Product details help you present your items to potential customers browsing your Lightspeed eCom (E-Series) online catalog. This includes images, product names, descriptions, variants, related products, and more. Also, these details include product-specific settings for shipping, tax rates, and SEO.
You create products and manage general product details in Retail POS. After you connect eCom, all these details are automatically synced. However, some of the details are specific to selling and showcasing products online. You can add and edit such product details in the eCom admin to better tailor how your catalog appears to customers on the web.
This guide gives you an overview of the product details settings as they appear on the product page in Catalog > Products in the eCom admin.
Depending on whether you're using eCom with or without Ecommerce functionality, the set of available product details may differ.
Adding images and videos
Images and videos help you give online customers a better understanding of what you're selling. You can add images and videos to the product gallery from the General tab of each product page in the eCom admin panel.
Images help customers visualize your products. Consider showing different angles (front, side, underneath, and close-ups) to highlight details and build trust. The quality of your product images can directly affect your ability to generate sales. Here are some tips:
- Each product image should be of uniform size and style across all products you sell.
- Use high-quality images so that customers can see any fine details.
Images uploaded directly in the eCom admin don't sync back to Retail POS. For consistency, it's best to upload product images in Retail POS.
Videos work best for showcasing your goods. You can show how to use a product, explain in detail how it's manufactured, even record customer reviews. Shoppers tend to watch videos instead of just browsing static images. Products with videos are more likely to be purchased.
Learn more about adding videos to products in eCom.
Updating product name and description
While product name and description are managed in Retail POS, you might want to review them after you start using eCom. Online customers rely largely on this information when making purchasing decisions.
The product name is the title of your item. It should include key information that helps customers quickly understand what you're selling, such as the brand, model, or key feature.
The product description provides more detail. Use this space to highlight the product’s features, benefits, and specifications. You can also include videos, images, or animated elements to make the description more engaging. Unique product descriptions are more likely to rank higher in search engine results.
Tips to improve your product descriptions:
- Keep it simple: Avoid long sentences and complex words. Imagine you're explaining the product to a 10-year-old.
- Show, don’t just tell: Include demo videos to show how the product works or looks in real life.
- Offer both short and long versions: Some customers skim, while others want detailed information. Make sure your description caters to both.
Using videos in the product description
To better showcase your product, provide helpful instructions, or support customer decision-making, you can embed a YouTube or Vimeo video directly into the product description.
To add a video to your product description:
- Upload your video file to YouTube or Vimeo.
- Copy the video URL.
- In Retail POS, navigate to Catalog > Products.
- Create a new product or choose an existing one.
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Click the video icon (Insert media) in the Description editor menu.
- Enter a video embed code or an external link.
- Click Save.
Editing SKUs and product weight
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is the code that identifies the product within your business. You can use the product identification code provided by manufacturers or your own combinations of letters and numbers.
Product weight is used for shipping cost calculations in eCom.
Both product SKU and weight are managed from Retail POS and automatically synced to eCom.
Controlling shipping or pickup availability
By default, all products in your online catalog are marked as requiring shipping, pickup, or delivery. It means that customers can order delivery or pick up their purchases from your locations, depending on the delivery options you've set up for your eCom store.
If you don't want to ship certain products, you can uncheck the Requires shipping or pickup box for that product.
Managing pricing options
Pricing is what you're charging for the product. While product price itself is managed in Retail POS, you can set up additional pricing options for eCom. To access pricing options, click Manage pricing options in the Pricing section of the product page:
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"Compare to" price is the original price for a product that is on sale. When you enter a "Compare to" price, the product page in your online storefront displays a sale price and savings.
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Bulk discount pricing is tiered pricing for each product based on quantity. Discounts are applied immediately as soon as the quantity added to the cart changes. For example, a product costs $120, but if a customer buys 5 items, the price is $100 each.
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Enable "Pay what you want" pricing is a pricing option that allows customers to name their own prices for products in your online store. If enabled, there will be an empty field on the product page where your customers can enter the price they want to pay. You can provide price suggestions if you want.
Learn more about using Pay What You Want pricing in eCom.
Optionally, you can start selling a product as a subscription item in eCom. A recurring subscription allows you to charge customers on a repeated schedule for products and services.
Understanding product availability and stock control
You manage the available quantity of a product in Retail POS. In the Stock Control block on the General tab of the product page in eCom admin, you can set up low-stock admin notifications and specify the behavior for this product when it's out of stock.
Out of stock product visibility options include hiding the product from the storefront, showing the product on the storefront, and accepting pre-orders.
Learn more about setting up behavior for out of stock products in eCom.
Managing categories
Categories are groups or collections that products belong to. They help customers navigate your store and find what they’re looking for. Each product must be assigned to at least one category, and a single product can belong to multiple categories.
