Lightspeed Locations Manager is a central place for managing certain parts of your business across multiple locations. With Locations Manager, you can share the following across some or all of your business locations:

• Items - Name and SKU only or all item settings (price, cost, etc.)
• Menus - Items, screens, and buttons with an option to allow location-specific differences

Activating Locations Manager

Before using it for the first time, you need to manually activate Locations Manager. This feature is available for Lightspeed Restaurant accounts with more than one business location.

Only Back Office users with access to all of your business locations can activate Locations Manager. After activation, Locations Manager will become the default Back Office home screen for users with access; others will see the Dashboard page instead.

1. Log in to the Back Office with your Lightspeed Restaurant credentials.

2. From the navigation menu, click the location switcher dropdown and select Locations Manager.

   Before Locations Manager is activated, only Back Office users with access to all of your business locations will see this menu option. 

   

3. Click Activate to enable Lightspeed Locations Manager.

   

Accessing Locations Manager

Once activated, Locations Manager becomes the first page eligible users see when they log in to the Back Office. You can also access it by clicking the location switcher in the navigation sidebar and selecting Locations Manager.

Functionally, Locations Manager is treated as another business location for your account. Back Office users can be given access to this location in order to use the Locations Manager.

Item sharing

With item sharing, you can use items across business locations without re-creating them. Choose partial sharing to customize pricing by location, or full sharing to automatically sync all changes to selected locations.

To access the item sharing feature of Locations Manager:

1. From Locations Manager, click Go to items on the homepage.

   Alternatively, you can select Menu > Item list on the navigation sidebar.

2. Click Edit table and enable the checkboxes for Sharing type, Sharing status, and Locations.

3. Select Save.

   The items list in Locations Manager displays all items eligible to be shared. With these columns enabled, you're ready to start sharing these items across business locations.

   

Types of sharable items

From Locations Manager, you can view and share the following types of items:

• Items created directly within Locations Manager. 
• Items previously shared across locations via legacy sharing methods.

Unshared items created prior to enabling Locations Manager are not supported. In order to share these, you can re-create the items in Locations Manager or contact Lightspeed Support for assistance. 

Sharing items

This section covers how to share eligible items that have never been shared before. If you need to change the sharing status or location(s) for a shared item, see the Sharing status and locations section instead.

1. From Locations Manager, click Go to items on the homepage.

   Alternatively, you can select Menu > Item list on the navigation sidebar.

2. In the Sharing status column, click the Not shared button for an individual item.

   Rather share items in bulk? Select the checkboxes next to multiple items, click the three dots on the selection toolbar, and select Share with locations instead.

3. Select one or more locations to share the item with, then click Continue.

   Back Office users can only share with business locations they have access to.

4. Choose Partially shared or Fully shared, then click Submit to share the item.

   • Partially shared: Share the item’s name and SKU only. Changes made to the name or SKU will apply to all selected locations, but pricing and settings are managed separately by location.
   • Fully shared: Share all of the item's settings with the selected business locations. Any changes made to the item in one location will apply to all locations.

   

5. Add a menu button for the item to make it available for orders at the POS.
   • If the menu is shared, add the button from the Locations Manager to sync it to all locations where the menu is shared.
   • Only need the item in one location? Add the button from an individual location to a shared menu that allows local edits or an unshared menu.

Editing shared items

When you need to change prices, update naming, or make other changes to a shared item, you can edit the item like any other. However, partially-shared and fully-shared items behave differently depending on how and where you edit them.

• Partially-shared items: These have a Partially shared badge next to their name when you click to edit them.
  • If changing the item name or SKU, you can edit the item from Locations Manager or a location it is shared with. Changes will apply to all locations where the item is shared.
  • If changing the price or other settings, you must edit the item from each location where it is shared. Changes will apply only to the location from which you edit.
  • Only Back Office users with access to all locations where the item is shared will be able to edit it.

• Fully-shared items: These have a Fully shared badge next to their name when you click to edit them.
  • You can change the item name, SKU, price, or settings from Locations Manager or any location where the item is shared. Changes will apply to all shared locations.
  • Only Back Office users with access to all locations where the item is shared will be able to edit it.

Item sharing status and locations

Once you've shared some items, the item sharing columns on the items list will begin to display information you can use to track your items across locations. From here, you can also change how an item is shared (fully or partially) and which locations it is shared with.

• Sharing status: Not shared or Shared. Click the sharing status to change how the item is shared (fully or partially) or to unshare it.
• Sharing type: Fully shared, Partially shared, or not shared (blank).
• Locations: Number of business locations an item has been shared with. Click this number to change which locations the item is shared with.

Unsharing items

You can unshare items to remove them from all locations they were shared to. Unsharing an item removes it from secondary locations while keeping it active in its original location.

1. Click Shared in the Sharing status column.
2. Select Not shared. 
3. Click Update to confirm.

Menu sharing

Menu sharing allows you to create a screen and button layout for your POS once and reuse it across business locations. When you share menus, you can still give individual locations some flexibility to customize their layout.

