Offline mode in Retail POS is a backup function that allows you to continue processing sales even if you lose your Internet connection. The Retail POS app will automatically enter offline mode if your Internet connection drops.

This is a backup option for when the Internet connection is disrupted and is not intended as a complete solution for offline selling. 
Retail POS won't operate without an Internet connection if you haven't completed an initial sync. You also won't be able to use Retail POS in offline mode if you weren't logged into your store before the Internet connection was lost.

If your Internet is working but Retail POS is down, you can complete sales manually.

Accessing Retail POS in offline mode

In offline mode, only certain actions will be available.

• You won't be able to process normal integrated payments while your Internet is down. Lightspeed Payments users with a Smart Terminal (WisePOS E) may be able to accept offline payments if you set up this option in advance. If you're using a third-party card processor, contact your provider for options.

  

  While offline, you can only access the Sell and Status pages.

  Sell

  On the Sell page, you can process new cash transactions, add new customers, create new products, park sales, or discard sales.

  

  You can't edit existing customers, redeem/sell gift cards, redeem Loyalty, or view product inventory information.

  Status

  You can view your unsynced sales on the Status page. These are sales made in offline mode that have been saved in your browser but haven't synced to our servers yet.

  

  Once your Internet is back up, these sales will attempt to automatically sync. If there are still sales on the Status page after a few minutes, click the Retry errored sales button to sync them manually.

• You won't be able to process normal integrated payments while your Internet is down. Lightspeed Payments users with a Smart Terminal (WisePOS E) may be able to accept offline payments if you set up this option in advance. If you're using a third-party card processor, contact your provider for options.

  While offline, you'll only have access to the Sell screen on your iPad.

  Sell screen

  On the Sell screen, you can process new cash transactions, add new customers, create new products, park or discard sales, generate a quote, create a service, mark items for fulfillment or Layaway, and complete On account sales.

  You won't be able to edit existing customers, redeem/sell gift cards, redeem Loyalty, or view product inventory information.

  You can check the status of your device by tapping the Menu icon in the top-left corner. Your online status will be displayed.

  

Adding products/customers to a sale in offline mode

Computer

You can still add products and customers to a sale using Retail POS on your computer, but with certain limitations.

You can't search for products or customers by name while in offline mode.

You can add products with a barcode scanner or by typing in the product SKUs. Quick keys will also work in offline mode.

To add a customer to a sale, you'll need to enter their customer code. You can find this on an existing Loyalty card or on a receipt.

When adding a customer by customer code, you may receive the error message "Sorry, we were unable to fetch your data." This is because the search function won't work in offline mode. Press Enter or Return on your keyboard, and the customer will be added to the sale. If you're using a scanner to scan the customer code, the customer will be added to the sale automatically.

Tips to keep sales smooth when your Internet goes down:

• Use your barcode scanner to search for products
• Keep important SKUs and customer IDs written down or in a document
• Keep your most commonly-purchased products in your quick key layout
• When entering a product SKU or customer ID, make sure to press Enter after typing it in to add the product or customer to the sale

iPad

You can add products and customers normally to the sale, as this data is stored locally. You can also use a barcode scanner, type in the SKU, or type in the customer code to add a product or customer to the sale.

Resyncing your sales

• Retail POS will automatically check your Internet connection every two minutes. Once your computer is back online, the offline mode banner will disappear, and you'll be able to access all sections again.

  If you processed sales while offline, these will automatically sync to our servers once your Internet connection is restored. This should occur within a few minutes of your Internet connection being reestablished. If some sales haven't synced, you'll see an Error icon next to Status in the sidebar. If you see this, click Download sales info to download the errored sales as a JSON file. Then click Contact support to send the file to our Support team.

• Retail POS will automatically check your Internet connection every two minutes. Once your iPad is back online, the offline status will disappear from the menu, and you'll be able to access all sections again.

  If you processed sales while offline, these will automatically sync to our servers once your Internet connection is restored. This should occur within a few minutes of your Internet connection being reestablished. You can check that all sales have synced by tapping Online to bring up the Status menu.

  

Resetting your data

• Before resetting your data, make sure there are no open or errored sales in the Sell screen, as these will be lost upon resyncing.

  1. Navigate to the Status page.
  2. Click Reset data.
  3. A pop-up message will appear warning that resetting your data will delete your current sale and completed sales not yet synced to Lightspeed servers, as well as the copy of your web register data saved in your browser. Click Reset data to confirm.

  

• Before resyncing, make sure there are no open or errored sales in the Sell screen, as these will be lost upon resyncing.

  1. If your sales haven't synced after a few minutes, tap the Menu icon.
  2. Tap Online.

  3. Tap Sync all data.

     

  If you're still seeing unsynced sales, tap and hold the Online status for about 5 seconds. A pop-up window will appear. Tap Resync data.

  

Troubleshooting offline mode on a computer

If you try to access Retail POS on your computer and you receive an Unable to load register screen, you may not have fully loaded your store in this browser before, or you weren't logged into Retail POS when your computer dropped offline.

You won't be able to use Retail POS offline while you have this message. To troubleshoot:

1. Refresh the page.
2. Check your Internet connection by accessing another website outside of Retail POS. If other websites are also offline, your computer may have lost connection to the Internet. Check that your router is powered on or contact your Internet service provider.
3. If your Internet connection is still working, check Retail POS's system status page to verify that all servers are operational.

You may need to refresh Retail POS to remove this message.

Troubleshooting offline mode on the Retail (X) app

If you're experiencing issues with the Retail (X) app displaying the Offline status on your iPad despite being connected to Wi-Fi, there are several steps you can take to troubleshoot.

Check your hardware compatibility

• Verify the make and model of your iPad to ensure compatibility with the Retail (X) app.
• Check that your iPad is running the latest iOS version.

Confirm that your Internet is working

• Ensure that your iPad has Wi-Fi enabled and is connected to the correct Wi-Fi network.
  • Navigate to Settings > Wi-Fi. Make sure the Wi-Fi toggle is on and check the name of the Wi-Fi network where your iPad is connected.
• Run a speed test to ensure that your Internet connection is stable.
  • Open Google and search run speed test. Click the Run Speed Test button.
• Change your DNS server to 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 to improve connectivity.
• If your Internet connection is still working, check Retail POS's system status page to verify that all servers are operational.

Reboot your systems

• Uninstall and reinstall the Retail (X) app.
• Reboot your iPad and router.

If you've tried these steps and continue to experience problems, you may need to seek further assistance from our Support team.

App not asking for float

When you open the Retail (X) app, your float may not ask you for a value and instead navigate directly to the Sell screen. If this occurs, at the time of closing, your register may show payment types that shouldn't be listed.

To fix this, make sure Cash management is enabled in all registers by navigating to Sell > Cash management and, if disabled, clicking Enable cash management.

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