Here’s a scenario that probably sounds familiar. A customer walks up to the counter and asks for a part. Your counter person searches, doesn’t find it, and tells the customer you don’t have it. The customer leaves. Twenty minutes later, someone pulls that exact part off the shelf because they happened to know that exact part is offered through more than one distributor under separate part numbers.
That’s not bad luck. That’s a systems problem, and it’s costing you money every single day.
Why This Keeps Happening
The core issue is straightforward: the same physical part exists in your DMS under multiple supplier part numbers. A brake pad carried by three distributors shows up as three separate inventory SKUs. The only person who knows they’re the same part is whoever has been behind the counter long enough to know.
So what happens? Lookups take longer than they should. Ordering decisions vary depending on who’s working that day. Customers get turned away for parts that are actually on your shelf. Maybe your best parts employee adds the similar part manually. And when your experienced parts person eventually moves on, that knowledge walks out the door with them.
Most dealerships try to solve this with spreadsheets, manual entry, or just hoping the right person is working. None of those are real solutions, and you know it.
What Actually Fixes It
Smart Cross Reference from Lightspeed tackles the problem from the source. Built specifically for powersports dealerships, it uses your existing price book data to automatically generate two types of matches, no manual setup required.
MPN matches link part numbers from different distributors that are the same physical part, just carried under different supplier catalogs. X-Ref matches surface compatible alternatives, like aftermarket equivalents to OEM parts, so when the OEM option isn’t available or is overpriced, your team sees what else fits without leaving the screen.
Both show up through the existing Similar/MPN button on the parts screens your team already uses. No new tool to train on. No change to how they work. Just better information, right where they need it.
What Changes at Your Dealership
The impact shows up in a few concrete ways.
Your team stops turning customers away for parts that are actually in stock under a different number. From any match, staff can jump to the Parts Locator to check quantities at your store, nearby dealers, or warehouse locations. That’s a filled order instead of a lost sale.
Ordering decisions become consistent. Side-by-side price and availability comparison means your counter staff and ordering team are factoring in cost, loyalty program benefits, and shipping before placing an order, not just going with whatever number they already know.
And when staff turn over, your parts intelligence stays. Cross-reference data lives in the DMS, not in your employees’ heads. A new hire is effective from day one instead of spending months learning which part numbers belong together.
The Bottom Line
If your parts operation depends on who happens to be working that day, you have a vulnerability. Smart Cross Reference moves that knowledge into the system so it’s available to everyone, every time, without adding steps or requiring your team to change how they work.
Smart Cross Reference is currently available for powersports dealerships on Lightspeed DMS, with plans to expand into additional industries. If you’re in powersports, there’s no reason to wait.
Quinton Rico
Quinton Rico is a Product Marketing Manager at Lightspeed, where he bridges the gap between product development and dealer success. Known for his sharp storytelling and customer-first approach, Quinton crafts marketing strategies that showcase how Lightspeed’s innovations solve real-world dealership challenges. Since joining the team over two years ago as a Support Trainer, Quinton has brought both technical know-how and heart to his work—digitizing Lightspeed’s onboarding programs, mentoring new team members, and now shaping product messaging that drives adoption and growth. His background in professional education and passion for helping others keep him focused on what matters most: empowering dealers to do more with less friction. Before joining the tech world, Quinton put himself through college as a barber and helped launch several shops from the ground up—a nod to his entrepreneurial mindset and hands-on work ethic.
