Integration Overview
What is a POS integration between Otter and Lightspeed-K POS?
A POS integration is when you connect your online channels and delivery platforms with your Lightspeed-K POS, via Otter.
It creates real-time and direct communication between the delivery platforms and Lightspeed-K, removing most manual inputs and actions required to synchronize those systems.
What is the necessity of integrating your Lightspeed-K POS with Otter?
When online food orders from Delivery platforms represent a significant part of the business of a restaurant, they start feeling multiple operational pain points, that all find answers and solutions with a POS integration.
Otter’s point-of-sale integration allows orders from your delivery partners to flow directly into your point of sale. This integration has numerous benefits including:
- Automatically synchronize the Menu from Lightspeed-K POS to your delivery channels, with no manual actions
- Sending all orders to flow directly into your Lightspeed-K KDS seamlessly
- Sending all orders to print using Lightspeed-K POS printer
- Eliminating the manual entry of delivery platform orders into the POS
- Improving the quality of the data by reducing errors from manual entry
In conclusion, an integration with Lightspeed-K POS can save time and money, on a daily basis, and make your business more successful.
How does the Otter & Lightspeed-K integration work?
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Step 1: Menu Sync A POS integration with Lightspeed-X starts by a “Menu Sync” where Otter reads the menu in Lightspeed-K POS and then links the items in Lightspeed-K to the items published to the delivery platforms. |
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Step 2: Order Injection A POS integration with Otter allows customers to get Online Food Ordering platform orders sent directly to their POS. This means that if you are POS integrated, when you receive an online food order through Otter, the food order will automatically be sent to your Lightspeed-K POS and be processed by the POS as any other order. |
How to Connect
First, please make sure that your Lightspeed POS is K-Series, as seen below.
If it is not, please select the correct one: version-O or version-X
Adding Otter User in Lightspeed-K
The first step to integrating your Otter account with Lightspeed-K is to add an Otter user granting the admin rights with read/write permissions inside your Lightspeed-K account. Follow this guide to learn how.
If you don’t have an Otter’s account, you can request a free demo here
For current customers, in case of doubts, reach out to your Otter POS onboarding specialist.
Connecting Lightspeed-K to Otter
To connect your Lightspeed-K to Otter, first you need to ensure that in the Back Office, you have created a menu and added all items from the delivery menu to be imported into Otter. Also, make sure that the payment methods Cash and Card exist on your account, and you've set up an account profile for delivery orders as shown in the steps below.
Creating an account profile:
- Create an account profile if it does not exist yet, ie: ‘Delivery’
- Edit the account profile settings to set how delivery orders should act :
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- Delivery delay (this will not be sent back to the OFO and is used only for POS internal purposes)
- Choose when order needs to be printed
- Choose when order will get closed
- Sound when receiving a new order
Contact the Otter Customer Support or your Onboarding Specialist after creating your account profile for integration connection.
Contact the Lightspeed Customer Support for any profile creation issues.
What if I previously worked with another POS integration provider? (e.g. Chowly, It's a Checkmate, Deliverect, OLO)
- Please reach out to the Prior POS integration Provider to remove integrations from all delivery partners. They cannot just be disconnected, they need to be removed or the delivery partners will not let us connect. Please set a specific time to disconnect/remove the Prior POS Integrator and we can immediately launch the Otter integration.
- Please connect with your Delivery Partners to set the “tablet order protocol”. The Prior POS Provider often has you change the order protocol so we’ll need to revert it back to the tablet. The Delivery Partners should be able to confirm/get this done quickly
- Similarly, please connect with your Delivery Partners to allow us menu edit access on all Delivery Partners.
To confirm, there is no downtime in terms of accepting orders if you follow these steps, and you can have an Order Manager running on the Otter tablet to aggregate those throughout the process. Still, we cannot link/publish to your Delivery Partners until the above steps are followed.
Menu Management
Menu best practices
Before initiating a POS integration with Otter, it's essential to ensure the usability and quality of the Menu in Lightspeed-K POS.
Best practices include:
- Add all categories that you would like to have on your delivery channels (UberEats, Doordash, etc.) in the POS.
- Add all items/item variations/modifiers that do not already exist in Lightspeed-K precisely as you want the guest to see them on delivery channels.
- Review and clean the names, descriptions and prices to make sure they are ready to be published to the delivery platforms.
Otter will be synchronizing with the delivery platforms menus so that they will reflect how they are in Lightspeed-K, giving you the ability to completely control your guests’ experience directly from Lightspeed-K POS.
How to prepare your Menu in Lightspeed-K POS?
In order for Otter to successfully send orders into Lightspeed-K, you need to make sure that your menus in Lightspeed-K are set up properly to be able to import the information into Otter and then to be able to match up orders coming in from your online platforms.
