LightSpeed, the retail software company that raised $30 million from Accel Partners last year, is launching a new Mac application today that it calls the StoreMaster — it’s supposed to serve as a “command center,” offering a real-time, customizable view of the latest sales and inventory data.
The StoreMaster is the big piece of LightSpeed’s version 3.8 upgrade. Founder and CEO Dax Dasilva told me that LightSpeed (which was founded in 2005) has recently focused on “front counter” tools, such as iPad apps that help salespeople show off different products. The StoreMaster, on the other hand, is more of a “back office” tool and an overhaul of the previous Mac experience.
“Lightspeed is this integrated platform — it’s got all these pieces, and this is where it all comes together,” he said.
Features include a gallery of products, including price and inventory data; immediate notifications for all incoming orders, as well as monthly reports; the ability to save custom searches as “Smart Finds”; and widgets that allow managers to see things like how the store’s performance compares to daily or monthly sales goals. One of the big advantages, Dasilva said, is the ability to see how a product is performing across all channels — in-store, mobile, and online.
He added that even though it’s not exactly the target customer, the LightSpeed team — which has expanded from 41 to 85 people in the past year — uses LightSpeed software, and that team members have become “obsessed with our dashboards.” Again, the dashboard is built from various interactive widgets, so users get a completely customizable view of store data. Dasilva said his own own dashboard shows an annotated chart of the LightSpeed’s sales and targets.
Existing customers should be able upgrade to LightSpeed 3.8 immediately.