There is good money in making things easier to sell to other people. That is a point that built Lightspeed Commerce (TSE:LSPD) into the brand it is now. And it just made a move toward improving on its proposition to improve retail with a whole new feature. The move meant modest approval from shareholders, and sent shares up fractionally in Wednesday morning’s trading.
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The feature in question is called Selling on Lightspeed Scanner, which is available for iPhones currently. There is no word on whether it will make the jump to Android. But at any rate, the new feature allows every sales associate with an iPhone to have the ability to complete purchases anywhere in the store. That allows every sales associate to be their own checkstand, which speeds up shopping flow and improves customer experience.
With a separate report from Lightspeed noting that 39% of customers return to a particular shop because of “great customer service,” speeding up the flow only improves the likelihood of return shopping. That is a win for everyone in retail, especially these days.
Not Everyone Is So Sure
This might sound like a slam-dunk win for Lightspeed, but not everyone is convinced. In fact, Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow, according to an MSN report, cut their outlook on Lightspeed from Overweight to Equal Weight. The why behind the cut was unclear despite multiple sources announcing the move.
But some inferences can be made: with the economy overall still shaky, and inflation still on a rampage, we can therefore see the likelihood of slower retail sales overall. If overall retail is depressed, then so too will be any user of Lightspeed. While, as noted previously, customers come back for great service, they may not come back regardless if they have no money to spend. Lightspeed’s ongoing optimization may also not be helpful, particularly in the short term.
Is Lightspeed Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on TSE:LSPD stock based on four Buys and nine Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 16.71% loss in its share price over the past year, the average TSE:LSPD price target of C$27.60 per share implies 29.58% upside potential.