Please, make sure that:
| Steps | Process | Additional Information |
| 1 |
Ensure all the products to be sold on the delivery platforms are created in the POS. Products can have a default price and a delivery price, if needed: |
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| 2 |
Add a delivery price by individually editing each product and selecting the price override option (optional)
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Create 3 new products (item) labeled as:
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Please share with Otter the item ID for each one of the above. |
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Create a new menu group or use an existing menu group if it already contains all the delivery products. |
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Once you have the menu created you are able to create categories and add items in each category. NOTE: The menu structure (categories, POS names, prices, modifiers, descriptions, etc…) is exactly what your customers will see in the delivery platform apps. |
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All items, modifier groups and modifiers must have a name in the “POS name” at the bottom of the edit screen: |
Contact the Lightspeed Customer Support for further assistance.
Tips to a perfect Menu Structure
| Items |
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| Categories |
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| Modifier Groups |
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| Modifiers |
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| Photos |
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Setting up Menu Auto-Sync with Lightspeed-K POS?
Menu Auto-Sync with Lightspeed-K POS is the best way to ensure a reliable POS integration with minimal maintenance on the long run. It is a best practice used by most Otter customers to manage their Menus in Lightspeed-K POS, and automate the update of all the other menus in their Delivery Platforms.
Here are the steps to enable Menu Auto-Sync with Lightspeed-K POS:
How to set up Menu Auto-Sync with Lightspeed-K POS
| Steps | Process | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open your Otter Dashboard, if you don’t have access, please contact Otter's Customer Support. | |
| 2 | Go to Otter Menus app, and select your menu. | |
| 3 | Click on the Settings icon in the top-right corner. | |
| 4 | Click on the Menu Sync tab enable the "Automatic updates from POS Menu" toggle. | |
| 5 |
The automatic menu publish setting will be available only once you configure the Automatic updates from the POS Menu. Configure the settings by selecting the information you wish Otter to update automatically from the POS. |
When Menu Auto-Sync is enabled, it will run every 6 hours, and will ensure the Menus are kept Synced. Check more details in this article.
Use Otter Menu app to manage your Menu
Self Serve Menu Management (SSMM) is an Otter feature that allows you to create, edit, update, manage and publish menus from Otter’s Business Manager tool.
You can find here all the helpful guides about the tool and its features.
Order Management
For these next steps, please, contact your Onboarding Specialist or the Otter Support team to enable the Order Injection.
Ensure that the iPad is synced and is accepting orders
In order to be able to inject orders please ensure the Ipad is accepting orders. In order to do that please follow these orders
How to ensure that the iPad is synced and is accepting orders
| Steps | Process | Additional Information |
| 1 | Go to the iPad screen and click on the 4 dots on the bottom right of the screen | |
| 2 | Click on the bag for the menu that just showed up | |
| 3 | Click on Enable Online Orders | |
| 4 | Ensure that Online orders are enabled | |
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In order to be able to insert orders to the Ipad we need to sync the Ipad with the latest backend configuration. In order to do this please follow the next steps.
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| 6 | Confirm you want to sync with the latest Back Office Configuration |
What is required for the Order injection to work perfectly?
The order will be injected to your Lightspeed-K POS only if the menu is Synced, meaning that all Menu items you have listed on Otter must be the same Menu items you have listed on your Lightspeed-K POS.
Please, follow these guides to ensure your menus are Synced with Lightspeed-K POS:
- Enable Menu Auto-Sync
- Trigger a manual Menu Sync in Update from POS
Integration FAQ
Why is my menu updating without any action from me?
Expand for further information
The menu updates automatically due to our new feature, Automated Point-Of-Sale (POS) Menu Synchronization, also known as 'Menu Auto-sync', which should be activated on your account.
This feature is designed to ensure that your menu remains updated without requiring manual intervention. It synchronizes your menu every 6 hours, ensuring that any changes made are promptly reflected in Otter and from Otter to your delivery apps.
Please, check this article for future information.
Why is my item in Lightspeed-K POS not importing to Otter?
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Please answer these troubleshooting questions:
- Is my Lightspeed-K POS connection working? If it’s not, please make sure to have a stable internet connection and try again.
- Is my Otter Menu Auto-Sync turned on? If it is not, please follow this step to enable the menu auto-sync.
How will my Item Variations look on the delivery platforms?
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Keywords:
| Mod groups vs variations, automated renaming, menu optimization |
The item Variations will be imported as separate items into the delivery platforms. Therefore, the names of item variants will be combined with the item name.
For example, the “Large” variation of the “Vanilla” item will become “Vanilla” and “Large - Vanilla”.
