Knowledgebase

You're set on going with LightSpeed Retail for your Point of Sale system, congrats on making that decision!  Now you stumble upon another question, Pro or Cloud?  Both have their benefits but for this article we are mainly going to focus on the E-Commerce addon as it relates to the two options.

1. Pro Version:
The Pro Version was LightSpeed's original (and only) brainchild until it purchased MerchantOS a little while back.  Since then, they have been cranking away at the MerchantOS system trying to take it to the next level.  Unfortunately, it is not there yet as it realtes to the web store and LightSpeed is unable to provide any ETAs.  Since Pro was the original system, it works, and it works very well.  With the Pro Point of Sale & Web Store in place (and if you host your site outside of LightSpeed which we highly recommend), you have full control over all of your files & databases and are therefore able to manipulate them and make modifications wherever you see fit.  This is the setup we utilize when developing new web stores with WordPress & LightSpeed as it allows us to implement our modifications and allow the two databases and platforms to connect and talk.  In short, if you are looking to develop a custom web store and don't want to be constrained by the LightSpeed templates, you will need to utlize the Pro version.

2. Cloud Version:
The cloud version is great for those people who want to use LightSpeed but are not looking to do the full switch over to Apple Hardware (if you currently use PCs).  Unfortunately the LightSpeed web store that is included with Cloud is not so great.  Yes it works, yes you'll be able to sell a few products, yes it will mesh your inventory, but if you want to do any customizations to the few LightSpeed templates that they do provide other then swapping out the logo or changing around some colors, you're out of luck.  Editing the web store files directly is currently off limits and tying in another CMS such as WordPress is completely out of the question.  LightSpeed is working hard on Cloud and maybe one day they will get it to the point where custom themes can be developed but with an unwillingness to provide any ETAs (last time we checked), I wouldn't hold my breathe for it, may still be year(s) out.