From Saving Time to Saving Money: 6 Ways Lightspeed’s Embedded Payments Helps Businesses Thrive

Australian consumers are some of the most payment-savvy in the world, with recent data showing they’re quick to adopt and embrace payment technology in favour of cash.

According to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), in 2022, 76% of payments in Australia were made by debit or credit cards, including via digital wallets and smartphones, compared to only 43% in 2013.

This overwhelming choice to ditch cash for digital payments hasn’t gone unnoticed by Aussie business owners. Many businesses, from retailers to hospitality venues, are opting to overhaul their payment technology to offer a better experience for their customers and save time and money for their business.

That’s where Lightspeed steps in.

Lightspeed’s unified point of sale (POS) and payments platform provides businesses with all the tools they need to run and grow their business from one fast, flexible platform. With payments seamlessly embedded into the POS, businesses can 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 (and across the globe), we sat down with a range of business owners and managers to chat about how Lightspeed’s platform has helped them to scale and grow. 

1. Easy to set up
2. Save time on day-to-day tasks
3. All financial information in one place
4. Seamless, accurate payments save time & money
5. Option to pass on surcharges easily
6. Secure payments

1. Easy to set up 

Beermash, based in Melbourne, is a unique blend of retail and hospitality. Dayvid Clark, Venue Manager & Buyer for Beermash, believes the focus should always be on the beer, not the transaction, so that the customer can receive the best possible experience.

Beermash needed a POS system that could manage retail sales and bar service while maintaining a steady connection during payments for a seamless experience. Unfortunately, their previous payment processor dropped the ball on function. The payment terminals would drop off wifi and require a lengthy restart, taking the focus off of the experience.

Not wanting to compromise on form or function, Beermash opted for Lightspeed Payments, and they now have embedded payments that reduce processing time alongside a POS that can manage both sides of their business. 

The best part? Getting Lightspeed Payments up and running was quick and easy. The Beermash team didn’t need support – and in five minutes, the new payment terminals were ready to go.

“It took like 5 minutes. I literally had zero drama whatsoever. It was completely seamless.”

2. Save time on day-to-day tasks

White Earth is an eco-friendly, Australian-owned retailer with three stores in New South Wales and plans for future growth.

With a new skincare line on the horizon, White Earth needed a POS that worked in tandem with payments to ensure smooth growth for the business. Liz Anderson, Owner of White Earth, trusted the Lightspeed solution to move forward. 

With her old payment provider, settlement imbalances were a major concern for Liz. She understood that during busy periods human error would occur, but improving accuracy was now a priority. 

“Using Lightspeed Payments is definitely improving accuracy.”

“It absolutely takes the error issue away, and it also just made it seamless for the customer in-store. We are looking at growing the business, so that is one issue that has resolved many of the smaller issues, so now I can now focus on other areas of the business to grow.” 

Once Lightspeed Payments was in place, Liz found that not only had sales accuracy improved, but it even improved the customer experience. 

“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.” 

3. All financial information in one place

Active Baby Co. is a multi-store retailer focusing on babywear and accessories. With expansion front of mind, consolidating payments and sales reporting is the priority for Emily Ciappara, Active Baby Co’s Accounts Manager.

“The payments have been much easier in the sense of everything’s kind of just all in one; I don’t have to worry about my Afterpay account and then my ANZ account and then all the different kinds of ways people can pay.” 

Lightspeed’s unified approach has also simplified their process by bringing together their financial information in one place.   

“It’s all just done together, so I don’t have to worry too much about finding information from different places. It’s all within Lightspeed, which is really helpful.”

Plus, with plans to open more stores over the coming years, Emily wanted to ensure the management team could understand the numbers she reported. 

“Everything tends to be pretty simple… When I balance the three stores at the end of the month, I don’t have too many issues,” says Emily. “It’s all within Lightspeed which is really helpful.” 

4. Seamless, accurate payments save time & money

As a busy Sydney cafe, St. Judes needs to quickly processes transactions to keep queues short and minimise customer wait times – as every second that can be saved or optimised means more cash for their bottom line. 

With their old payments system, the team were spending unnecessary time having to manually punch in the price of each order into their payment terminal. Not only was this time-consuming, but it was also prone to human error, creating variances.

With Lightspeed’s embedded payment system, Adam Celestino, owner of St. Judes, explains how the business overcame these issues.

“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. So yeah, we’re saving heaps of time.”

Not only has Lightspeed Payments saved time, but it also ensures accuracy, minimising variances and making reconciliation a breeze for the team at St. Judes.

“Variances just don’t exist anymore because everything runs through the POS… 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.”

5. Option to pass on surcharges easily

Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT are an organisation who have given their community something they can be proud of. Via the various programs under their stewardship, they have one goal: everybody can participate, and everyone can succeed. 

When you’re an organisation which relies on the financial support of your community to operate, you need the ability to keep as much of your 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.”

By utilising Lightspeed’s embedded payments, Wheelchair NSW/ACT can keep more of the money they earn, enabling them to further fund their great work. Plus, their accounts team can access their finances, streamlining the accounting process and reducing errors.

“We’re a remote office to the stadium, and so for the accounts team, (there’s) considerably more visibility around the finance elements, which is really important. It gives (them) visibility on what’s going to get banked at the end of the week, as opposed to just waiting on a sum being deposited.”

6. Secure payments

Neal’s Yard is a prominent cosmetics and skincare brand in the UK. They implemented Lightspeed Payments across 40+ stores –  a big undertaking with operational and security concerns that Lightspeed’s unified solution alleviated. 

“We went out to the market with a long list of criteria… and the only one that ticked all of the boxes was Lightspeed.”

“Lightspeed payments was an obvious choice for us because of the security and the simplicity it provides and the integration with the system,” says Paul Stephens, Head of Data & Technology.

“I always have a focus on confidentiality, integrity, availability and simplicity as my core pillars, and so it just made complete sense to go with Lightspeed payments because it fulfils all of those criteria.”

How can Lightspeed’s unified platform help your business thrive?

Lightspeed’s unified POS and payments platform offers a range of benefits that help businesses in Australia and beyond 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 payments experience for customers. Plus, with all of 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 scaling and growth.