ZP Suite vs Lightspeed: which POS system for your restaurant?

Who each one is for

Lightspeed is aimed at restaurateurs of every kind, from small cafés to chains and multi-site groups. The provider highlights a seat-by-seat ordering feature, geared more towards table service, and claims more than 160 Michelin-starred restaurants among its customers.

ZP Suite is aimed at Swiss shops and restaurants that want a till installed by an authorised reseller in their region, with a public licence price known in advance, and a suite that runs from ordering (ZP POS, ZP mobileOrder) through to the kitchen (ZP kDisplay) with no re-entry.

Comparison table

What Lightspeed does well

Lightspeed highlights the ergonomics and intuitiveness of its interface, along with round-the-clock support. The seat-by-seat ordering feature answers a specific need in fine dining. The provider also claims explicit offline operation and an international presence, with more than 144,000 customer businesses worldwide according to the pages reviewed.

Payment: two approaches

Lightspeed cites TWINT, bank cards and contactless payments as accepted methods, without specifying a Swiss terminal brand on the pages reviewed. ZP POS, by contrast, directly controls named terminals: Worldline, Nexi, Paytec and Wallee / PostFinance send and receive the amount from the till, with no one re-entering it on the terminal. The Cima and Cashmatic cash-handling machines follow the same principle for cash payments, with automatic change.

Pricing: per till or by subscription

Lightspeed charges monthly, per licence: depending on the plan chosen, one, two or three licences are included, and an additional till adds CHF 49 per month. ZP Suite charges per till, once: ZP POS costs CHF 590 excl. VAT per till, and the till options (stock management and labelling, customers and loyalty, variant management) cost CHF 390 excl. VAT each, per till. The lifetime licence or subscription guide sets out a full five-year calculation, with a costed example.

When to choose ZP Suite

ZP Suite suits a business that would rather pay for its till once than every month, and wants an authorised reseller in its own region for installation, set-up and support. The till runs on Windows and directly controls the common Swiss payment terminals (Worldline, Nexi, Paytec, Wallee / PostFinance) and cash-handling machines (Cima, Cashmatic). The suite covers table service as well as mobile ordering and the kitchen display, with a single catalogue shared by every till, from the counter through to the kitchen.

What to check with your reseller

Neither the price Lightspeed shows on its Swiss page, nor ZP Suite's licence price, necessarily includes all the hardware: till, printer, payment terminal, tablet for taking orders. Ask each reseller or provider for a complete quote for your business, hardware and installation included, before comparing the two figures.

A till that stays local

One thing the two solutions have in common: Lightspeed and ZP POS both claim to work without an internet connection. The difference lies elsewhere, in the pricing model and in the nature of the hardware, iPad for one, Windows touchscreen till for the other. It's up to you to choose what suits your business, your team and your reseller best, bearing in mind that these two points, price and hardware, are always worth checking before you sign.