Integrating your Lightspeed point-of-sale (POS) data with Klaviyo is a game-changer for eCommerce marketing. It bridges the gap between in-store sales and online campaigns, so you can send personalized emails or SMS to shoppers based on what they bought in your physical store. Now, there are two main ways to achieve a Lightspeed to Klaviyo integration: Klaviyo's own native integration, and a third-party tool called Gather.
If you're an agency or a store owner, you might be wondering which option is best. In this post, we'll compare Gather vs. Klaviyo's native Lightspeed integration head-to-head – from sync speed and data depth to support and ease of use. By the end, you'll see why many retailers are opting for a faster, smarter sync (and how it can level up your Klaviyo marketing).
The Native Klaviyo Lightspeed Integration (What It Does, Where It Falls Short)
Klaviyo's native integration for Lightspeed POS is Klaviyo's built-in solution to pull your store data into their platform. It's a solid starting point, but it has some important limitations to be aware of:
One-Way, POS-to-Klaviyo Sync
The native connector primarily flows data from Lightspeed to Klaviyo, not the other way around. It will automatically import your customer info and sales events from the POS, but doesn't write back any changes from Klaviyo into Lightspeed (e.g. if someone unsubscribes via email, Lightspeed won't know). It's a one-way street.
Limited Platform Support
As of now, Klaviyo's integration only officially supports Lightspeed Retail R-Series (the older Lightspeed platform). If you're on Lightspeed's newer X-Series (formerly Vend) or their eCommerce platform, the native Klaviyo sync is not fully available (Lightspeed was testing an X-Series beta, but it's not broadly released). In fact, Klaviyo's own docs note no native support for Lightspeed's other platforms and recommend custom APIs in those cases. Bottom line: many Lightspeed users simply can't use the native integration at all.
Slower Sync Frequency
The Klaviyo connector isn't truly real-time. Historically, it syncs on a scheduled cycle (about every hour), which means there could be delays from when a sale happens in-store to when that data shows up in Klaviyo. (Klaviyo has worked to speed up certain events, but it's not instant in most cases.)
Basic Data Synced
The native integration brings over the essentials – customer name, contact info, order details, product categories, etc. That's useful, but it doesn't capture many rich details that could boost your marketing. For example, it won't tag which store location the purchase was at, which staff member served the customer, or aggregate metrics like total in-store spend vs. online spend. It's a bare-bones sync meant to get the job done, but not much more.
Minimal Visibility & Control
With the native approach, you set it up and trust it to run. There's no specialized dashboard to monitor sync health or fix issues – if data seems off, you might only notice by manually comparing records. And aside from choosing a Klaviyo list for new customers, there's little customization. Essentially, it's a black box: either it works, or you're filing a support ticket with Klaviyo/Lightspeed.
Where it falls short: If all you need is a simple import of POS sales into Klaviyo (and you're on the right Lightspeed version), the native integration is a convenient starting point. But its one-way, one-size-fits-all nature can be a drawback. Modern retailers often want faster data updates, two-way syncing of customer preferences, deeper segmentation data, and responsive support. This is where Gather comes in.
Meet Gather: A Better Way to Sync Lightspeed and Klaviyo
Gather is an all-in-one integration platform built specifically to connect Lightspeed POS with marketing tools like Klaviyo. In fact, it was born out of a need to do Lightspeed ↔ Klaviyo better than what default options offered. Gather's goal is to give you a plug-and-play, yet powerful sync that addresses the native integration's weak spots.
Here's a quick overview of what makes Gather stand out:
Purpose-Built for Lightspeed (X-Series and more)
Gather was originally developed to sync Lightspeed Retail X-Series with Klaviyo – filling the gap since Klaviyo didn't support X-Series natively. It's tailor-made for Lightspeed's POS data structures. (And unlike the native tool, Gather isn't limited to one Lightspeed version; it's expanding to support multiple retail systems under one platform.)
Fast, Real-Time Syncing
One of Gather's biggest advantages is speed. It pushes data to Klaviyo in near real-time, not on an hourly delay. That means when someone makes a purchase in your store, their profile and purchase event show up in Klaviyo within seconds or minutes, not the next day. Faster sync = faster marketing. Your Klaviyo flows (welcome emails, post-purchase follow-ups, etc.) can trigger almost immediately after a sale, while the moment is hot.
