The impact of lighting in successful store concepts

Have you thought about how lighting can actually affect your experience in a store? How a cold, slightly bluish light can make you relate to modern and trendy, while a warm yellow light can give the feeling of cozy and luxurious. The choice of color temperature, i.e. cold or warm light, is thus closely linked to how your brand will appear. The right lighting in the store interior can highlight your brand's image and create sales opportunities.

Good balance, good atmosphere

When it comes to lighting, we usually talk about general lighting and accent lighting. The general lighting in your store interior, such as ceiling lights or fluorescent tubes, is the general lighting. Its purpose is to provide good and even light so that customers and staff can see and move around the store in a safe manner. The accent lighting, on the other hand, is the lighting that gives excitement and feeling. It can be spotlights that are directed at a special product or surface, and that create contrasts and shadows. In order to create a good atmosphere in the store, a good balance between general and accent lighting is required. You also need to know which areas you should illuminate in your store interior. Where do you want the customer to go, and where do you want the customer to stay?

5 ideas to highlight your store concept in a selling way:

1. Think entrance - first impression

Warm and welcoming light at the store's entrance creates a positive first impression and attracts customers further into the store. Consider lighting both inside and outside, accent lighting can, for example, make the facade more exciting.

2. Lift products or areas

Use lighting to highlight specific products or special areas. Examples of accent lighting are spotlights, light strips or LED lighting that is directed at the products to make them more eye-catching and thus attractive to the customer.

3. Create exciting zones

Consider different lighting for different areas of your store interior. Create zones that provide excitement and give the customer variety. You can, for example, use warm light in a seating area and cooler light in a product display.

4. Choose candles by product

To highlight the products in your store concept in the absolute best way, you need to think about choosing both the right brightness and color temperature. Technology gadgets and make-up, for example, are usually better exposed in a colder light, while bread and pastries are highlighted best in a warmer light.

5. Take control, dare to test

Invest in a lighting control system. With a control system, you get the opportunity to adjust the light and color temperature depending on the time of day or the season. You can also increase or decrease the lighting in a specific area and thus become more flexible in lighting. Here you can test yourself.

Light planning with CRI

If you have products in your store that are characterized by color, such as clothing or cosmetics, it is extra important that these are produced as correctly as possible in terms of color reproduction. You don't want to deceive the customer who comes home thinking he bought a light blue shirt that turned out to be gray instead, because the light had a reflective blue tone. To get a good color rendering, you therefore need to use light sources with a high color rendering index, so-called CRI (Color Rendering Index).

CRI is a value of how colors are reproduced in relation to daylight, and is measured on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 CRI is daylight. CRI indicates how accurate the light source's color is in relation to full daylight. The higher the CRI value, the closer on the scale the light source is to natural daylight. CRI is a useful and important factor to consider when choosing lighting for a store interior. When you use CRI in your lighting planning, you ensure that the products in your store interior are presented in the best way.

Guide the customer with light

As you have probably understood by now, light is an important part of store interior design. Not least to create atmosphere and highlight the brand, but also to lead the customer through the store. We've talked about accent lighting as an effective way to highlight specific products, but you can also use light on the floor and create "light paths" with built-in light. You can illuminate shelves with thin LED strips and illuminate entire walls with light boxes. If you want the customer to pause and look at specific products, stop points such as tables with seasonal products or promotional goods are highlighted. Imagine the customer's path through the store and adjust your lighting where necessary.

Reduce energy costs

Modern and energy-efficient lighting can both lower your costs, improve the customer experience and increase your sales. So see it as an investment to bet on lighting in your store interior, rather than an item that is a big expense. However, if you use outdated lighting installations with inefficient lamps, energy costs can be high.

Today's modern lighting systems with LED lamps are energy efficient and can significantly reduce energy costs. You also reduce your company's environmental impact by using energy-efficient lighting.

Summary

To summarize, good lighting is about a combination of general lighting and accent lighting. By using cold or warm light, you can reinforce your brand's image. It is important that the products are highlighted in the best way, and that you know which light promotes the product best - cold or warm light. In the case of clothes where color rendering is particularly important, you can use the color rendering index CRI. And consider investing in lighting as an investment. Modern and energy-efficient lighting can both lower your costs, improve the customer experience and increase your sales.

Norco Interior has the opportunity to help you develop your new store concept from scratch, and at the same time help you realize and develop your ideas for store interior design. For inspiration, take a look at the Maria Nilsdotter Flagship store and Gant NK Woman, where we added a little extra powder to the lighting.

With in house design and concept development, project management and own factories, our possibilities are endless to create a store concept that suits your brand exactly as you want it.

Read more about how we at Norco Interior can help you create your dream shop here