Good lighting is crucial in retail spaces to attract customers and create a comfortable environment. It’s also a great way to improve customer perception of items and increase sales. Overall, your lighting design significantly impacts how people view your store. 

With these reasons in mind, you must optimise your luminaries. Here’s how to optimise lighting design for retail spaces.           

Why Is Lighting Design Important For Retail Spaces?

How you light your store is one of the most crucial factors affecting its presentation. Apart from creating ambience, highlighting products and promoting your brand, retail lighting design also affects:

• Purchasing behaviour
• Customer mood
• Customer experience
• Employee productivity and morale

For any business, it's important to gently guide and influence your customers, and a lighting design is one of the best ways to achieve this. You can easily allow people to move through the space and attract them to specific products that can lead to a future purchase. 

How To Choose The Right Light Fixture?

There is a wide range of lighting options available; from pendant lamps and panels to recessed fixtures and accent lighting, the choices are endless. 

To make this process easier, there are two important questions you need to consider. 

How Does The Fixture Add To Your Brand Image?

Lighting is another factor that expresses your retail lot’s identity, so you need to get luminaries that match your branding. For example, bare light bulbs are great for stores with a vintage or minimalist aesthetic. 

On the other hand, chandeliers and elegant fixtures are perfect for high-end and luxury stores. String lights are also ideal for stores with a cosy atmosphere.  

With these examples, you can see that lighting contributes to your store’s atmosphere. Consider the store’s theme and the environment you want to create to choose the right luminaire. 

How Does The Light Highlight Your Product?

In addition to ambient and decorative lighting, you need functional luminaries highlighting product displays and offerings. Depending on the type of product you’re selling, such as jewellery, you might need focused lights highlighting all details. 

Answering these questions will help you select the right fixtures for your lighting design. You should also vary the light fixtures you use throughout your store and layer them to create a properly illuminated space. 

Should You Add Downlighting and Uplighting In Retail Spaces?

When you install retail luminaries, you will find two different methods of illuminating such spaces: downlighting and uplighting. Here is how these methods function and how you can implement them in your retail space. 

Downlighting

Downlighting refers to any luminaries installed at a high point on or around your retail building. As the name suggests, the light beam from these lamps shines downwards to create illumination. 

Downlighting is a great way to highlight different layers and textures in your property, which can be used indoors and outdoors. However, this lighting method is less functional than uplighting and is mostly used for appearance and aesthetics. 

This lighting method can create a warm and inviting feel to your property. Downlighting can also provide lighting for security purposes on the exterior of your retail building.

You can also use the downlighting method to highlight any design features around your building, such as landscaping, water fountains, etc. If you want to make the most out of your retail lighting, use this method for outdoor lighting. 

Uplighting

Uplighting includes any luminaries installed at the ground level of your retail property. In this lighting method, the lamps create a light beam upwards. 

Uplighting is commonly used to emphasise specific parts of your building, such as large architectural features, plants, and even landscaping outside the building. 

If your retail property has a high ceiling, this lighting will create an attractive outlook for your interior design. Use this lighting method to create dramatic shadows and add depth to the plain sections of your retail properties. 

How To Choose Between Downlighting And Uplighting?

Most lighting designs are built upon illumination preference and requirement; therefore, it is essential to consider these factors when choosing between downlighting and uplighting.

If you are unsure which method to choose, remember that uplighting creates contrasts and emphasises the architectural details of your building. On the other hand, downlighting is an excellent way to illuminate several features around your building and create a welcoming atmosphere. 

Understanding the differences between these two forms of lighting will help you make the right choice. 

Tips For Creating A Great Lighting Design For Your Retail Space

A great lighting design takes planning, creativity and organisation. Here are some important tips to help you get started. 

Choose The Right Colour Temperature And Brightness

You first need to figure out the ideal brightness and colour temperature for your store. Brightness is the amount of light a fixture produces, measured in lumens. The higher the lumen value, the brighter your light will be. 

Colour temperature refers to how light appears to the human eye when a bulb is illuminated. The temperature is measured in Kelvin, meaning you must look for a value denoted with K to see the lighting shade. 

Lamps with a colour temperature of 2700K have a warm yellowish-white hue. Colour temperatures between 3000K and 3500K tend to have a cool white shade. 

Standard brightness levels range between 700 to 4,000 lumens, while the ideal colour temperature for most stores is 2,700K to 6,500K. You need a higher brightness level and a warmer colour temperature to create a cosy atmosphere. The opposite is ideal for stores that want detailed and precise lighting. 

Make Sure There’s Even Illumination

Even illumination is crucial for creating an inviting and comfortable space. Avoid dark spots or overtly bright spaces, as this can bring down the ambience of your retail lot. Even illumination makes customers feel more comfortable and increases their likelihood of making a purchase. 

Add Exit And Emergency Lights

Many people frequent retail spaces, so investing in high-quality exit and emergency lighting is important. Exit signs and emergency lighting are an easy way to make your retail space safer for individuals. 

LED exit signs are necessary to provide pathways during emergencies, ensuring the safety of your employees, customers, and other individuals. In some situations, retail properties are legally obligated to provide emergency lighting. 

Therefore, it is important to invest in high-quality luminaries. There are multiple types of exit and emergency lighting. Here are some of the most common luminaries that work well in retail properties. 

