2025 Year in Review
Lightning has experienced an outstanding year of growth in 2025—both in our expanding customer base and in the pace of product development. The platform has evolved faster than ever, and you may be surprised by how many new capabilities are now available. The highlights below showcase some of the most impactful enhancements we introduced in 2025, along with a preview of what’s already slated for 2026. Some features you may already be using, while others may be brand new opportunities worth exploring.​
Electronic Shelf Labels
Elevate your business with beautiful digital shelf labels...Instant price changes are displayed on the shelf, extremely professional looking. Say goodbye to paper price tags and manual updates. Our fully integrated Electronic Shelf Label system seamlessly connects to your Point of Sale, ensuring accurate, real-time pricing while elevating your store’s professionalism and efficiency. Reducing errors and enhance the shopping experience.
Enhanced Pole Displays - Version 2.0
A customer favorite that elevates the checkout experience.
Our innovative Enhanced Pole Display uses an 8” tablet to showcase transaction details and stream vivid product ads when idle—no sound, just engaging visuals.
.png)
Enhanced Pax Features
To further strengthen payment reliability we’ve introduced several important enhancements to the Lightning–PAX credit card integration. These safeguards are designed to proactively detect device issues, protect in-progress authorizations, and ensure transactions settle cleanly.
-
Backup batching to ensure the credit card device settles properly, we have established automatic safeguards.
​
-
Automatic device verification each time a clerk enters Ring Sales. Previously, a communication error wasn’t discovered until a customer was ready to pay. Now, Lightning re-checks the device instantly, and if an issue arises, a clear on-screen alert appears before a customer is at the counter.
​
-
Significant safeguards for slow authorizations. Users were closing the browser mid-authorization due to a delay from the credit card network, creating transaction inconsistencies during a slow authorization. We now enforce protection logic to prevent this from occurring.
Lightning Email Alerts
We rolled out a refreshed design for Lightning’s automated email alerts. While the upgrade is mainly cosmetic, the cleaner layout and polished presentation significantly improve readability and provide a more modern communication experience.
New Pax Device
We’ve also introduced the new Pax A3700 credit card device. It features a bright, full-size LCD screen that delivers a crisp, modern customer experience. The sleek design and larger display make transactions clearer, faster, and more visually engaging — an excellent upgrade for any retail environment.
​
Coming up in 2026
Emergency Mode
Significant Update Underway:
Our Emergency Mode add-on is set to receive the most significant and game-changing upgrade in its history in early 2026. This release will redefine what offline resilience looks like for modern retailers. We’ll share full details as soon as the official launch date is finalized—stay tuned for something big.
Barcode Printing Redesign
Lightning has begun development to launch a brand-new barcode label printing interface. This upgrade has been designated as an ultra-high priority for 2026. The new interface is being completely re-engineered for speed, and design flexibility. This is a major leap forward. Exciting things are on the way — and our users are going to love this one.
Penny Rounding
As the U.S. Government moves away from producing pennies, Lightning Online POS will be introducing intelligent rounding for cash transactions only. All in-store pricing can remain exactly as it is today—priced to the penny with no required changes. Digital payments (credit, debit, mobile pay, etc.) will continue to calculate precisely to the cent. This enhancement will only affect the cash change returned to the customer, ensuring fast, accurate transactions while aligning with upcoming national currency guidelines.
Datalogic Joya Physical Inventory Tool:
We are in the final development cycle of a new physical inventory app built for Android-based Joya devices.
This will become an additional option—on top of our existing methods—to allow stores to complete physical inventories more efficiently. The app will be included in your subscription; only the device purchase is required.
Ring Sales:
One of the planned enhancements for 2026 is the option to make the Ring Sales screen fully touchscreen. This upgrade will provide a more intuitive workflow and a modern, streamlined checkout experience. With larger tap targets, simplified navigation, and a refreshed layout, the new touchscreen mode will bring a sleek, contemporary feel to the Lightning platform.
Open AI interface:
In the first quarter, we will begin developing a direct Lightning Online POS interface with OpenAI, empowering retailers to access robust, on-demand reporting powered by advanced AI. This integration will streamline insights, simplify complex analysis, and deliver smarter, faster decision-making tools across your entire operation.
Biometrics Pay with your Face and/or Palm
We’re also scheduled to begin development on the next evolution of credit card processing: biometric payments using either palm recognition or facial authentication. After months of reviewing these technologies, we’re impressed enough to move ahead with the implementation phase. You may already know that Whole Foods now supports palm payments through Amazon One. We’re excited to bring similar cutting-edge capabilities into the Lightning ecosystem.
