IBIOS vs Lightspeed Retail: Trade ERP vs Retail POS
Lightspeed Retail is a retail point-of-sale system. IBIOS is a trade ERP built for UK bathroom, tile and kitchen showrooms, with supplier orders, shade-lot tracking, and installation scheduling.
They solve different problems — this page explains which fits a UK trade showroom better, and where the overlap is.
At a glance
✓IBIOS offers
- ✓Shade-lot / batch tracking
- ✓Coming soon: AI phone receptionist
- ✓Installation scheduling
- ✓Quote from supplier PDF
- ✓UK-hosted
~Compare directly
- ~Customer records
- ~Basic inventory management
iNot offered by IBIOS
- iPoint-of-sale / till
- iLoyalty programmes
- iHigh-volume walk-in retail checkout
Is IBIOS a good Lightspeed Retail alternative for UK trade businesses?
Trade showrooms — bathroom, tile, flooring, kitchen — with supplier orders, installation jobs, and a need for AI call handling (coming soon). Businesses where the sale is a quote-and-order process, not a till transaction.
Higher-volume physical retail businesses with a till, loyalty programme, and multiple locations. Retail shops where the primary transaction is a point-of-sale checkout.
What is the difference between Lightspeed Retail and IBIOS?
| Feature | IBIOS | Lightspeed Retail | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI phone receptionist | Coming soon | Check with Lightspeed | — |
| Shade-lot / batch tracking | ✓ | Check with Lightspeed | Critical for tile and bathroom |
| Installation scheduling | ✓ | Check with Lightspeed | — |
| Quote from supplier PDF | ✓ | Check with Lightspeed | — |
| Pay by link / QR | ✓ | Check with Lightspeed | — |
| Point-of-sale / till | ✗ not included | Core product (retail POS) | IBIOS is not a POS |
| Loyalty / promotions | ✗ | Check with Lightspeed | — |
| Multi-location stock | ✓ More than one location | Check with Lightspeed | Check your scale with the IBIOS team |
| UK hosting | ✓ UK-hosted servers | Verify with vendor | — |
| Pricing | Founding prices for waiting-list members | Check with Lightspeed | See the IBIOS pricing page |
Pricing
IBIOS pricing: founding prices for waiting-list members; see the pricing page. Access is by waiting list. For Lightspeed Retail pricing, check with Lightspeed directly.
Moving from Lightspeed to IBIOS
Three steps to move your products, customers and supplier brands across.
Export your product catalogue from Lightspeed
Go to Lightspeed admin and export your products as CSV. This gives you all products, variants, and stock quantities for import into IBIOS.
Export and import your customer records
Export your customer records from Lightspeed and import them into the IBIOS CRM. Customer history and contact details transfer via standard CSV.
Configure your supplier brands
Import your own bathroom and tile catalogue (catalogues are private to each company). Set your discount rate per brand per supplier and you are ready to quote.
Related IBIOS products, guides and comparisons
If you are comparing Lightspeed Retail with IBIOS for a UK trade business, these pages cover the IBIOS products involved, the sectors it is built for and other honest comparisons.
IBIOS (Integrated Business Intelligence & Operations System) is made by IBIOS Limited (NI743167), Northern Ireland. Access is by waiting list; there is no free trial.
- Inventory Control: stock across more than one location, with shade-lot tracking for tiles.
- Customers (CRM): customers, quotes, jobs and orders on one record.
- Showroom retailers: how IBIOS is set up for trade showrooms.
- ERP software for UK trade businesses: a guide to choosing between the main types of system.
- IBIOS vs Stocky: another honest side-by-side comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Why might a trade showroom look beyond Lightspeed Retail?
Lightspeed Retail is built around a retail point-of-sale model. Trade showrooms usually sell through a quote-and-order process and need supplier order management, shade-lot tracking and installation scheduling. IBIOS handles all three; check with Lightspeed how it handles them.
Does IBIOS have a point-of-sale system?
No. IBIOS is built for trade showrooms where the sale is a quote-and-order process — a customer chooses a bathroom, you quote from supplier documents, you raise a supplier order, and you schedule installation. If you need a till for high-volume walk-in retail transactions, IBIOS is not the right fit for that specific function.
Can I import my Lightspeed product catalogue into IBIOS?
Yes. Lightspeed exports products as CSV. IBIOS accepts standard CSV import. Catalogues are private to each company, so you import your own products.
Does IBIOS handle multi-location stock?
IBIOS Inventory Control tracks stock across more than one location. If you run a large retail chain with complex multi-location requirements and warehouse picking, verify with the IBIOS team whether the current release meets your specific scale before switching.
How does IBIOS pricing compare with Lightspeed Retail?
IBIOS pricing: founding prices for waiting-list members; see the pricing page. For Lightspeed Retail pricing, check with Lightspeed directly. Compare the whole set of tools you need: IBIOS includes quoting, supplier ordering and pay by link, with an AI receptionist coming soon.
Built for how a trade showroom actually works.
Shade-lot tracking, supplier orders, and installation scheduling, with an AI receptionist coming soon. Early access by waiting list.
Product and company names on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. IBIOS is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.