True Two-Way Data Flow
Gather offers a true two-way sync between Klaviyo and Lightspeed. In practice, this means Gather doesn't just send Lightspeed data to Klaviyo – it can also take key data from Klaviyo back into Lightspeed. For example, Gather will respect and update opt-out preferences: if a customer unsubscribes via a Klaviyo email, Gather can mark that customer as "do not email" in Lightspeed, keeping your records consistent. Similarly, if you capture a new email subscriber through an online form (adding them to Klaviyo), Gather can create or update that contact in your POS. This two-way sync ensures your customer data stays aligned in both systems at all times.
More Complete Data & Segmentation Power
Unlike the native integration, Gather brings over richer customer insights – and even some data the native tool doesn't. It syncs detailed product info like product categories and brand names for each order, and it even records things like which store location the purchase was made at, any customer tags or groups from Lightspeed, which staff member handled the sale, and more. All these details get attached to the customer's profile or event in Klaviyo. Why does that matter? Because you can build far more granular segments and personalized campaigns. For example, with Gather you could target a segment like "VIP customers who bought Brand X in our downtown store" or trigger a flow for "customers who made an in-store purchase after being online-only shoppers." The native integration simply doesn't send over that level of detail to enable these use cases.
No Duplicate Headaches
Gather was built with the messy realities of retail data in mind. It has "safe deduplication" logic to prevent creating duplicate contacts in Klaviyo. It matches customers by email or phone, updates existing profiles if they shop again, and merges data smartly. The result is you won't end up with John Doe in Klaviyo twice just because he spelled his name differently one time. Clean data = better targeting and less confusion.
Historical Data Import & Multi-Location Support
When you first connect Gather, it can pull in your historical Lightspeed data (up to 5 years back) so you're not starting from scratch. It also handles multiple store locations seamlessly – if you have 5 boutiques on Lightspeed, all those sales can flow into one Klaviyo account, with each event tagged by store/outlet. If you manage marketing for a franchise or multi-store brand, Gather has you covered (even supports syncing to multiple Klaviyo accounts if each franchise needs separate marketing).
Built-In Monitoring and Control
Unlike the native "black box," Gather gives you a dashboard to monitor sync health and logs. You can see if records are syncing, if any errors occurred, and get a clear audit trail of data flow (crucial for debugging and peace of mind). Gather also offers admin controls like setting skip rules (e.g. don't sync certain customer groups or $0 orders) and custom field mappings. You're in full control of what data moves between Lightspeed and Klaviyo, and you have visibility at all times.
Easy Setup (Truly Plug-and-Play)
Despite its power, Gather remains easy to set up – even for non-techies. There's no coding or complex configuration needed. You simply authorize Lightspeed via OAuth (no fumbling with API keys), connect your Klaviyo, configure a few preferences, and you're off to the races. Many users get it running in minutes, not days. (If you've ever wrestled with custom API scripts or clunky middleware, this is a breath of fresh air.)
Responsive Support and Expertise
With Gather, you're not left on your own. The platform is backed by a team that understands both Lightspeed and Klaviyo deeply, and they offer hands-on support to ensure everything works smoothly. In fact, Gather provides free onboarding assistance on all plans and dedicated support contacts on higher tiers. Compare this to using the native integration, where if something breaks you might end up bouncing between Klaviyo support and Lightspeed support with no clear answers. Gather's support is focused on this exact integration, so issues get resolved faster. (Bonus: Gather's team is based in APAC, which is great for Australian/NZ retailers looking for support in their timezone.)
In short, Gather is designed to be "set-and-forget" – once it's connected, it reliably keeps your data in sync and just works. Retailers love that they can trust their in-store data is always flowing into Klaviyo accurately, without constant babysitting.
Key Differences: Gather vs. Native Klaviyo Integration
Let's break down the key differentiators between using Gather and using Klaviyo's native Lightspeed integration:
1. Sync Speed: Real-Time vs. Hourly Updates
Why it matters: Timing is everything in marketing. If a customer just bought something in-store, you might want to trigger a thank-you email or update their loyalty status immediately. Native integration can take up to an hour to sync new data – by then, that customer may have already left your store or moved on. Gather syncs within minutes or seconds of the sale, enabling real-time Klaviyo flows. It's the difference between hitting someone's inbox while they're still excited about their purchase, versus much later. Faster sync also means your Klaviyo segments are always up-to-date, which is crucial for time-sensitive campaigns (flash sales, event follow-ups, etc.).
