another POS without a very expensive integration process. So while I have explored these other options, I …
Vend

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Best Alternatives
Lightspeed RetailVend
Small Businesses
Square POS
Square POS
Score 9.1 out of 10
Square POS
Square POS
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Epicor Eagle
Epicor Eagle
Score 8.3 out of 10
Epicor Eagle
Epicor Eagle
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Lightspeed RetailVend
Likelihood to Recommend
6.3
(13 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.8
(4 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Lightspeed RetailVend
Likelihood to Recommend
Lightspeed
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.
Read full review
Vend
Vend was great fit for this dry cleaner/laundry that had high traffic volume with customers stopping in before and after work. Things need to be done quickly.
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Pros
Lightspeed
  • Lightspeed Retail has great reports that are very easy to read and understand.
  • Lightspeed Retail is great to train new employees on because of its ease of use. There are not lots of different things that you have to learn just basics.
Read full review
Vend
  • Retail sales
  • Inventory management
  • Sales and promotions
  • Reporting
Read full review
Cons
Lightspeed
  • With a larger SKU assortment size, the software really starts to struggle with doing physical inventory after scanning in a few hundred items.
  • Several times throughout each year Lightspeed went down on us (not our internet connection but actually Lightspeed verified).
  • Special order system could use a lot of modern improvements (ability to schedule ahead of time, etc.)
  • Reports are very basic, and will likely require there Lightspeed Analytics to actually get reports useful for day to day operations.
  • Weak system for receiving purchase orders.
  • Does not handle items and cases for reordering very well. Have used multiple Point of Sale systems in the past 10 years that allow to set reorder points based on single items, but reorder the case automatically, Lightspeed has no support for this.
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Vend
  • It would be nice to have alternate ways to adjust prices
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Usability
Lightspeed
Very easy to use and figure out without calling customer support which is also very responsive and helpful.
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Vend
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Lightspeed
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.
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Vend
Not much support needed but they were fast and helpful when it was.
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Alternatives Considered
Lightspeed
Lightspeed is faster, sleeker and more modern than our previous POS system. I can’t express enough how easy the online store portion of Lightspeed is - it just intuitive and sometimes, is TOO easy, I feel like I have to be forgetting something. Lightspeed is staying modern and current where our previous POS was not
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Vend
Vend is much more capable than Square POS for product management and inventory control. ShopKeep is fairly similar to Vend but is a more closed ecosystem with fewer third-party integrations and less frequent updates.
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Return on Investment
Lightspeed
  • Certainly has saved money on cash-outs/ accounting due to QuickBooks integration.
  • Faster processing through tills means happier customers and more sales per hour.
  • Expensive product at $5K a year has taken away some profitability for this small business. It's way, way over priced.
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Vend
  • Correct inventory levels has been a game-changer. We use to oversell because of inconsistencies between POS and e-commerce sales.
  • The built-in loyalty program has been very useful and was much more appealing to customers than we originally predicted.
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ScreenShots

Vend Screenshots

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