Retail lighting is sometimes the last aspect which many shop owners think about. But this could be a mistake. Lighting not only affects the ambiance of the store but it can affect the bottom-line. Here are four questions to remember when choosing lighting for your store.
1. What type of lighting do I need?
When you think about your store layout, consider how your products will be displayed and where transactions will take place. There are four types of lighting to consider:
- Ambient (general) lighting
This is the lighting which will be used to light up the whole store. The lighting’s main purpose is to make your clients feel comfortable in your store and to make it easy for them to navigate through your store. This lighting can be a statement fixture or fixtures which are recessed into the roof of your store. - Accent lighting
Accent lighting is used to highlight products within your store, certain areas of your store and the decor. This lighting draws your customer’s eyes to what you want them to look at. It can be in contrast to the lighting you use for your general store. It can be backlighting on shelves and strip lighting in display boxes. - Task lighting
This lighting is focused on areas where people need to complete a certain task. This can be service desks, checkout points, dressing rooms and storage or back offices. It is normally quite bright. - Decorative lighting
This lighting is used to help promote the personality of the brand. It could be chandeliers, or fluorescent tubing that outlines your logo. This lighting should be memorable. It can be used to fulfil any of the lighting needs above.
2. What type of bulbs should I use?
When choosing the right bulbs for your shop you should consider the following points:
- Colour of the bulbs:
Some bulbs will give a cool white light and other bulbs offer a warm white light. Cool white light has a crisp modern tone and warm white light makes a place feel more familiar and inviting. Cool white has a bluish tone to it and warm white has a yellowish tone to it. These tones can effect what your product will look like under the light. - Heat of the bulb:
Bulbs emit heat and if they are shining on your products consistently they could lead to discolouration and damage to your products. Therefore you need to make sure the bulbs you use near your products are not hot. - Brightness of the bulb:
Many people think about watts when considering the brightness of a bulb, but lumens is the actual value you should be concerned with. Lumens is the value which tells you how bright a bulb is. You can learn more about lumens here.
Image from Lumens
3. Are you up to code?
There are many regulations on how lighting should be installed in your store and how energy efficient your store should be. It is important to consult an electrical engineer to ensure that your store passes all the regulations regarding lighting in your store.
4. How easy is it to maintain the lighting?
There are many regulations on how lighting should be installed in your store and how energy efficient your store should be. It is important to consult an electrical engineer to ensure that your store passes all the regulations regarding lighting in your store.
Now that you know which fixtures you would like to place into your store and the lightbulbs you need, it is important to consider the maintenance costs of the lighting.
Some questions to consider are:
- How often will you need to replace the light bulbs?
- Is it easy to replace the bulb or will you need to get an expert in to do the replacement?
- How can you control the lighting in your store? Can you do it through a remote control?
By answering these four questions, you will know more about how to use lighting to improve your customer’s experience of your store.
