ORSM '12 New Exhibitors Preview: LightSpeed

LightSpeed

www.lightspeedretail.com / Jillian Ruiz, administrator and event coordinator on behalf of Dax Dasilva, director of sales / Montreal, Quebec / #PV534 / Founded 2005

Tell us about your brands and products?

Retail tools for the iGeneration — LightSpeed continues to evolve, providing retailers with a comprehensive suite of retail tools for the iGeneration, whether they’re operating in traditional brick-and-mortar stores, in pop-up locations, at trade shows, conferences or special events, or online. LightSpeed reinvents the in-store shopping experience for today’s iGeneration consumers with a robust, fully-integrated retail system that turns Macs, iPads and iPhones into cutting edge point of sale and retail management tools. It is multi-user, multi-store, eCommerce-ready and extensible through a developer API so that software never limits retail aspirations.

• LightSpeed for Mac: LightSpeed’s tools make it as easy as click, drag and drop to operate, and track all aspects of a retail business. Its front-counter POS system features a stunning interface ideal for high-speed scanner-driven retail with Cover Flow technology that helps reduce errors and incidents of fraud by allowing users to browse customers and products graphically. It also features USB hardware support for standard cash drawers, card readers and barcode readers that are operated by LightSpeed as one integrated solution. With LightSpeed, all aspects of a retail operation are browsed as quickly and easily as playlists in iTunes. Users can access LightSpeed’s sales, service, tracking and purchasing tools with a single, streamlined interface that is supported by the robust SQL foundation of LightSpeed Server. Version 3.6 of the platform, released in Q4 2011, boosts the speed of the overall platform, and boasts redesigned key features to maximize retailers’ profits. Credit card processing for Australia through Tyro Payments was also added in this release.
• LightSpeed for iPad: LightSpeed for iPad is retail’s first truly interactive customer-experience platform. It allows retailers to offer a brand new personalized selling experience combined with inventory scanning, wireless payments and the powerful retail workflows of LightSpeed, all on the world’s most popular tablet. More than just POS, LightSpeed for iPad is an interactive sales tool that elevates the shopping experience. A novel and captivating Show and Tell feature allows sales reps to use the iPad to share expanded product details and up to five zoomed images on a stylish curtained backdrop. The iPad’s vivid high-resolution display lets customers and salespeople alike view detailed images of store inventory that is not close at hand, whether it’s apparel, hard goods or large items where the increased size of the image provides important detail. Transactions can be completed with a few taps and a credit card swipe, all right on the iPad.
• LightSpeed Mobile: LightSpeed Mobile gives retailers the ability to eliminate cash register lines and allows sales staff to complete transactions on the retail floor with an iPod touch or iPhone. Sales associates can accompany customers as they make purchasing decisions, then scan products, and complete credit card payments from anywhere in the store; or, in the case of pop-up, trade show, conferences or special events, out of the store.
• LightSpeed ecommerce: Retailers can expand the capabilities of the core LightSpeed system with LightSpeed eCommerce, which supports both LightSpeed Web Store and the Magento eCommerce Platform. LightSpeed eCommerce is a connector that uploads products and images to the online store of choice and downloads orders back into LightSpeed, offering a solution that is fully integrated with the existing LightSpeed invoicing and fulfillment workflows. LightSpeed Web Store is the platform’s turnkey online shopping cart that features easy setup and a polished design, while Magento is a widely adopted, highly customizable platform with a powerful feature set and more than 3,500 add-ons.
• LightSpeed Developer API: LightSpeed API opens up the LightSpeed platform to developers and enterprising retailers, allowing the world’s most innovative retail stores to take their LightSpeed solutions to all-new destinations. Using the LightSpeed API, developers can build custom applications such as external loyalty programs, third-party eCommerce plug-ins, sales dashboards and integration with backend ERP systems. LightSpeed Developer Exchange, a program of resources for developers, is offered as an annual membership, but developers do not pay royalties on the applications that they build or distribute

What were you doing before this?

Dax Dasilva worked as a consultant and developer on the Mac platform since 1990.

Where did your inspiration come from?

Dax first set foot on this trailblazing path at just 13 years old, when he began apprenticing for an Apple developer. At 15, he created his first custom Mac-based software, for forestry companies and other businesses in his native British Columbia. Back then, Apple was a mere afterthought in the personal computer market, but Dax saw the potential and continued to develop software as a freelance consultant before landing a full-time gig at a Mac dealership in Montreal a decade ago. It was his first foray into retail applications, and he spent the next two years developing a point-of-sale program to streamline the retail operations at the dealership’s four stores.

Dax took stock of what he had created, and the positive feedback it sparked from the employees who had used the system, then set out to create an elegant and adaptable suite of retail management tools that could be easily customized for a variety of retail environments.

What’s the one best feature of your product?

LightSpeed reinvents the in-store shopping experience for today’s iGeneration consumers with a robust, fully-integrated retail system that turns Macs, iPads and iPhones into cutting-edge point of sale and retail management tools. It is multi-user, multi-store, eCommerce-ready and extensible through a developer API so that software never limits retail aspirations.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Our biggest challenge has been expanding and scaling fast enough to meet the huge demand for Apple-based LightSpeed retail solutions.

Why are you at Outdoor Retailer?

Thousands of outdoor-specific retailers are already benefiting from LightSpeed’s powerful inventory and store management workflows and The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market is where storeowners assemble to strategize on how to better their store offerings. It’s a perfect fit.

Who do you look up to in the industry?

We look up to Apple, which has been a disruptive force in every market it touches, whether it be music, movies, phones, tablets, and of course, retail.

Who do you want to compete against in the industry?

LightSpeed aims to displace traditional PC-based point of sale systems that do not enhance the in-store experience in an online age where customer engagement will be a key competitive differentiator for retailers.