Learn more about managing categories and subcategories in eCom.
Adding product ribbons and product subtitles
Both product ribbons and product subtitles are a way to attract additional attention to a product on your online storefront.
Product subtitles are short descriptions that you can provide for your products to give customers more information about product advantages or ingredients. You can choose to display subtitles on both the product list and on the product details page, or in one place only.
Product ribbons are colored labels that are displayed in your online catalog above product images. It can help visually highlight certain products on your storefront. These tags contain your custom text. Examples include "Bestseller", "20% Off", "New", "Christmas deal", or "Free Shipping", depending on your case.
Learn more about adding ribbons and subtitles to products in eCom.
Setting up attributes
The Attributes tab on the product page in eCom lets you add product identifiers that may be useful for accounting, inventory management, or structuring information. An example would be books may include attributes like ISBN, author, publisher, cover type, and language. Apparel may include brand, season, material, or collection.
Attributes can also store internal information that you don't want to display to customers, such as the product's net cost.
UPC, Brand, and SKU attributes are synced automatically from Retail POS. All other custom attributes can be added or edited in eCom. Learn more about product types and attributes in eCom.
Managing product variants
The Options tab on the product page in eCom is where all the product variants are synced. Product attributes like color and size appear under Options, and product variants appear under Variations.
You can adjust option display in your online catalog, sort attributes on the storefront, and more. Learn how to manage online-specific settings for products with variants in eCom.
Product variants are managed in Retail POS. After creating products with variants in Retail POS, they will appear in eCom.
Uploading digital files
The Files tab on the product page in eCom lets you upload digital files that are delivered to customers after purchase. This is ideal for selling downloadable products like e-books, videos, music, digital art, and other digital content.
This feature can also be used to attach files to physical products or services, so that customers can download them after checkout—for example, an instruction manual, a user guide, or a bonus e-book.
Learn more about selling digital products in eCom.
Selecting product-specific shipping and pickup options
The Shipping and pickup tab on the product page in eCom allows you to configure product-specific shipping and pickup options. If the product requires shipping, you can assign individual shipping rates specific to this item.
By default, your online store’s shipping methods that you set in the Online tab > Settings > Shipping and pickup page in Retail POS are used for any product. You can leave this option selected if the product is shipped like most others in your catalog.
Alternatively, you can set custom shipping rates for this specific product. Options include adding a fee on top of your regular shipping rates, selecting individual shipping methods for this product, charging a flat rate per item ordered, and offering free shipping for this product.
Learn more about setting up product-specific shipping methods and product-specific shipping rates in eCom.
The Shipping and pickup tab also contains information on product’s weight and size (length, width, and height) that are used to calculate accurate shipping rates. Weight and dimensions are specified on the Catalog page in Retail POS.
Managing taxes
The Tax tab on the product page in eCom provides information on the tax rates applied to a product and allows you to set up product-specific tax rates.
If automatic taxes are enabled, depending on your store’s country, you’ll be able to select either specific tax rates or a product type used to calculate the appropriate rate.
If manual taxes are enabled, this page allows you to turn on or off individually configured tax rates.
In both cases, the settings apply only to one product and the individual tax rate will override the default tax settings for your online store.
Learn more about setting up and enabling taxes for eCom.
If you're setting up custom tax settings for a product in eCom, you might also need to configure the same product taxes in Retail POS to ensure taxes sync correctly between the platforms.
Optimizing SEO
The SEO tab on the product page in eCom allows you to customize search engine–related information for your product. When indexing a page, search engines use meta tags (including the page title and meta description) to understand the content, display it in search results, and determine its relevance.
By default, eCom automatically generates this metadata using your product’s name and description. However, since search engines display only a limited number of characters, you may want to edit these fields manually.
To improve visibility:
- Rewrite the page title and meta description using relevant keywords.
- Keep your text clear, concise, and aligned with what your customers are likely to search for.
Optimizing your metadata can help your product appear higher in search engine results and attract more clicks.
Learn more about managing SEO for eCom.
Displaying related products
The Related Products tab on the product page in eCom allows you to display the You may also like section in your online catalog as well as to cross-sell products in the cart. You can manually select specific recommended products, show random products, or use a combination of these two options.
Learn more about setting up related products in eCom.
Embedding the Buy Now button
With the Buy Now button on the "Buy Now" Button tab, you can generate a product's individual integration code to add this specific product to an external website or blog without the need to add a whole online store. For example, if you only sell a few items, want to create a landing page for a product, or need to supplement a blog post with the option to buy the product.
Learn more about setting up Buy Buttons in eCom.
What's next?
Navigating the eCom (E-Series) Admin Panel
Access the full suite of eCom settings and controls in the Admin Panel.
Managing categories and subcategories in eCom
Import Retail POS categories or create online-specific categories.