In 2023, just 6% of point-of-sale transactions in Australia were made in cash–making Australia one of the most cashless countries in the world.
With this in mind, many businesses, from retail stores to restaurants and hotels, are opting to overhaul their payment technology to offer their customers a better experience while reaping several benefits for their business.
Enter Lightspeed’s unified point of sale (POS) and payments platform.
Lightspeed provides businesses with all the tools they need to run and grow their business from one fast, flexible platform. Plus, with payments seamlessly embedded into the POS, it’s easy for businesses to boost efficiency, eliminate manual entry, save time on reconciliations and save money that can be reinvested back into the business.
To understand exactly how Lightspeed has helped businesses in Australia, we sat down with a range of owners and managers to chat about how Lightspeed’s platform has enabled them to scale and grow.
Let’s dive in.
10 benefits of Lightspeed payments from our customers
- Split bills make life easier for waitstaff and impress customers
- Seamless payment experience speeds up service during peak times
- All-in-one system makes reconciliation quick and easy
- Quick payouts are great for enhancing cash flow
- Customisable options for the ability to pass on surcharges
- Save double the time to serve more customers
- Easy-to-use terminals make life easy for staff
- Quick set-up means you’re ready to start selling in minutes
- Accurate payments eliminate variances
- Reliable payments increase revenue thanks to speed of service
1. Split bills make life easier for waitstaff and impress customers
“I don’t do it [Lightspeed does]”
Longshore is a seafood-inspired fine dining restaurant in Sydney with an eye for detail and a drive to offer impeccable service.
According to Dorothy Lee, General Manager at Longshore, Lightspeed Payments has revolutionised customer transactions in the venue. The ability to split bills seamlessly makes life easier for waitstaff and impresses customers, making it quicker and easier to turn tables.
“We always have customers that want to split bills,” Explains Dorothy.
[Lightspeed] makes our life so much easier because we can just bring the POS with us and do it at a table, and even the customers seemed really impressed.”
“They’ll be like, oh, how do you do that? I was like, I don’t do it [Lightspeed does], and they left happy. You get the correct amount of money, and you manage to turn the table a lot quicker.”
2. Seamless payment experience speeds up service during peak times
“Even the ability to take phone orders is so easy.”
Rooster & Co. is a popular quick-service restaurant in Melbourne. Since adopting Lightspeed Payments, Nick Ghionis, Founder and Owner of Rooster & Co., has enjoyed how quick and easy the payment experience has been for both staff and customers.
“It became seamless. And that kind of relationship between these devices and [the] software, it’s a huge selling point… When it comes to using the new devices, even the ability to take phone orders is so easy.”
From the seamless connection between the POS and payment terminal to quickly taking orders over the phone, Nick has been impressed with the payment experience and how it helps them serve customers quicker during peak times.
“I use two POS systems… which meant that I was able to get two [payment] devices, which meant at a rush hour when you have someone who’s at the counter umming and ahhing and looking at the menu… we can basically jump in [on the other terminal] and go, hey, what would you like?”
3. All-in-one system makes reconciliation quick and easy
“It’s all within Lightspeed.”
Emily Ciappara, Accounts Manager at Active Baby Co., loves how Lightspeed’s embedded POS and Payments platform ensures all their sales data is kept within one system, ensuring accuracy and making reconciliations quick and easy.
“The payments have been much easier; everything’s all in one,” explains Emily.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to settle a machine and then make sure it balances, it’s just always going to be right.”
“Everything tends to be pretty simple…When I balance the three stores at the end of the month… It’s all within Lightspeed, which is really helpful.”
4. Quick payouts are great for enhancing cash flow
“Wake up the next day, and you’ve got your money in the bank.”
One of the most significant benefits called out by several business owners was how quickly Lightspeed Payments pays out to the business.
“Lightspeed pays the next day, for businesses, that would really be a lifesaver. Wake up the next day, and you’ve got your money in the bank, and you can keep trading,” comments Brad Fudge, Owner of Guthega Inn.
Lightspeed Payments has been really good. And they pay out fast.”
“The money is in our account quickly,” explains Tony Morabes, Owner of Eat Lebanese.
“We process the sale, the machine takes the payment, and then the money comes through at the end of the day. We get paid every day, and we can keep moving on with sales and growing the business,” comments Emily Ciappara, Accounts Manager at Active Baby Co.
5. Customisable options for the ability to pass on surcharges
“Really important for us.”
Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT rely on the financial support of their community to operate, which means they need to keep as much of their takings as possible. To do this, they needed to find a platform that ensured every penny was spent where it could make a difference.
We did the change to Lightspeed Payments recently to be able to pass on the surcharging to the customers, which is really important for us.”
