OS Olga Stanis

Work / Case study 04

Lightspeed × Google · Strategic pilot

Bringing Google Local Inventory Ads into Lightspeed POS

Helping brick-and-mortar retailers promote in-store products on Google, directly from their point of sale.

I designed a pilot integration between Lightspeed POS and Google that let retailers connect their store, sync product and inventory data, and create local inventory advertising campaigns without leaving Lightspeed. The work involved close collaboration with Google, multiple compliance reviews, and cross-functional alignment across product, engineering, legal, and partnerships.

A partnership between ×
Domain
Retail · AdTech
My role
Product Designer (lead)
Partner
Google pilot
Scope
End-to-end merchant flow
Reach local shoppers with Google landing page inside Lightspeed Retail
Google My Business - put your business on the map
Google Merchant Center setup and synced inventory locations
Local Inventory Ads reporting dashboard
Project gallery

The work at a glance - merchant onboarding, inventory and campaign setup, the live reporting loop, and the verification flows behind it. Browse it here, or read the full story below.

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01The opportunity

Turn POS inventory into local advertising inventory.

Many independent retailers want to reach local shoppers online, but they don't always have a website, a marketing team, or the technical knowledge to manage Google Merchant Center and product feeds.

Lightspeed POS already held the most important data for local advertising: store information, product catalog, pricing, and inventory availability. The opportunity was to turn that operational data into a simple advertising setup flow inside the POS.

02Product challenge

Making a complex Google workflow feel simple.

The design had to simplify a workflow that spanned multiple Google services, store verification, product data, inventory sync, eligibility rules, campaign settings, and compliance requirements.

The merchant-facing experience needed to feel clear and approachable, even for retailers with no advertising experience.

Connect Google account

Sign in with Google and authorize Lightspeed to manage the integration.

Verify store & business profile

Confirm locations on Google My Business so shoppers can find the store.

Sync products & inventory

Push catalog, pricing, and availability to Google Merchant Center.

Review eligibility & requirements

Surface barcode, feed, and data issues as clear, fixable readiness states.

Create local inventory campaign

Set budget, max cost-per-click, and a local target radius in a few steps.

Submit & monitor status

Track approval, billing, and live campaign performance from the POS.

03Behind the scenes

Designing inside a strategic Google pilot.

Because this was part of a Google pilot, the process included frequent reviews with Google teams and multiple rounds of compliance feedback. Lightspeed was one of the early POS partners building this kind of integration, ahead of some larger commerce platforms.

The challenge was to balance Google's requirements with a simple POS experience. Every step had to be clear, compliant, and understandable for a non-technical retail user.

Google partnership Merchant Center integration Compliance reviews Legal alignment Product feed requirements Cross-functional collaboration

Flow maps for identity, billing, and phone verification - the compliance depth behind a deceptively simple merchant experience.

04The merchant experience

A guided path from connect to campaign.

A

Onboarding and value proposition

The onboarding screens introduced local inventory ads in simple retail language. The goal was to help merchants understand that their POS inventory could help nearby shoppers discover products available in-store.

Reach local shoppers with Google onboarding
Sign in with Google, then a three-step explainer: list locations, connect inventory, create campaigns.
Put your business on the map
Framed as putting the business on the map first - the advertising value comes after the basics are in place.
B

Account connection and setup

The setup flow guided merchants through connecting the required Google services without exposing the full complexity of Merchant Center.

Merchant Center business information setup
Business details and About page verification on one side; synced locations with eligible and ineligible product counts on the other.
Marketing hub with verified locations and synced Merchant Center
A single Marketing hub tracks each service's status - Lightspeed manages Merchant Center so merchants don't have to.
C

Product and inventory readiness

The experience translated technical feed and inventory requirements into clear readiness states - helping merchants understand what was ready, what needed attention, and why it mattered.

Sync your inventory with barcode status
Barcode and GTIN requirements become a plain "Not ready" state with a clear next step, instead of a Merchant Center error.
Unable to log in with the Google account messaging
Error and requirement messaging tells the merchant exactly which account to use and what to fix to continue.
D

Campaign creation and review

The campaign flow helped merchants review settings, understand requirements, and submit a local inventory campaign with confidence - then track it once live.

Campaign setup with budget and target radius
Daily budget, max CPC, and a map-based target radius - with a monthly estimate so spend feels predictable.
Billing information required with Google
Billing and identity verification are handled in Google but explained in Lightspeed, so nothing feels like a dead end.
Campaigns list with active and paused campaigns
Active and paused campaigns, pause and reactivate actions, and a live link to anything managed directly in Google.
Local Inventory Ads reporting dashboard
Once live, performance comes back into the POS - impressions, clicks, and spend per campaign and category, in the merchant's own context.
05My role

I designed the end-to-end merchant experience.

I mapped the flow between Lightspeed POS, Google Business Profile, and Google Merchant Center, designed the onboarding and setup screens, simplified compliance-heavy requirements, and worked across teams to keep the experience clear and trustworthy.

What I designed

  • Onboarding and education screens
  • Google account connection flow
  • Store and product readiness states
  • Campaign creation screens
  • Review and status experiences
  • Error and requirement messaging

Who I collaborated with

  • Product management
  • Engineering
  • Legal
  • Google partnership team
  • Google compliance reviewers
  • Go-to-market stakeholders
Outcome

More than an operational tool.

This project helped Lightspeed explore a new advertising use case for brick-and-mortar retailers and positioned the POS as a gateway for local product discovery - helping merchants use their existing inventory data to reach nearby shoppers on Google.

A new strategic use case

Validated the POS as a channel for local advertising, not just operations.

Google

A stronger Google partnership

Deepened the relationship and contributed to an early POS-based pilot.

Complexity made simple

A compliance-heavy advertising workflow turned into a guided, trustworthy flow.

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