How does lighting affect sales in retail?

Whether you are lighting your store or your exhibition stands,
retail display lighting is an essential consideration.  There is science behind the impact of design
in retail.  There is a whole load of
proof that a well-designed store will achieve much higher sales than one with a
tired interior.  It makes sense too that
an interestingly lighted store will also encourage return visits and so bolster
your sales.

Ultimately, investment in the right lighting in your store
could pay for itself.  The boost in sales
could easily offer a complete return on your investment. This is not only about
energy efficiency, which in a time of high utility costs, is significant.  It is also about the customer
experience.  Let’s explore the impact
of lighting in more depth.

Lighting keeps the customer on track

With a combination of dimmed light and bright accent
lighting, you can guide your customer to the most critical retail units in your
store.  Not only is the level of
brightness significant in this, but also the hues you select.  You should try to choose both colours in the
cooler spectrum to act as a highlight to those lights that are bright and
warm.  The customer will naturally be
drawn to those warmer, cosier areas of the store – therefore, subliminally
guided to your feature pieces that will make you the most revenue.

Your lighting fixtures are also an important representation
of your brand.  If you hand industrial
light shades from the ceiling, you are creating the look of a loft.  This could be the perfect branding for a BoHo
wine store looking to be edgy and cool. 
Wall fixtures can, in contrast, make the same store feel quite intimate
and for a more sophisticated audience. 
The lighting can be an instantaneous way of communicating the brand.

Research leads to decision-making

Stores such as Sainsbury’s
and Marks and Spencer have made
wholesale changes to LED lighting. 
Neither store is happy to say that any increase in sales they have
enjoyed since this installation is a result of the lighting change.  They note that there are too many variables
to make this claim.  However, they have experienced
an uptick in sales since the move.

However, the experience revealed in research proved that
their lighting choices could have had an impact on the bottom line.  A 21-week research project in The Netherlands
noted that LED lighting scenarios did affect buying behaviour.  Although the research was funded by Philips
lighting, the research agency employed presented evidence of an increase in
profit that more than made up for the investment in a lighting change.  The headline conclusion from the study
reported that an almost 2% increase in sales could be attributed to the dynamic
lighting installation.

How can you use lighting?

Research suggests that there are six ways to use lighting to
improve sales.  You could:

• Use contrast: contrast is your friend because
  you can use the light to heighten levels of interest and attention to certain
  parts of your store.  This means you can
  play with the perception of the customer, who may see some areas of your store
  more desirable.
• Use colour temperature: lighting can be cool and
  warm – with blue-based lights being colder than yellow-based lighting.  Blue based lighting has a more natural feel
  and is more conducive to long periods of browsing.  However, warmer colours give the impression
  of intimacy and comfort.  Changing the
  colour temperature could have a significant impact on your customer's
  experience of the space.
• Distribute light effectively: the way you
  orientate your lighting can act to guide the customer around the story.  If you have ever wandered around IKEA, you will be aware of being guided
  through the maze of the showroom and then the warehouse by the skilful
  placement and direction of the lights.
• Make the window most dramatic: using accented
  light in the window can have a powerful effect on your curb appeal.  Using low-level illuminance in the daytime
  can save you money, while the odd spotlight in the evening can make your store
  seem welcoming.
• Dim your lighting: dynamic lighting on the lower
  shelves could have the effect of drawing the customer's attention to your
  bottom shelves and so linger longer.  The
  longer the customer is in the store, the higher the percentage chance for
  conversion to a sale.
• Bright backlighting: sometimes it is less about
  subtlety and more about drama.  Using a
  wide-area backlight of the shelves can produce an attractive lighting effect to
  draw the attention of the customer.

Extended reading resource:-
How to use retail lighting to impact your product sales