Small businesses took a heavy hit from the pandemic and many challenges remain for them to get back on their feet. Lightspeed is partnering with Google to assist small business operators in their recovery efforts. Google Tools will be available on Lightspeed’s commerce platform to provide businesses with local inventory ads, cross-sales channel campaigns, and current store information updates.
These solutions guide online shoppers to find and buy from merchants that may otherwise get lost in the crowded e-commerce sales channel dominated by Amazon and mega-retailers. Small businesses are new job creation engines, so these services will likely have a positive impact on many local economies.
The following excerpt from a Financial Post article reports more on the topic:
Montreal software firm Lightspeed POS Inc. has struck a global retail partnership with Alphabet Inc.’s Google to allow small businesses — many of which were devastated by pandemic closures — to advertise to local shoppers looking for alternatives to e-commerce giants.
After more than a year of pandemic lockdowns that forced retailers and small merchants to close their doors, Lightspeed — which provides cloud-based point-of-sale services for the retail, hospitality and golf industries — is betting that customers are shifting their buying habits online but still want to support local merchants.
“When you put those three things together, you put the independent retailer on a much more equal footing than much larger stores and brands, and it gives them a real ability to compete with Amazon,” said founder and chief executive Dax Dasilva in a phone interview.
Google has seen searches for local businesses spike 80 per cent year-over-year, and inquiries on product inventory at nearby small merchants — “who has gym equipment in stock,” for example — have surged by 8,000 per cent, the company said.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Director, Merchant Services at Mercator Advisory Group