1. From Locations Manager, click Go to menu on the homepage.

   Alternatively, you can select Menu > Menu management on the navigation sidebar.

From here, you'll see the menus eligible to be shared with your business locations, and you can share menus to use them across multiple locations.

Types of sharable menus

From Locations Manager, you can view and share the following types of menus:

• Menus created directly within Locations Manager. 
• Menus previously shared across locations via legacy sharing methods.

Unshared menus created prior to enabling Locations Manager are not supported. In order to share these, you can re-create the menu(s) in Locations Manager or contact Lightspeed Support for assistance. 

Sharing menus

Before sharing an eligible menu across your business, make sure all items on that menu have already been shared with your target locations. Then follow these steps to share the menu.

1. From Locations Manager, click Go to menu on the homepage.

   Alternatively, you can select Menu > Menu management on the navigation sidebar.

2. Click the name of an existing menu to review it before sharing with other locations. 

3. Select Share menu.

   

4. Choose one or more locations to share the menu with.

   Back Office users can only share with business locations they have access to.

5. (Optional) Enable the Allow locations to add menu categories and buttons setting to allow the selected locations to add additional screens and/or buttons to their local version of the menu.

   

6. Click Share menu to continue.
7. Click Update and sync to apply the updated menu across all selected locations.
8. If prompted, click Share all items to share items on the menu that you previously did not share with the selected locations.
9. In each shared location, link the menu to a configuration to use it for orders at the POS.

Editing shared menus

Shared menus must be edited centrally from Locations Manager. If local editing is enabled, individual locations can also add their own custom screens and buttons.

1. Click the name of the shared menu you want to edit. 

   Shared menus will say Shared in the Status column.

2. Make any necessary changes, such as adding screens or buttons.

3. Click Update and sync to save your changes and reload all connected POS devices with the latest version of the menu.

   

4. If prompted, click Share all items to share items on the menu that you previously did not share with the selected locations.

   

Menu sharing status and locations

Once you've shared some menus, the Menus section of Locations Manager will begin to display information you can use to monitor menu distribution, local edit permissions, and POS sync status.

• Locations: Number of business locations a menu has been shared with. Click this number to change which locations the item is shared with.
• Status: Shared or Not Shared.
• POS status: Shows the number of eligible POS devices that the menu has been synced to. This is based on the POS configuration the menu is linked to and the number of devices using that configuration.
• Local edits: Allowed or Not allowed, depending on the Allow locations to add menu categories and buttons setting.

Unsharing menus

Unsharing a menu removes it from selected locations and disconnects it from those locations' POS configurations.

1. Click the name of the shared menu you want to unshare.

2. Select the Locations tab.

   

3. Check the Linked configurations column to see which configuration(s), if any, the menu is linked to.

   If the menu is linked to a configuration, switch to the relevant location and unlink the menu. Otherwise, you will not be able to unshare the menu from that location.

4. Click the trash can icon for a location to remove that menu from that location.
5. Select Remove menu to confirm. 

FAQ

Here are some of the questions we're asked most frequently about Locations Manager.

• To activate Locations Manager: You must be the Back Office admin user (account creator) or a Back Office user with access to all business locations. The admin user can update location access from Business > Back Office users.

  To access Locations Manager: Once activated, any Back Office user who has been granted access to the designated Locations Manager location can use it.

  Functionally, Locations Manager is treated as another business location for your account. Back Office users can be given access to this location in order to use the Locations Manager.

• No, activating Locations Manager is not mandatory. Restaurants who prefer managing their business locations separately can leave Locations Manager unactivated.
• No. You can only share items and menus between business locations after activating Locations Manager.
• If you previously shared items or menus across business locations using an older method, you'll need to activate Locations Manager to continue sharing. As you begin using Locations Manager, be aware that:
  • You can use Locations Manager to manage the sharing status of items and menus you previously shared.
  • New items and menus that you intend to share must be created from Locations Manager. 
  • Unshared items and menus created before activating Locations Manager cannot natively be shared. Instead, you can either re-create these in Locations Manager or contact Lightspeed Support for assistance.
• Yes, you can unshare both items and menus to remove them from one or more shared locations.
• Locations can make changes to shared items, but shared menus are only editable from Locations Manager. Note that:
  • Partially-shared and fully-shared items behave differently depending on how and where you edit them.
  • Only Back Office users with access to all locations where the item is shared will be able to edit it.
  • Individual locations can add their own screens or buttons to shared menus if the Allow locations to add menu categories and buttons setting is enabled.
• Yes, but this is only possible if the Allow locations to add menu categories and buttons setting is enabled.
• If you can't see Locations Manager, check the following:
  • Location count: Your account must have at least two business locations. You can confirm this by looking for the location switcher dropdown menu at the top of the Back Office navigation bar.
  • Pre-activation permissions: Before activating Locations Manager, only the admin user and Back Office users with access to all of your locations can see it in the location switcher.
  • Post-activation permissions: After activation, Back Office users must be given access to the Locations Manager business location to see and use it.
• Once you activate Locations Manager, it cannot be disabled. If you have any questions or experience issues, contact Lightspeed Support for help.

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