APPLICATION: Retail Lighting

It is impossible to overestimate the significance of lighting within retail. The right lighting has the potential to improve retail spaces of any shape or size. It also helps to drive sales and profits by displaying products in a way that entices customers to buy.

There are lots of important factors to look at when designing lighting solutions for retail: Who is the brand? What’s their style? What product or service are they selling? What visual merchandising strategies do they use? Who is their target audience, and how do they shop? What does the space look like and how will it be fitted out? What are the centre’s requirements? What is the budget? What is the lifetime of the project?

THE START

A shop’s entrance and windows are designed to draw the eye of potential customers, giving passers-by an initial impression of the brand and the product or service for sale. Nothing can quite catch someone’s attention like light, which is why having the right lighting design is so important.

Around the entrance to the shopfront, including externally if possible, lighting should be carefully positioned and powerful enough to maximise distributions to showcased displays, whilst minimising glare. Fittings should be flexible with the ability to modify beam angles and distributions depending on the visual merchandising strategy.

COLOUR TEMPERATURE

It is important to get the right colour temperature choice to complement the retailer’s brand, store, and product. Warm whites create an inviting environment and studies have shown they can increase dwell times. Bakeries often utilise 2700k will enhance the colours of bread, while also making the space feel homely. Cool whites on the other hand can make a space feel ‘brighter’ and more energetic. 4000k is best for silver and diamonds and increasing the number of light points can also help to make the jewellery sparkle.

COLOUR PROFILE (CRI)

Going further and matching the lighting’s CRI profile to the space and product offering can enhance the displays. The Colour Rendering Index (CRI) is a tool used to compare the appearance of colours when illuminated by a luminaire to natural sunlight. CRI is a metric that indicates how accurate light is to the human eye on a scale of 0 to 100 per cent. Simply put, lighting with a higher CRI displays colours more accurately.

FLOOR DISPLAYS

Luminaires above the shop’s main floor area should have tight beam control to avoid excessive light spilling into the circulation spaces while also ensuring that the products are properly illuminated. Spotlights will illuminate products and make an area look appealing, especially if the product displays are also attractively arranged. Versatility is also important to ensure that lights can be adjusted to suit different merchandising layouts, this is one of the reason track lighting has become so popular for retail fitouts.

WALLING AND SHELVES

A considered layout of luminaires used to illuminate wall displays will ensure even distribution on the product and reduce distracting shadows. The type of product on display and its position on the shelf are important factors to consider when deciding how to light it. LED profiles are a great way of minimising glare and maximising light distribution while providing concentrated but still diffused light.

FITTING ROOMS

The correct choice and positioning of luminaires will enhance warm skill tones and reduce shadows, making customers feel good about themselves and the products they are looking to purchase. The colour profile of the lights must match the product displays, to ensure that clothes appear in the same as when the customer picked them off the rack. Decorative wall luminaires or LED strips around mirrors can also be used to fill any harsh shadows from the overhead lighting.

POINT OF SALE

To allow employees to complete transactions efficiently and interact comfortably with customers, registers and point of sale areas should have adequate task lighting. Because POS stations frequently have computers and monitors, fixtures that avoid glare from screens should be chosen. This area is also important for last-minute impulse purchases, so making sure the registers are well lit can help boost sales.

BACK OF HOUSE

An area that often gets overlooked, but with some small considerations the back of house or storage areas can become nice, safe and relaxing environments for employees.

Retail lighting is most effective when products and the space is illuminated in such a way that the customer can evaluate the quality, colour, and utility of the products. In general, a variety of lighting sources will be used to highlight various standout products or best-sellers in the showroom area, which is why it is highly recommended to have a lighting consultant to specify the right lights for the space.