2. Two-Way Sync: Keeping Data Aligned in Both Systems
Why it matters: Customers interact with your business through multiple channels – in-store and online. A true two-way Klaviyo ↔ Lightspeed sync ensures no matter where a change happens, both systems reflect it. Klaviyo's native integration is one-way, so Lightspeed never learns about things like email unsubscribe requests or preference updates made through Klaviyo. Gather's two-way sync fixes this by updating Lightspeed when relevant changes occur in Klaviyo. For example, if Jane Doe updates her email address via an online signup form (Klaviyo), that new email can sync to Lightspeed's customer record. If John Smith opts out of marketing emails via Klaviyo, Gather marks him as "do not email" in Lightspeed. This keeps your customer data consistent and compliant across platforms – avoiding awkward mistakes like emailing someone who already opted out. It's a 360° integration, not a one-way push.
3. Data Depth & Quality: Basic Info vs. Rich Customer Insights
Why it matters: More data (when it's accurate) means better personalization. The native integration gives you just the basics: order totals, items, and customer contact info. Gather goes much deeper, sending Klaviyo a wealth of properties and metrics from Lightspeed that you can use in segmentation and automation. Some examples:
- Product details: Gather includes each item's categories, brand, SKU, etc., on the Klaviyo event. Native sync might tell you Jane bought a "T-Shirt", but Gather can tell you it was a Men's T-Shirt by Nike (SKU 12345) – which you could use to trigger a cross-sell for matching Nike shorts, for instance.
- Customer attributes: Gather brings over customer tags or groups from Lightspeed, loyalty status, and even each customer's total in-store spend vs. online spend. This helps you identify VIPs or segment by shopping behavior (e.g. primarily in-store shoppers vs omni-channel customers).
- Transaction details: Beyond just "Placed Order" events, Gather can log refunds/exchanges as events, associate the store location and salesperson to each purchase, and more. Klaviyo's native integration doesn't include these nuances. With Gather's data, you could, say, create a flow to follow up on refunds (to win the customer back) or reward customers who were served by a particular staff member (maybe for sales contests or clienteling efforts).
- Data accuracy & deduplication: Gather is meticulous about avoiding duplicates and bad data. It matches emails/phones to existing profiles to update them, and even filters out certain transactions to keep things clean (for example, it can exclude ecommerce orders that might already be tracked by another integration, preventing double-counting). The native integration doesn't have these smart filters – it might import everything blindly, which could lead to double-recording an online order in some setups. Gather's more reliable data handling means your Klaviyo database stays tidy and trustworthy.
In summary, Gather empowers you with richer customer insights than the native sync. This unlocks advanced marketing strategies: think tailored flows for specific product categories or personalized campaigns based on a customer's favorite brand or store. You get a fuller picture of your shopper, which is marketing gold.
4. Ease of Setup & Use
Why it matters: Nobody has time (or budget) for a complicated IT project just to sync data. Klaviyo's native integration is fairly easy to enable (a few clicks in Klaviyo and Lightspeed and you're done). But Gather is equally simple – if not simpler – and adds flexibility. With Gather, you sign up online, connect your Lightspeed account securely via OAuth (no API keys or custom code), and connect Klaviyo by pasting your API key. The onboarding wizard guides you to map fields (with smart defaults already in place). In about 2 minutes, you can be fully set up.
Once running, Gather's user interface makes it easy to monitor sync status, tweak settings, or integrate additional stores and platforms from one dashboard. By contrast, the native integration has no interface beyond the initial setup – there's no easy way to see ongoing sync progress or adjust what's being synced. If you ever need to disable or reconnect things (say you reauthorized accounts), Gather provides a clear path to do so; native might require digging back into settings.
For agencies managing multiple client stores, ease of setup is huge. Gather lets you rinse-and-repeat connections for different Lightspeed accounts under one roof, streamlining your workflows. In short, Gather was designed for simplicity: non-developers can use it, and it saves you time at launch and in the long run.
5. Support & Reliability
Why it matters: When you're connecting mission-critical systems, you want to know there's help available if something goes wrong – and ideally, you want assurance that nothing will go wrong in the first place. Here's how Gather and the native option compare:
Reliability: Gather's entire business is this integration, so they've put a ton of focus into making it stable and reliable. It includes features like error logging and alerts, so if a sync fails or an API changes, the team (and you) can catch it quickly. They also proactively adapt whenever Lightspeed or Klaviyo update their APIs, ensuring your integration doesn't break with platform changes. (If you custom-built an integration or rely on a basic connector, you might be scrambling whenever an update hits.) The native Klaviyo integration is also reliable, but if an issue occurs, you're at the mercy of Klaviyo's engineering queue for a fix – not much you can do on your end.
