Visual merchandising is one of the primary points of contact between product and customer; and increasingly gaining currency within retail business. Accordingly, lighting is being valued as a versatile tool in this segment. Dr. Amardeep M Dugar describes lighting design concept for retail environment.
The growth of the retail sector in a country is one of the indicators of its economic prosperity. Studies on the booming retail sector in India report that its organised retail market is expected to reach the US$ 50 billion mark by 2011. Its rural market alone is projected to dominate the retail industry landscape by 2012 with total market share of above 50 per cent. The top cities as well as tier II and III cities are witnessing a dominant retail activity. The prominent growth segments listed in these studies are shopping malls, discount stores and single-brand stores. Visual merchandising being the primary point of contact between product and customer is increasingly gaining currency within these segments. Consequently, lighting is also being valued as a versatile tool in this ‘art-for-commerce.’ This article essentially reviews retail lighting trends laid out by three different authors/designers (Hot, 2005; Kontorigas, 2005; Nusser, 2005) to summarise their relevance in today’s retail growth segments namely: shopping malls, discount stores and single-brand stores.
Retail growth segments – an overview
Shopping malls are usually themed retail segments for entertainment, excitement and fascination so as to appeal to a wider customer base. Discount stores such as warehouse clubs and supermarket chains are basic retail segments, which usually target the masses as they rely on high traffic volume for sales. Single brand stores such as fashion and jewellery stores are high-end retail segments, which usually target a niche group of customers and do not rely on high traffic volume for sales. Apart from attracting customers, lighting within these retail segments should facilitate evaluation of merchandise, completion of sale and way finding. Lighting and branding can have a very strong link resulting in distinctive retail environments: lighting that reflects the desired corporate brand image is critical at entrances of all these retail segments, as this is the first impression customers have when approaching; luminous colours are often applied in branding, making a mall or a store recognisable and unique.
Shopping malls
Generally tend to ‘visually announce’ their presence within an urban setting, and therefore require a themed external and internal lighting concept to provide a mall identity. The success of this common themed lighting concept is determined by its ability to link all the areas, without being too overpowering to distract from the internal stores and specific features. Lighting should assist in way finding by making a sense of destination, and aid orientations by enabling customers find their desired merchandise. Daylight can be used to create ‘an internal street’ in shopping malls that enables easier way finding. With customers spending a lot of time inside malls especially during weekends, daylight can also provide a sense of orientation by keeping in contact with the outside. However planned and context specific contrasts should be applied for those areas without access to daylight or located adjacent to day-lit areas for visual clarity. Creating the right ambience for dining is key, as food courts have become an essential part of malls to attract customers and extend their shopping experience by keeping them inside for longer periods of time.
Discount stores
Generally tend to promote bulk sales of different products rather than focus on one single product. Therefore the objective is to provide high illumination levels using simple ambient lighting systems for way finding, examining the required products, and completing the sale. However, care has to be taken while choosing the right kind of lighting technology for fresh and frozen food display areas such as cold storages that require appropriate IP-rating.
Single-brand stores
Usually tend to initiate people to linger by providing low perimeter light with highlights on the merchandise. Therefore the objective is to provide lighting that is product specific with more localised and less generalised or ambient lighting. Bright light is also provided on the product for contrast, with softer or darker surroundings for visual relief. With prescribed contrast ratios ranging between 1:3 and 1:5, the appropriate light level ranges for bright and soft lighting should be 500-1500 lux and 150-300 lux respectively. During the day, window displays should have higher illumination than reflected outside images to prevent glare.
Retail lighting tips
Use of multiple gimbal fixtures
As a tried and tested luminaire, it can provide a number of specific highlights without the clutter of individual spotlights. Whether it is fitted with single, double, triple quad or a long row of lamps, it is just one clean-lined luminaire that is contemporary and chic. The suspended and pantograph versions of these fixtures add to the inherent flexibility of the product.
Use of lockable fixtures
As the average maintenance staffs are ill equipped at aiming specialty fixtures, the ability to replace lamps without changing the angle or rotation of the fixture has become exceedingly important. Lockable fixtures that do not shift beam angle even during extreme maintenance work will definitely be invaluable to the overall appearance of the store in the long run.
Use of CDM-T lamps
As ceramic metal halide lamps have arrested the colour-shift associated with quartz metal halide ones, they have a wider scope of applications due to their better colour rendering properties. The 20W miniature versions have allowed this technology to be applied with subtlety.
Use of LED fixtures
As a long life, low maintenance, miniaturised and energy-efficient light source, it can provide the flexibility of illuminating even difficult areas within retail environments such as small display cabinets and coves.
Use of strict maintenance plans
As it is a common maintenance error to replace lamps with wrong beam angles, wrong colour temperature and even with wrong power rating, it is crucial to plan how a lighting installation will look over its life. A skilfully designed lighting scheme will last only a few months if maintenance isn’t seriously considered at the design stage. Therefore it is always preferable to have the staff properly educated in terms of dimming, aiming and lamp selection.
Additional tips
Use of lighting controls – As the complexity of handling switching and dimming schedules for different settings increases with the size of the retail outlets, it is preferable to use programmed controls instead of manual controls. Additionally, different times of year and the changing daylight conditions require differentiated switching and dimming so as to bring about substantial energy savings. Lighting controls that provide control over parameters such as light level, light colour, beam direction and beam width will play a dominant role in these segments due to the following reasons:
• Provide flexibility within the space without changing the electrical installation. The lighting parameters for specific locations can be adjusted to suit changes in furniture layout for chosen periods of time.
• Provide multiple working modes with matching lighting parameters in the various areas to meet retail needs such as sales, circulation, window, façade, etc. Working modes can also be timed to coincide with various activities within retail segments such as before opening hours, during opening hours, before closing hours, etc.
• Create dynamic special effects such as colour and movement using DMX controllers or Go-Bo projectors. Customers’ attention can be drawn using colour changes, flashing light or moving light patches.
• Provide energy management by optimising power consumption for lighting. Controlled electric lighting linked with daylight and occupancy sensing can optimise energy saving.
Summary
Retail environments are reflection of a country’s economy as the demands of this fast moving world determine their evolutionary process of how they shed one skin for another. For example, the myriad displays, logos, signs, windows and their consequent lighting are not only representative of their merchandise, but are a snapshot of their market situation which are subject to constant change. Lighting can influence this market situation by attracting customer attention to key displays and making it easier to judge the quality of products. The subtlety with which the lighting design concept can guide customers within retail environment without their realising it determines its success.
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