If you don’t want this naming for your item variations, please create separate items for each item variation or add them as a modifier group. Please be careful of using both modifier groups and variations.
What if I have different prices online and in-store?
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Key-words:
| Price management, prices overrides, auto-sync prices |
Currently, if you have different pricing for in-store vs delivery platforms, there are 2 options:
Option 1: Creating new items with uplifted price for delivery/integration use only
This option here will provide better long-term integration success, as it provides specific parameters for troubleshooting post-live when needed.
Option 2: Utilizing Otter’s POS Self-serve Menu Management Tool to update them
This is the recommended route if you do not want to duplicate your items within Lightspeed-K POS. If you would like to utilize this tool, please notify your onboarding specialist.
How to check if my Otter Menu is correctly Synced and linked to my Lightspeed-K POS Menu?
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Follow the next steps if you are already up and running with your Lightspeed-K POS integration, if you’re new to POS integration, you can also contact Otter Support to set you up.
| Steps | Process | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Select your Menu in the App list, then select “Menus”. | |
| 2 | Click on Manage POS Links. | |
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In “Manage POS Links”, review the “Links summary” section at the top. If all 3 boxes indicate that there are 0 unlinked items, 0 unlinked modifier groups, and 0 unlinked modifiers, it means the Otter menu is correctly Synced with Lightspeed-K POS. |
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If any of the boxes indicates a number of unlinked items or modifier groups or modifiers, it means the Otter menu is not correctly synced with Lightspeed-K POS. Unlinked items can result in order injection failures and missed orders. |
How can I reach out to Lightspeed-K support if I have an issue?
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You can reach out to Lightspeed-K Support if you have other questions regarding the POS system.
How should I build my Otter menu?
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Please review all categories in Lightspeed-K that you would like on your 3rd party delivery apps. Add any items/item variations/categories/modifiers that do not already exist in Lightspeed-K precisely as you want the guest to see them.
We will be synchronizing these with the delivery app menus so that they will reflect how they are in Lightspeed-K, giving you the ability to completely control your guests’ experience and how your 3rd party menus will appear.
Otter will import the whole menu you have in Lightspeed-K.
How to fix printing issues?
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For printers configured by Otter the appropriate troubleshooting steps will vary depending on whether your printer is Cloud-enabled, Bluetooth-enabled, or Hardwired. Find your type of printer below, and follow the directions listed.
- Troubleshooting Cloud and Hardwired Printers
- Troubleshooting Bluetooth Printers
- How Do I Replace My Printer?
For additional help or information, you can contact Otter Support
If you are printing directly from your Lightspeed-K POS system, please follow these steps:
- Ensure you have a stable internet connection to your Lightspeed-K tablet.
- Make sure that there isn't a large order backlog, as this can cause delays.
- You can contact Lightspeed-K Support for further assistance
What happens if an order is not injected?
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If there is ever an issue with an order and the order cannot be injected into Lightspeed-K POS, then that issue will surface in the Otter tablet and appear as a NOT in POS.
This should not be expected often, but if it occurs, the order can be manually entered into Lightspeed-K POS and then you can click on the “Manually added to POS” option on the Otter tablet.
If orders are auto-accepted in Otter, does the order need to be acknowledged in the POS?
Expand for further information
If orders are on auto-accept then the order will be imported into the POS at the time of acceptance and the order will automatically print at the appropriate time without any action from the store. To appear in the reporting, the ticket needs to be assigned a payment type and closed out.
What if an order is canceled by the customer?
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Order cancellations are not reflected through the integration. If an order is canceled, the cancellation will be surfaced in the Otter tablet, after which the order should be manually canceled in Lightspeed-O.
To enable accurate reporting, canceled orders should be actioned upon within the point of sale.
How do scheduled orders work?
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Orders will automatically be imported into Lightspeed-K from Otter 30 minutes before the order is scheduled to be picked up. These orders will surface in the Otter tablet 60 minutes before ready time
Will it show which delivery partner the order is from?
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Yes, the delivery partner name and delivery partner order ID will be included in the order details once injected into Lightspeed-K.
If Otter loses connection to my point of sale, will my delivery accounts be taken offline?
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No, your orders will continue to be executed within the delivery partners and within Otter. However, if the integration is offline for any reason, you should manually enter the orders into Lightspeed-K.
How are tips accounted for?
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Tips collected in the delivery partner platforms will be routed directly to the third party courier and will not surface in your Lightspeed-K POS.
Otter integration can only send tips to Lightspeed-K POS if the restaurant is using its own couriers (restaurant delivery) or when it is a pick-up order type.
How is sales tax accounted for?
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Sales tax is computed within Lightspeed-K based on the tax rules that have previously been set up in Lightspeed-K.
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