“That was a few hundred dollars a month that we were paying to (the bank), so that was a huge reason why we opted for that change,” explains David Krantz, General Manager of Kevin Betts Stadium, Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT.
6. Save double the time to serve more customers
“Input into Lightspeed and boom, the payments are there for the customer.”
As a busy cafe, St Judes needs to process transactions quickly to keep queues short and minimise customer wait times.
With their old payment system, the team were spending unnecessary time having to manually punch in the price of each order into their payment terminal.
With Lightspeed’s embedded payment system, St. Judes has overcome these issues.
We’re saving heaps of time.”
“We’ve had Lightspeed Payments now for a month, and it’s saved us double the time because you only input into Lightspeed and boom, the payments are there for the customer. It’s all integrated through the POS system properly now,” explains Adam Celestino, owner of St. Judes.
7. Easy-to-use terminals make life easy for staff
“Just tap on there, and it’s good to go.”
Another element that many business owners agreed on is how easy Lightspeed Payments is to use, making life so much easier for their staff.
“We found it very easy to use,” comments Lilianne Minehan, Head of Operations at Mezi.
I was in the store a few weeks ago. I found it very easy to use, very quick, efficient… We’ve had no issues, to be honest with you.”
Emily Ciappara, Accounts Manager at Active Baby Co., also relays a similar experience.
“Just the fact that the amounts automatically light up on the machine means staff don’t have to do anything else to cash up at the end of the day… it’s made their jobs a little bit easier.”
Liz Anderson, Owner of White Earth, also agrees and loves how the embedded payments mean everything automatically syncs–saving staff time and enhancing productivity.
“It’s seamless for the customer in-store… You just had that terminal sitting on the counter. The computer will talk to that terminal in a second,” says Liz. “When you’re ready, just tap on there, and it’s good to go. It’s really easy.”
8. Quick set-up means you’re ready to start selling in minutes
“I literally had zero drama whatsoever.”
The team at Mezi, a jewellery retailer with five stores across Sydney, loved how quick and easy it was to set up and start selling with Lightspeed Payments.
“It’s streamlined. It was just very simple to connect everything when it came to staff connecting the new store,” explains Lilianne Minehan, Head of Operations at Mezi.
Setting up the EFTPOS machine was so easy… It was very, very simple, very easy for us to set up. No hiccups.”
Dayvid Clark, Venue Manager & Buyer at Beermash, a speciality craft beer store and bar, also loved how quick and easy it was to set up Lightspeed Payments.
“It took like 5 minutes. I literally had zero drama whatsoever. It was completely seamless.”
9. Accurate payments eliminate variances
“It’s just always accurate.”
As we touched on earlier, legacy payment systems often mean staff have to manually punch in prices into the payment terminals, which is time-consuming and prone to human error, creating variances.
Lightspeed Payments has saved the team at St Jude’s cafe time, but most importantly, it ensures accuracy, minimises variances, and makes reconciliation a breeze.
“There’s no more variance anymore because there can’t be; everything has to run through the POS software,” says Adam Celestino, St. Judes’s owner.
Variances just don’t exist anymore… it’s just made it so much easier.”
“We get the reports every single day about what’s come through, and it’s just brought everything into one bit of software, one spot for us to see everything that we want.”
This sentiment is also echoed by Mikey, Restaurant Manager at Bluebonnet Barbecue.
“I’ve never used [embedded] payments that just do it from the POS, but it’s so easy. It’s honestly, way better… it’s just always accurate, knowing that I’m not accidentally putting the wrong amount in.”
10. Reliable payments increase revenue thanks to speed of service
“I haven’t had to reconnect the system.”
Before using Lightspeed Payments, GWS Giants Giants used bank terminals, but connectivity issues with hardware delayed accepting payments during peak customer times.
Switching to Lightspeed’s unified POS and Payments allowed Mitchell’s team to increase revenue thanks to the speed of service.
“On game days, I haven’t had to reconnect the system, which is very common in the retail space. Even walking outside with your EFTPOS terminal to put it in direct daylight to see if it connects to a signal,” explains Mitchell Dale, Head of Customer Acquisition.
On Lightspeed Payments, we’re able to increase our revenue because of the speed of service.”
How can Lightspeed’s unified platform help your business grow?
From retail stores to restaurants, Lightspeed’s unified POS and payments platform offers a range of benefits that help businesses boost efficiency and improve their bottom line.
Thanks to Lightspeed’s unified platform, businesses can save time on day-to-day tasks, ensure quick and accurate reconciliation and provide a seamless payment experience for customers. Plus, with all the POS and payment information in one place, businesses can access comprehensive sales reporting to simplify their financial operations.
With Lightspeed’s embedded payments, it’s now easier than ever to streamline your processes, enhance the customer experience, and focus on sustainable growth.
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