Resilient Retail: 6 Ways Lightspeed Helps Retailers Navigate Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty

Retail is constantly evolving, but today’s landscape feels more unpredictable than ever. Merchants are navigating a complex web of challenges: rising tariffs, unpredictable supply chains and general economic uncertainty. 

At Lightspeed, we understand how these macroeconomic shifts are affecting retailers, and we’re here to help. That’s why we’ve created this practical guide that sheds light on the strategies and tools you can use to stay resilient, even in times of uncertainty.  

Here’s what we’ll cover:

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1. Implement smarter and more agile inventory management 

When you’re bracing for rising costs and fluctuating customer behavior, one of the first things you should do is gain tighter control over your inventory. 

Leverage real-time data

Having up-to-the-minute inventory data means you always have a handle on stock control. By utilizing real-time reports, you can avoid overbuying, cut down on overstock and restock smarter.

Lightspeed Retail’s Inventory Performance report enables you to make informed purchasing decisions by comparing product, brand and supplier performance across key metrics like gross profit and sell-through rate.  

Don’t rely on guesswork when forecasting inventory

During an unpredictable economic landscape, guesswork (especially with inventory) can lead to costly mistakes. Data-driven forecasting takes the pressure off and helps you plan with confidence. 

For best results, adopt inventory forecasting tools such as Lightspeed Insights, which can make order quantity recommendations based on your product and sales data.

Widen your sourcing options to mitigate risk

When tariffs drive up costs, sourcing the right products at the right price becomes more of a challenge. Diversifying your supplier base is one way to stay flexible and protect your margins.

With Lightspeed NuORDER, you can connect with thousands of brands and browse their wholesale inventory. Purchase items instantly and keep your stores stocked with the products your customers love. 

Unlike other wholesale platforms, Lightspeed NuORDER is part of your retail POS. This seamless integration streamlines inventory ordering, management and selling.

CBS Sports, the largest independent sporting goods retailer in Morganton, NC discovers new brands and streamlines purchase orders using Lightspeed NuORDER.

“Lightspeed NuORDER gives us the opportunity to find a company or a niche item without having to spend hours emailing and calling around to try to find it through sales reps,” says CBS Sports owner Carson Searcy.

“Prior to using the marketplace, I would spend hours having to reach out to multiple sales reps to try to find a specific item.”

2. Tap into real-time data

Data-backed insights will allow you to make informed decisions in today’s high-pressure business environment. 

Which products are most profitable? When should you put your best salespeople on the floor? The answers to these questions will inform decisions like staffing schedules, markdown timing and merchandising strategies.

To that end, we recommend paying attention to the following measures: 

• Product performance: Identify your best-selling items and slow movers to make smarter purchasing and markdown decisions. 
• Category performance:Understand which product categories drive the most revenue so you can stock and promote accordingly. 
• Sales by the day and hour: Pinpoint peak shopping times to optimize staffing and promotional efforts. 
• Top salespeople:Recognize your highest performers and schedule them strategically.
• Average sales value:Track how much customers typically spend per transaction and identify opportunities to upsell or bundle products. 

Pro tip: The Lightspeed Retail dashboard gives you an at-a-glance view of these metrics, helping you assess business performance in real time.  

3. Maximize your profit margins with intelligent cost and price management

When costs are rising and margins are under pressure, every dollar counts. To stay profitable, you need full visibility into your costs—and the flexibility to act fast when things change.  

Protect your profits in a volatile market 

Depending on how tariff-driven costs play out, you may need to update your pricing strategy to maintain your margins. Use Lightspeed to:

• Gain visibility into margins by capturing true costs (including landed costs): Lightspeed gives you an accurate system of record, which ensures your cost and pricing decisions are based on actual data, not outdated estimates.
• Manage bulk price updates: Easily adjust supply price, markup and retail price across multiple items directly from purchase orders or your product catalog. Save time and make sure your pricing stays aligned with the latest cost data.
• Create flexible pricebooks:Set up custom pricing for specific customer groups, store locations or promotional periods. Automate start and end dates so discounts apply at the right time.

4. Refresh your marketing and customer service 

In a crowded, cost-sensitive market, staying connected to your customers is a must. Refresh your marketing and customer service with the following best practices.

Build your customer base and keep shoppers coming back

It’s getting more difficult (and expensive) to acquire new customers. Combat this by building your customer base and cultivating strong shopper relationships.

Lightspeed Advanced Marketing and eCom can help with all of this, through capabilities like:

• Built-in loyalty: Reward repeat customers with automated points, spend thresholds, tiers and loyalty triggers.
• Email marketing: Send targeted emails using pre-built templates, behavior-based automations and smart customer segmentation.
• SMS marketing: Launch quick, effective text campaigns with high open rates and real-time engagement across shopping channels.
• Personalized marketing campaigns: Use customer insights to trigger birthday offers, win-back flows and abandoned cart reminders that convert.

Double down on local marketing

Consumers are increasingly stepping up to support local businesses. As people shop local, stand out with these Lightspeed Retail and eCom capabilities:

• Unified in-person and online selling: Manage all your sales channels from one platform with synced inventory, centralized order management and consistent pricing across every location.
• Local delivery and in-store pickup options:Offer flexible fulfillment by letting customers shop online and choose pickup or scheduled local delivery—complete with online and curbside payment options.
• Clienteling with Lightspeed’s Scanner app: Empower your staff to serve customers more efficiently, wherever they are in-store. Use Scanner to look up product details, check stock in real time, and take payments on the spot.

5. Get access to business funding

Cash flow is the backbone of any retail business. When uncertainty hits, having quick, reliable access to funding can mean the difference between staying steady and falling behind. 

Lightspeed Capital, our merchant cash advance program, helps you access the funding you need to invest in your business. 

Unlike a traditional loan, you can use your cash advance on your own schedule for any business expense. Remit it as you go, only when you make sales.

• No collateral, credit checks or compounding interest rates. 
• Remit on your own time: there are no scheduled monthly payments. 
• The full amount, including the flat fee, is remitted through a percentage of your daily sales. 
• Request Capital again after your balance is remitted in full.

6. Choose the right tech partners

In today’s economy, having reliable, responsive partners can be the key to staying competitive. It’s not just about software features—it’s about having a partner invested in your growth. 

That’s why Lightspeed retailers enjoy benefits such as:

• 24/7 support 
• One-on-one onboarding 
• Dedicated Account Manager to answer every question

When you work with Lightspeed, you can operate with confidence knowing expert support for setup, success and strategy is available—backed by 95%+ satisfaction.

Lightspeed can help you stay competitive, no matter what the economy looks like

Uncertainty doesn’t have to hold you back. Lightspeed gives you the power to adapt quickly, plan smarter, and navigate economic uncertainty. 

Talk to a retail expert to learn how Lightspeed can support your business. 

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