Support quality: With the native route, your support path is a bit unclear. Do you call Lightspeed or Klaviyo if data doesn't sync? Each side could blame the other, leaving you in limbo. Gather offers direct, hands-on support from experts who understand both systems. They provide free onboarding assistance to get you started, email support on the base plan, and even a dedicated account manager on higher plans. Many agency owners appreciate having a real human to talk to who knows the integration inside-out. And because Gather is a smaller, specialized platform, they often roll out fixes or improvements faster (and even consider feature requests from users). Essentially, you get the kind of personalized support that big companies can't match.
Community & resources: Gather is used by a growing community of retailers and agencies focusing on Lightspeed + Klaviyo. There are case studies and playbooks available (for example, ideas like automatic post-purchase review requests or win-back flows for lapsed store customers come built-in as templates). This kind of domain-specific guidance is a nice bonus. On Klaviyo's side, while they have great general resources, you won't find as much depth specifically around Lightspeed use-cases – it's just not their core focus.
In terms of reliability and support, you can think of it this way: Gather treats your Lightspeed ↔ Klaviyo sync as a first-class priority (because it is their priority), whereas for Klaviyo, it's one of dozens of integrations. If your marketing automation strategy is important to you, having that extra level of care and expertise on your side can be invaluable.
Native Integration vs. Gather: Which Should You Choose?
Now that we've compared them, here's a quick recap of Native Klaviyo Integration vs. Gather:
- Availability: Native is only available for certain Lightspeed versions (R-Series, with X-Series in beta). Gather works great for Lightspeed X-Series (Vend) and beyond – if you're on a platform the native tool doesn't support, your decision is easy. Gather is your go-to option.
- Sync Speed: Native = periodic (hourly) sync. Gather = near real-time sync (within seconds/minutes). If you need fast, up-to-date data for your campaigns, Gather wins.
- Sync Direction: Native = one-way (Lightspeed → Klaviyo only). Gather = two-way (Lightspeed ↔ Klaviyo), including syncing opt-outs and new subscribers. For data consistency and compliance, Gather wins.
- Data & Features: Native = basic customer and order info. Gather = rich data (brands, categories, multi-store, staff, tags, etc.) and advanced controls. For more powerful segmentation and marketing possibilities, Gather wins.
- Ease & Support: Native = simple setup, but no monitoring and standard support channels. Gather = simple setup plus dashboard, logs, and dedicated support/help if needed. If you value oversight and assistance, Gather wins.
For many retailers and agencies, those differences make Gather the best Klaviyo integration for eCommerce stores running on Lightspeed. It's purpose-built to ensure your in-store data isn't siloed and your marketing platform is always in sync with reality. As one Lightspeed retailer put it, using Gather gives you "Shopify-grade lifecycle marketing without switching stacks" – you can run the kind of timely, personalized campaigns that Shopify users enjoy, all while keeping Lightspeed as your POS.
Conclusion: Supercharge Your Klaviyo Lightspeed Sync (and Your Marketing)
At the end of the day, integrating Lightspeed with Klaviyo is about unlocking your customer data to drive revenue. Both Klaviyo's native integration and Gather will get your sales data into Klaviyo – but Gather simply does it faster, more completely, and more reliably. For a growing retail business that relies on Klaviyo for customer engagement, those advantages translate into real ROI: better segmentation, higher campaign relevance, and less time wrestling with integration issues.
So, Gather vs. Native? If you want a quick, basic sync and you're on a supported Lightspeed version, the native integration can certainly help you get started. But if you're looking for the best "Lightspeed to Klaviyo" sync solution – one that offers true two-way sync, near-instant updates, robust data, and top-notch support – then Gather is the clear winner.
Why settle for "good enough" when you can have a Lightspeed ⇆ Klaviyo connection that truly empowers your marketing? 💡 Try Gather and see the difference for yourself. With a free trial available and an easy setup, you can start experiencing faster, smarter Klaviyo Lightspeed sync in no time. Your customers (and your bottom line) will thank you for it!
Ready to level up your Lightspeed to Klaviyo integration? 👉 Head over to Gather and start your free trial today to supercharge your eCommerce marketing with better data sync.