A lighting scheme increased sales by 12%

Lighting manufacturer Zumtobel believes lighting increases sales significantly

Zumtobel says a clothing store in Germany saw sales grow by about 12% compared with another local store after installing a new lighting scheme designed specifically around its target customers.

The German fashion chain Gerry Weber changed the lighting in one of its stores, based on research showing that certain personality types feel more comfortable and tend to stay in a shop longer under certain types of lighting.

According to a Zumtobel product manager, after three months with the new scheme the store confirmed a 12% increase in sales compared with a control store of the same brand with similar characteristics. The scheme was developed by Zumtobel with Gruppe Nymphenburg Consult, experts in so-called neuromarketing (they study the brain and emotions to understand why people buy things). Besides comparing sales with the neighbouring store, the study observed visitors' emotional reactions. Shoppers wore sensors that monitored heart activity and brain waves as they walked around the store before and after the lighting upgrade. Stress levels fell significantly, and customers stayed longer in some zones of the store than before.

The redesign was based on earlier research that divides shoppers into personality types

The subjects were exposed to a range of lighting settings to measure how they react to combinations of light colour, emission, directed and diffused light, brightness and colour contrast.

Overall, the study showed that people of a calm personality type prefer warm, even light at 800 lx with moderate beam angles on the products. Adventurous types prefer a contrasting environment with spots of light and accent lighting at 500 lx. People guided by discipline and function turn away from "unbalanced" lighting and respond positively to even vertical lighting on the shelves, subdued accent lighting in niches and showcases, and wide beam angles at the point of sale.

The Gerry Weber brand targets women aged 45 to 60, who mostly fall into the calm, family-oriented category of consumers. To make the lighting more suitable for this group, Zumtobel added accents in some parts of the test store and raised the illuminance from 450 to 600 lx. The colour temperature and colour quality stayed the same.

The results open up opportunities for retail stores

If people feel good in a shop, they are more likely to stay longer and, most likely, buy something.

But not everyone agrees with this cause and effect. Simon Waldron, electrical systems manager at Sainsbury's, who is writing a doctoral thesis on the effect of high colour rendering on sales, believes the study lacks academic rigour. Many variables can contribute to sales growth, for example a new café opening next to the store that encouraged people to come in.

Lighting consultant Dave Tilley, who designed the lighting scheme for The Body Shop, shares this view. He is sure that lighting should support sales and be part of the visual merchandising, but it does not have a decisive effect on sales.