Adding a customer to an order is faster with barcode scanning. Instead of manually searching by name or phone number, you can scan the customer’s loyalty card to instantly add their customer profile to the order, saving time and ensuring accuracy.

What's in this guide?

What you'll need
Supported barcode types and devices
Manually adding customer tags 
Adding a customer to the POS via barcode scan
Troubleshooting

What you'll need

• The Accounts feature enabled in your POS.
• Customer tags added in Back Office. 

This feature works with Lightspeed Loyalty and other third-party loyalty programs integrated with your POS. However, it mainly functions as a simple customer lookup based on customer tags assigned in Back Office, and is not limited to any specific loyalty program.

Supported barcode types and devices

The POS supports scanning loyalty card barcodes in both 1D (traditional) and 2D (QR code) formats. This feature works on supported POS devices running iOS or Android.

1D Barcode	2D (QR code)

Manually adding customer tags 

For reliable barcode scanning in the POS, each customer profile must have the correct tags assigned. Lightspeed Restaurant allows multiple tags per customer, and all of them are searchable within the POS system.

For integrated loyalty programs, customer tags or identifiers are automatically synced to your Lightspeed customer database. The value encoded in each customer's barcode must exactly match the corresponding tag listed in your Lightspeed Back Office. 

To add customer tags:

1. Navigate to your Back Office.
2. Select People.
3. Select Customers.
4. Select the customer profile you want to add a tag to.
5. Under the Customer Info section, scroll down to Tags.
6. Enter the customer tag. This could be a customer membership number, loyalty ID, or other unique identifier used in your barcode or loyalty system.
7. Click Save.
   
8. Manually sync the POS or sync your registers from Back Office. 

To upload customer tags in bulk, refer to our article on adding customers in bulk.

Adding a customer to the POS via barcode scan 

Barcode scanning requires camera access on your POS device. Once enabled, the viewfinder opens automatically to scan and retrieve customer details. If you initially denied camera access, you’ll need to enable it manually in the Restaurant app settings. 

To add a customer by scanning a barcode:

1. Enter the order in the POS.
2. In the Check Out section, tap Add customer. 
3. Tap Scan card.
   
4. A prompt requesting permission to allow camera access will appear. Tap Allow. 
5. (Optional) Tap the camera switch icon to toggle between your front and back cameras.
6. Scan the barcode. The POS will automatically link the corresponding customer profile. 
7. Tap Check Out to complete the order. 

If using a third-party loyalty program and no customer profile is linked after scanning the barcode, tap the magnifying glass icon in the Accounts list section for a manual search. The system will then look up the customer information from your connected loyalty program.

Troubleshooting

If you run into issues while scanning loyalty cards or adding customers, try the following tips to identify and resolve common problems.

What's next?