Does shop lighting affect customers’ mood? And what about their satisfaction, buying behaviour and sales? In today’s article we take a closer look at these interesting connections! You will find out what lighting can influence and what you can gain in your shop from a well-designed lighting system.
Lighting – an important factor that is often forgotten
Success in retail is the result of many interrelated factors. From product quality and pricing to marketing strategy, customer satisfaction and brand perception – even the smallest detail can have a significant impact on sales.
One overlooked yet essential factor is lighting. Its influence on customer behaviour is often underestimated. Lighting design often addresses only its primary function – making sure the shop is bright enough and products are clearly visible. In today’s highly competitive environment, however, that is not enough.
How lighting influences buying behaviour
The role of shop lighting has long gone beyond ensuring visual comfort and good visibility of products. Numerous recent studies show that shop lighting has a significant influence on consumer behaviour. Well-designed lighting helps customers feel comfortable in your shop, switch off, relax and be inspired by new ideas.
What can lighting do in a shop?
- create a positive first impression
- set the atmosphere
- influence customers’ mood
- improve product presentation
- support a pleasant shopping experience
- guide customers strategically
- influence customers’ buying decisions
As we can see, lighting is very powerful. Not only does it create a certain atmosphere and change customers’ mood, it can also influence buying behaviour – in other words, whether or not a customer buys your product.
Did you know…?
Lighting affects our mood, perception of space and buying decisions, often without us as customers even noticing. We feel a certain way in a shop, but we do not analyse why, or what this positive or negative feeling does for us. So what is the ideal lighting from a customer’s point of view? Yes, you guessed it – functional, pleasant and so natural that we do not even notice it.
Show your goods in the best light
Lighting is an effective tool for shops – it can create the desired atmosphere and shape the shopping experience. Well-lit shops attract customers and “draw them in” to their world – they tell stories visually, guide shoppers through the aisles and highlight important places. They can bring out the unique colour, texture or quality of materials and present products in the best light.
Interesting fact:
Research by the Seoul International Color Expo showed that as many as 92.6% of people place the most emphasis on visual factors when buying products. Only 5.6% said touch was the most important, and hearing and smell just 0.9%. Customers shop mainly “with their eyes”, so it pays retailers to invest in high-quality lighting.
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Shop lighting should give customers comfortable shopping without any distractions (light that is too intense or too weak, the wrong colour of light…). It is important that your customers feel at ease in your shop. They will come back for a good experience and pleasant emotions – a loyal customer is your greatest asset.
Lighting by type of shop
Warm-toned lighting suits shops where you want to create a cosy, homely atmosphere. It can encourage customers to feel “at home” in your shop, stay a while and explore.
It is ideal for:
- clothing boutiques
- florists
- decoration and souvenir shops
- natural cosmetics shops
- bookshops…
In contrast, more intense cool-toned lighting looks modern, professional and clean. This kind of lighting highlights the innovation, functionality, technical details and design of products.
It suits:
- electronics shops
- car showrooms
- jewellers
- luxury goods shops
For many shops, neutral white can be ideal – a kind of golden mean. A lighting system can also combine several types of luminaires or colour temperatures. A car showroom, for example, can be lit with neutral white while the cars on display get higher-intensity accent lighting in cool white.
Another popular option is adjustable colour temperature – tunable white. How can you use it in your shop? You can light your winter range with whiter light and your summer range with more yellowish light.
And what type of luminaires? That depends on the kind of shop, of course, but in general the most common are LED track systems, LED linear luminaires and LED panels.
Did you know…?
There are LED luminaires designed specifically for lighting bakery products and meat. Their light spectrum brings out the natural colour of these foods.
Remember, though, that every shop is unique and therefore deserves tailor-made lighting. What is more, different areas of a shop may need different kinds of lighting.
Warm white welcomes, cool white draws attention
As mentioned above, you can divide a shop into several imaginary sections, e.g. the entrance, aisles, promotional zones, mannequins, fitting rooms… Each zone can have a different type of lighting that suits it best.
Let us explain with an example. If you use warm, pleasant lighting at the shop entrance, you create a good first impression and “draw” customers inside. Bright accent lighting, on the other hand, can draw attention to a special zone – products on display, mannequins, a display case or the checkout.
Our tip:
If you run a clothing shop, do not forget good lighting in the fitting rooms. That is where customers often decide whether to buy.
What do you gain by replacing old lighting with new?
1. Optimal lighting of the space
Recently, the focus has shifted to a complete lighting design for the space, not just replacing old luminaires one for one. Many retailers now realise how much lighting affects their customers’ buying behaviour and overall well-being. As a result, demand for a professional design of the whole lighting system is much higher today than it was, say, ten years ago.
The lighting system needs the right type or types of luminaires, and the luminaires must have the optimal beam angle and position. The lighting must have the right intensity, colour and colour rendering.
Lighting control can also be useful, especially in areas where daylight comes in from outside. With lighting control you can achieve additional savings of up to 20%.
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2. Satisfied customers motivated to buy
When designing lighting, the main focus should be on a pleasant customer experience. Ideally, customers should not even notice the lighting in the shop. It should not distract or dazzle, and it should highlight the goods on display.
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Modern LED technology can bring everything your shop needs – unobtrusive lighting that creates a pleasant atmosphere, supports the shopping experience and encourages purchases.
3. Cost savings
As well as boosting sales, energy-efficient LED lighting can also reduce your operating costs. Energy and maintenance costs are much lower than with conventional lighting.
EXAMPLE:
How much can a retailer save in a shop of about 400 m2 by replacing the entire lighting system?
Old lighting systems often do not meet the requirements for light levels. In some cases we therefore offer the customer a compromise between savings and higher light levels. As a rule, however, the saving is around 60%. With lighting control (e.g. dimming according to available daylight), further significant savings are possible. The total saving can reach as much as 80%.
Get in touch with us!
We have experience designing lighting for all kinds of spaces; you, as retailers, know your target group and your goods. Together we can come up with a solution that improves the presentation of your premises, supports sales and lowers your costs. The design of your lighting system is the result of our cooperation.
Based on our experience and lighting calculations in simulation software, we can design the optimal lighting tailored to your shop and your customers. We offer a complete solution – not just lighting design, but also installation and removal, servicing and advice.
Sources:
- https://www.academia.edu/19814886/CONSIDERATIONS_REGARDING_USE_AND_ROLE_OF_COLOUR_IN_MARKETING
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014829639900082X
- Cuttle, C. and Brandston, H. (1995) ‘Evaluation of Retail Lighting’, Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society, 24(2), pp. 33–49. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00994480.1995.10748117
- Quartier, K., Christiaans, H., and Van Cleempoel, K. (2008) Retail design: lighting as an atmospheric tool, creating experiences which influence consumers’ mood and behaviour in commercial spaces, in Durling, D., Rust, C., Chen, L., Ashton, P. and Friedman, K. (eds.), Undisciplined! – DRS International Conference 2008, 16-19 July, Sheffield, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/ drs2008/researchpapers/48
