Importance Of Lighting In Retail Stores And Hospitality

What's the importance of lighting in retail stores and hospitality venues?

Lighting is a key part of your visual merchandising and décor, as the way you highlight specific products or areas of your store or venue can greatly influence your customers’ purchase decisions. The way you use lighting can enhance your customers' journey through your store and help your brand tell a story about the available products.

Whether you run a retail store, pub, bar, restaurant or hotel, you need to consider how the lighting you use is influencing your customers’ mood and way they interact with your business. To get started, you should be aware of the different types of lighting and where they are used. Some types of lighting can make your store seem more spacious, while other types of lighting work to create a warm, cosy atmosphere.

Types of lighting in visual merchandising

There are four types of lighting that you can use to highlight areas in your retail store or hospitality venue [1]:

1. Ambient lighting

This refers to the store’s main lighting source - usually overhead bulbs or bars. The lights you use for this totally depends on the size of your store. If you have high ceilings and floor space set over a large area, then you’ll need lots of powerful lights to achieve the same effect as a small store with dimmer, less powerful lights. If a store is too dark, it will be difficult for customers to read labels, while bright lighting is uncomfortable.

2. Task lighting

These are lights that are focused on areas that need more attention on them. Areas such as the tills and the changing rooms require more light so that customers can accurately see how the clothes fit them and so that staff can clearly see the money and cards that they are handling.

3. Accent lighting

Highlight specific products to draw customer’s attention to using accent lighting. Shining a light on key products lets customers know that they are important, and is also great for focusing attention on seasonal, new and discounted products. It’s ideal for use in window displays for catching the eyes of passersby and inviting them inside to browse.

4. Decorative lighting

Finally, decorative lighting is everything else you can think of: from fairy lights to candles! It is perfect for using to evoke emotions or nostalgic memories, which is why this style of lighting is popular around key dates such as Christmas. Restaurants and bars often use this type of lighting, by using candles and lamps at tables, to create a cosy atmosphere.

Consider the type of venue you are lighting

The type of venue you are running will impact the decisions you make about lighting. For example, a bar or restaurant is unlikely to use a lot of bright, ambient lighting, as the ambience of these establishments revolves around the night time trade.

Therefore, bright lighting is unexpected as customers prefer the dimly-lit atmosphere at this time of day. Studies have actually shown that when a restaurant has cosy low-lighting, customers are likely to stay longer and spend more [2]. Conversely, restaurants with bright lighting, such as fast-food joints, are designed to encourage customers to eat quickly and move on, so that they can maintain a high turnover.

Lighting has a big impact on customers’ purchase decisions, as it has been shown that bright lighting in retail increases impulse purchases [3]. It is always better to opt for a brighter lighting scheme in retail, as it enhances the appearance of your products. Customers will appreciate being able to see your products clearly, alongside the prices and specifications which help them make a decision about whether to buy or not.

You need to ensure that you do not go too far with the brightness, as insufficient lighting hinders visibility, while customers will react negatively if the lighting is too bright.

The impact on lighting on customers is instant as they enter the premises, so you need to ensure that your lighting is suitable from the moment they enter to the moment they leave.

Visual merchandising and lighting tools

What do you need to create the perfect atmosphere with lighting within your venue? Here at UK POS, we've got a variety of lighting tools and visual merchandising accessories that can help you boost sales and improve the interior design of your business.

Hospitality venues and retailers alike would benefit from using backlit poster frames to display their offers, promotional imagery and other important information.

LED backlit posters mean that your messages are very visible, eye-catching to passersby, and gives your business a professional look.

They are commonly seen in use at cinemas to advertise movie posters, but are perfect for use in retail window displays and within pubs, bars and restaurants. They work especially well in rooms with dim lighting or in the evenings, as it helps your messages to stand out more.

We also stock an LED Pavement Sign here at UK POS, which is ideal for attracting revellers on a night out, as well as being able to be seen from cars passing by.

High-end bars and restaurants would benefit from using LED menu covers, which give a sense of luxury to your food and drink menus. These illuminated restaurant menus feature a bright white LED backlight that provides a soft glow, making it easier for guests to read in darker environments.

For retailers wishing to highlight key items, or the most expensive and luxurious products on their shelves, then you won’t go wrong by using under shelf lighting. Place underneath your shelves to illuminate the products sitting below and create an eye-catching visual merchandising display.

They're designed with adhesive to make them easy to install, and made in a variety of sizes, so you can find the perfect kit for your shelving.

LED displays

An LED display uses LED lights (light emitting diodes) to provide backlighting and illuminated key lighting to showcase specific posters and/or products in-store. White LEDs are popular, giving your displays a bright and attractive glow.

Illuminated displays can be used almost anywhere around your business. If you are looking to catch the attention of passing trade around the clock, an LED open sign or illuminated window display is a great addition. Your windows will stand out on a busy high street for all potential customers to see.

If you have a fantastic in store promotion, offer or a new range, an LED display stand or LED poster frame will add a subtle glow to make your message stand out. Under shelf lighting is also a brilliant addition to retail environments.

Studies have shown that bright lighting can make products more attractive and increase impulse purchases, so consider using under shelf and under cabinet lighting.

LEDs are essentially a tool to make your POS displays stand out, so use them anywhere you feel you could benefit from a little extra push. Windows, walls, countertops and pavements are key areas where LED displays would make a difference. We stock a wide variety of LED products to cover all aspects of your business. Our range includes LED poster frames, snap frames, poster boxes, pavement signs, window displays, showcard holders, menu display stands, light columns and under shelf lighting.

What are backlit displays?

A backlit display is where the illumination comes from behind the display. For example, our LED poster boxes are filled with lights behind your graphic, this way rather than just framing your poster, your whole display will light up.

When using a backlit display, it is best to use a Duratrans printed poster.

Duratrans is special form of paper that allows just the right amount of light to pass through to create your backlit POS display. The finish leaves a professional photographic poster. We also have high quality premium backlit paper for the same purpose.

All of our illuminated displays use energy efficient LEDs which can save up to 60% on your energy costs compared to other LED lights.

LED shelf lighting is a great way to draw customers' attention to key items on your shelf, while also adding a premium, stylish look to your retail displays.

We stock adhesive under shelf lighting kits, which are suitable for use on most types of shelving and can be fixed to the underside or base of your shelving units to provide a discreet and attractive soft glow around your promotional items.

We also have an Illuminated Ticket Strip which shines a backlight through your promotional data strips messages and also projects a soft light on products below.

These LED shelf lights are available to buy in kits which include a power adaptor, power track and a choice of one, two, three or four LED strips, but all the components are also available to buy separately if you need to add to your displays, or would prefer to build your own.

If you’ve found this article interesting, why not also take a look at our guide to product placement in retail?

References

1. Sarah Caine, ‘How does lighting affect retail display?’, Unibox, May 2017, https://www.unibox.co.uk/news-inspiration/how-does-lighting-affect-retail-display [accessed June 2021].

2. Single Platform, How Significantly Does Restaurant Lighting Affect the Meal?, https://www.singleplatform.com/blog/restaurant-customer-experience/dining-experience/how-significantly-does-restaurant-lighting-affect-the-meal/ [accessed June 2021].

3. Ebster and Garaus, Store Design and Visual Merchandising: Creating Store Space That Encourages Buying, (New York: Business Expert Press, 2015), p125-128.