Helping you set up retail lighting

Steps that help set up retail lighting

Lighting in retail is an important component that makes customers feel as comfortable as possible and encourages them to buy. Leslie Stern (Leslie M. Stern Design LTD), a retail design and lighting specialist, believes that the right lighting sets the mood, guides shoppers to the counters, creates the overall atmosphere and says a lot about the level of your service.

To achieve ideal lighting, you need to understand the principles and methods of shop lighting.

Main recommendations

L. Stern suggests starting with four different types of lighting used in modern shops:

• Spot lighting puts the emphasis on the decor and stands of your shop. You signal to customers that these goods, offers and new arrivals matter. Spot lighting is also relevant for showcases and shop windows, especially in the evening.
• Task lighting is for areas where good light is a real necessity: checkout and service counters, fitting rooms, staff rooms and the warehouse.
• Decorative lighting makes your space more interesting and beautiful. Use attractive pendants, beautiful chandeliers and even track spotlights. LED lighting is the best option here, because such fixtures do not need frequent replacement and do their job well. With a little imagination you can make the luminaires part of your own concept and shop design. Then the lighting will be associated with you and set you apart from competitors.
• General lighting is the main light source that fills the gaps between the lighting of showcases, counters and shelving. Its job is to help customers feel comfortable and look over the range of the whole shop. By combining surface-mounted, pendant, recessed and track luminaires you achieve a balance of illuminance and contrast, of bright and darker zones, and a harmonious presentation of the goods.

How not to spoil it with lighting

When planning shop lighting, make sure you do not burn your customers and your goods almost literally. The heat given off by a fixture should not be excessive: goods heated by the direct beam of a luminaire can fade. The hottest are halogen and metal halide fixtures, the coolest are LED luminaires.

When buying LED luminaires, it is better to buy a batch of one series from one manufacturer straight away. Manufacturers allow a variation in the colour temperature of chips within one series of 50 to 150 K, but within one batch of chips the light colour will be the same. A demanding customer may notice the difference.

A couple more useful tips for optimising the lighting in your shop:

• Use mirrors: they are not only handy for trying on clothes and accessories but also reflect light and make the space feel larger.
• Install dimmable luminaires: they keep the light level under control. During the day, with natural light, you can use less light and adjust after sunset.

When budgeting for lighting, do not look only at the initial cost of the equipment. Yes, you can save and buy inexpensive fixtures. But over time running costs, repairs and fewer visitors cancel out the savings and can push the business into losses.

Our specialists will help develop the concept, calculate illuminance and choose the equipment. If the budget is limited, it is better to save on something else, but definitely not on lighting. It is one of the things that make customers notice you and want to come back.