• Edge-lit Emergency Lights and Signage: These lights have a slim profile and are lit by the edge of the sign’s frame. You should install these luminaries in smaller locations as they provide a streamlined look. Despite the smaller sizes, these lights are still effective in the event of an emergency. 
• Emergency Light Combination: This is one of the most important luminaries for retail properties. If your building experiences a power cut, these luminaries automatically turn on with the help of battery backup. This lamp provides sufficient lighting to help individuals exit the premises. These luminaries are called combinations as they come with two components: the lights and an exit sign. Due to this quality, you can use these luminaries for multiple functions. 
• Single Or Double Face Lights: Most emergency lighting comes with a single-face or double-face. A single-faced exit sign works well for areas directly before a door. Alternatively, double-faced signs are ideal for directing people toward an exit. 

Think About Energy Efficient Technologies

Light technology constantly evolves, with the newer models becoming more energy efficient. 

Many building owners prefer installing LED lighting to reduce energy costs without compromising functionality. These luminaries also have a longer lifespan, so you don’t need to replace them constantly. Consider these luminaries in your lighting plan to create a design-forward, highly functional space. 

How To Layer Lighting In Retail Spaces?

Installing high-quality retail lighting solutions is essential to achieve proper illumination in a retail space. However, this is only the first step. You need a proper lighting design to use these lights in the best way possible. 

An important facet of lighting design is layering. This will help you create the most functional and efficient plan. Here’s how to layer your lights.  

General Or Ambient Lighting

Every lighting design plan should include general/ambient lighting as it provides overall illumination to a room. This type of lighting is vital for setting the tone for a space, and it also provides enough illumination for people to see and move around comfortably and safely. 

When installing ambient lighting, you must use lamps that provide uniform illumination levels over an entire space. These lamps also provide illumination completely independent from other lighting fixtures. 

Most ambient lighting often comes from overhead fixtures such as track lights, recessed pot lighting, chandeliers, and other ceiling-based lamps. However, you can also find ambient lighting in stand-alone luminaries such as table and floor lamps. 

Placement is crucial for general lighting as it ensures proper illumination levels. Before installing such retail lighting solutions, you must pick out key areas you would like to highlight. 

Once you have selected these areas, you must evenly disperse and balance the lamps to avoid insufficient lighting zones. Without proper placement, you can create shadow zones or create more illumination that provides glare. You can add lighting here through accent or task luminaries if there are smaller dark areas. 

Accent Lighting

Accent lighting is generally used to create a focal point in a room. These lights build upon ambient lighting in a room by adding dimension and can draw attention to a feature or object, such as an art piece, decor, or plant. 

However, overusing these luminaries can create a cluttered look in any room. Therefore, you must carefully plan how to implement accent lighting. 

Accent lighting is a great way to add design and aesthetic elements to a standard retail space. These lights help create a welcoming atmosphere for your employees, leading to higher productivity and creativity.  

Accent lighting typically comes in the form of recessed lighting or wall-mounted fixtures. You can also add picture lights and sconces to create a spotlight effect. As with other light fixtures, you must carefully consider how you will implement these luminaries. 

Good accent lighting is achieved by locating directional bulbs or fixtures. You must place these fixtures close to the object you wish to illuminate. 

However, avoid placing the lamps directly on the object, which will produce a glare. Try different angles to ensure optimal illumination until you achieve the perfect illumination level. 

Task Lighting

Task lighting is crucial for work-related retail spaces in retail stores. This form of lighting is specially designed to help with tasks and work-related activities. Task luminaires are localised and can be found in various sources. 

These luminaries are adjustable and controllable so that individuals can set the lighting according to their needs. 

Before you select a task lighting for retail spaces, there are several factors you must consider. You must consider the light output and the activity the lighting is used for. If your retail space operates as an office centre, it is important to consider task lighting for your employees. 

Some employees require much brighter lighting for work while others don’t; therefore, it is important to implement task lighting so employees can adjust lighting according to their work preferences. Task lighting comes in various fixtures, such as recessed or track lighting. 

Layering Your Lights

Creating a layered light is the best way to use multiple light fixtures. Make sure to use various lighting styles and fixtures to achieve this result. Each section of retail space has various requirements; therefore, you must plan out your lighting design to effectively carry out layering. 

Every room should have accent lighting alongside tasks and general luminaries. You can also use downlighting and uplighting to create a layered effect. Once you have a well-thought-out plan, you can start implementing light layering. 

To start this process, first focus on ambient/general lighting, which provides good lighting throughout a retail space. This light fixture is used most frequently in retail properties; therefore, you must plan its design carefully. 

When planning general lighting, ensure it is not too bright, which might create harsh shadows. Extremely bright lighting can lead to squinting and headaches. 

While it is important to include general first in your light design, some light experts also recommend using these luminaries at the end to fill in any areas. After general lighting, you consider task lighting. 

Task lighting is essential for work-related retail spaces, as it can greatly increase employee productivity. You must implement these lights if your retail property operates as an office. 

Another great way to ensure proper task lighting is by adding extra controls. This will allow employees to control the light source according to their illumination needs. This method will also create scheduled lighting and help you save money in the long run. 

Some retail spaces can feel sterile and evoke boredom in people. Instead of filling up space with unnecessary objects, you can use lighting to improve your interior design. One of the best ways to improve your space’s atmosphere is by including accent lighting. 

Accent lighting can be used as track lighting, wall sconces, and picture lamps to highlight architectural details, plants, artwork, etc. You can also use accent lighting to emphasise any branding visuals in your retail property to increase foot traffic and the visual appeal of your space.