Hey everyone, I have a client looking for a website revamp and they want to include features like CommentSale (which they say Lightspeed has built-in), along with checkout integrations for Cash App, Venmo, Sizzle, and Afterpay due to customer demand. They also want to be able to go live on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok simultaneously (possibly using Restream?). However, after checking out the Lightspeed site builder, it looks pretty limited. The client is hesitant to move to a custom solution since their entire POS and inventory management relies on Lightspeed and Ecwid. I'm wondering, does anyone have experience with Lightspeed? Is it really as restrictive as it looks? It feels like a lot of complicated steps for not much return. Just to clarify, I'm specifically talking about Lightspeed Ecom.
3 Answers
Yeah, it can feel like a lot of hoops to jump through just for a little cash. When I started with WordPress, I’d quote two hours of work and actually need about 20 to sort everything out. I charged $70 /hr, so it didn’t seem too bad, although if you break it down, it’s just $7 /hr for the actual effort. But as you get better, you start making that time count more. From what I’ve seen, Lightspeed isn't too crazy; it looks a lot like Shopify based on my brief experience with it.
I’m a developer who works with Lightspeed (not affiliated with them). They do have a decent API, but it lacks extensive customization abilities. I mainly do backend work, and you can buy existing themes (though it's a monthly fee) and tweak the code since it uses Twig for theming.
From a user perspective, I’d compare Lightspeed to Wix, though it’s less complex than Shopify. As for payment systems, I haven’t seen integrations for Cash App or others, but you can create your own payment integrations if needed. Check out this for more templating info: https://ecom-support.lightspeedhq.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000277554-3-Understanding-the-Lightspeed-Draft-framework
Are you asking about the Lightspeed web server or are you referring to something else?
Sorry for the confusion! I'm specifically talking about [Lightspeed Ecom](https://www.lightspeedhq.com/ecom/).