Introduction: Bridging Online and Offline Retail
TIDE’s Unleashed and Lightspeed POS integration offers today’s customers a seamless experience. They don’t think in channels – they just want a smooth experience. Whether they shop online or in-store, they expect accurate stock, fast service, and zero fuss. By integrating your Unleashed Software subscription with Lightspeed POS, you can finally bring inventory and sales under one roof. The result? Better accuracy, faster workflows, and fewer headaches.
But there’s more. Pair this with TIDE, and you’ve got a seriously powerful setup. TIDE acts as the bridge that automates and simplifies your data flow between systems—Unleashed, Lightspeed, and even beyond. It helps you eliminate duplicate entries, reduce sync errors, and gain deeper insights into your sales and inventory performance.
👉 Ready to future-proof your retail setup? Book a demo with TIDE and explore how it can streamline your Unleashed integration.
The Importance of Unified Inventory for Omnichannel Retail
If your inventory lives in one system and your sales in another, you’re inviting errors. A unified inventory setup means you know exactly what’s available, no matter where it’s sold. This is vital for avoiding stockouts, managing returns, and providing customers with consistent service.
Why Integrate Unleashed (Inventory) with Lightspeed POS (Sales)
Unleashed is designed for back-end inventory management. Lightspeed POS powers your in-store and online sales. When connected, they speak the same language—products, stock levels, and orders are in sync, in real time. This boosts efficiency and ensures your team and customers always see accurate information.
And with TIDE working alongside these platforms, the whole integration becomes smarter. It ensures data is clean, synced instantly, and updated across all touchpoints.
Understanding the Role of Each System
Unleashed: Your Inventory Master
Centralized Stock Control, Purchasing, Supplier Management
Unleashed provides centralised control over your product data, stock levels, purchasing, and supplier relationships. It ensures that product updates and replenishment strategies are managed from one source of truth.
Back-office Inventory Operations
From forecasting to fulfilment, Unleashed streamlines your warehouse workflows. It tracks movement across multiple locations and offers robust reporting tools that help you make smarter business decisions.
Lightspeed POS: Your Front-End Sales Hub
Processing In-Store Sales, Customer Management, Returns
Lightspeed handles the customer-facing side of retail—managing tills, processing transactions, handling refunds, and tracking customer interactions, loyalty, and preferences.
Point-of-Sale Functionality
Its intuitive interface lets staff ring up sales quickly, apply promotions, and access customer data. Whether in-store or on mobile, it’s built for seamless checkout experiences.
Pre-Integration Checklist: Preparing Your Systems
Unleashed Preparation
Accurate Product Data (SKUs, Barcodes, Descriptions)
Make sure product SKUs and barcodes are consistent and complete. This ensures correct mapping between systems.
Setting Up Locations/Warehouses to Match Lightspeed Stores
Your warehouse structure in Unleashed should reflect the layout of your Lightspeed stores for clean, logical syncing.
Ensuring Inventory Quantities are Correct
Do a stocktake and correct discrepancies before initiating the sync. Garbage in equals garbage out.
Lightspeed POS Preparation
Reviewing Existing Product Catalog
Audit your product catalog for duplicates, missing data, or outdated entries that might conflict with Unleashed records.
Configuring Store Settings and Staff Permissions
Ensure each store is set up correctly, with clear roles and permissions for staff handling the POS.
API Keys and Credentials Readiness
Both Unleashed and Lightspeed require API credentials. Generate and store these securely—you’ll need them to establish the connection.
TIDE can also help with managing these credentials securely and ensuring connections are authorised correctly.
Step-by-Step Integration Process
Accessing Unleashed Integration Settings
Locating the Lightspeed POS Integration Module (or Connector)
Log in to Unleashed, head to the Integrations section, and locate the Lightspeed POS module or authorised connector tool.
Connecting Your Lightspeed Account
Entering API Credentials and Authorizing Connection
Paste your Lightspeed API credentials into the integration panel and grant permissions when prompted. If you’re using TIDE, this step is even easier with guided credential mapping.
Configuring Initial Sync Settings
Product Sync (Unleashed to Lightspeed)
Ensure Unleashed pushes products, not the other way around. It should be your master catalog.
Inventory Sync (Unleashed to Lightspeed, Real-Time Recommended)
Real-time syncing ensures Lightspeed always shows accurate stock across all stores. TIDE supports real-time sync and helps flag data discrepancies before they become problems.
Sales Order Sync (Lightspeed to Unleashed)
Configure sales to flow from Lightspeed back to Unleashed for centralised fulfilment and reporting.
Customer Sync (Optional: Lightspeed to Unleashed)
If needed, enable customer sync for unified CRM and targeted marketing.
Mapping Product Fields and Locations
Ensuring Correct Matching of Product Attributes
Match SKUs, barcodes, names, and categories. Double-check formatting to avoid failed syncs. TIDE includes tools to help you automate and validate these mappings.
Mapping Lightspeed Stores to Unleashed Warehouses
Assign each Lightspeed store to a warehouse location in Unleashed so inventory movements are accurate.
Performing Initial Data Sync and Verification
Monitoring Sync Progress
Start the sync and monitor the log for completion status, warnings, or errors.
Troubleshooting Common Setup Issues
If data isn’t syncing, check API permissions, look for formatting issues, and consult integration documentation for specific errors. TIDE includes a dashboard to spot and resolve these issues faster.
Post-Integration Management and Best Practices
Ongoing Sync Monitoring and Error Logs
Check sync logs regularly to ensure everything runs smoothly. Set up alerts if possible. TIDE can send automatic error reports and suggest fixes.
Managing Product Updates (Always in Unleashed First)
Unleashed should remain the single source of truth for product changes to avoid conflicts. TIDE can enforce update rules across platforms.
Processing In-Store Sales and Returns
Once integrated, sales and returns at Lightspeed will reflect in Unleashed automatically—no double entry required.
Training Staff on Unified Workflow
Staff need to understand the new flow. Train them to follow proper processes in both systems—and lean on TIDE’ workflow guides where available.
Conclusion
The Foundation for Seamless Retail Operations
By integrating Unleashed with Lightspeed POS, you lay the groundwork for smoother, smarter retail. It ensures real-time accuracy and eliminates time-wasting manual tasks.
Unlocking the Power of Omnichannel
A unified system helps you meet customer expectations, grow across channels, and stay competitive. And with TIDE streamlining your integration, you don’t just connect systems—you create a smart, scalable retail engine.
Read more about TIDE’s Unleashed & Lightspeed integration here