We are going to guide you all about buying track lighting, ambient light, accent lighting, and other types of retail lighting options that you can choose from. But first, let us take a step back and see what retail lighting is.
What is Retail Lighting?
Retail lighting refers to the special kinds of lightings that store and shop owners can add to their shops to make their interior look better. The lights help highlight important products and attract more customers.
You can add these lightings from a wide variety of options and choose the one that fits you the best. However, most store owners undermine the importance of ambient lighting and decorative light fixtures in their stores.
Why is Retail Store Lighting Important?
While getting a simple light seems like a great idea to improve your shop and make it stand out from the competition, there are some things you should know. We are going to guide you about choosing the right light bulbs and lighting. See why there are important
Improved Store Image
The most important reason to add decorative fixtures or general lighting like led lights into your shop is that it helps improve how your store looks. The right kind of lighting makes your store looks better.
However, it is important to understand that adding a bright light isn’t the only ideal light fixture for your store. But, more on that later. Many store owners install task lighting to make their shops look better as well.
Product Visibility
You can not expect your customers to notice your products if they aren’t in the right lighting. Just because you have a light bulb in your store doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t know about the other types of lighting available.
You can choose the right types of lighting and place them in your store to make your products look better. For instance, if you run a supermarket, you would want to install downlights in the store to ensure they illuminate your products.
Visual Appeal with Light bulbs
In most cases, products look much better in stores as compared to other places. It is not that these products change their quality and looks afterward, rather it is the kind of light bulbs in the store.
Most of the stores use track lighting to make sure their products look better. Whereas, others add ambient lighting and decorative lights to improve the store’s appearance. Either way, you can make visual enhancements with fluorescent bulbs for better in-store lighting
Higher Sales and Shopping Experience
Installing bright lights and the right lighting designs is the easiest way to make your store stand out. It is a major reason why shops that have decorating lighting, accent lighting, track lighting, or LED bulbs look great.
They can attract more customers, increasing sales as a result. Therefore, these owners try to replicate natural light in their stores instead of turning everything bright with track lights.
Affects How Long Customers Stay in Your Shops
Another common reason why shopkeepers invest in their led light bulbs or other lightings in their retail stores is that light bulbs determine how long your customers will stay in your shop. People do not usually like shops with a dark setting.
It is a major reason why shop owners install different types of light bulbs to make things more visible for their clients. Besides excellent aesthetics, installing the right light bulbs will help make it easier for customers to navigate in your shop.
Otherwise, they may get annoyed and could leave early because it is difficult to find things in your retail store.
Types of Retail Store Lighting
Before we go on about how you can choose the right LED lights or general lightings, let us check out the options that you have as a store owner. Understanding the lighting types available will make the selection process easier
Accent Lighting
Shop owners use Accent lighting to make customers focus on specific products. It helps improve the visibility of the product naturally, attracting the customers as a result. It is one of the most popular decorative lighting designs that you can choose for your store.
Most of the shop owners install their accent lighting in specific spots, such as areas where they have new products, offers, and discounts to attract more people. The best part is that there are a lot of decorative lighting options when it comes to these lights.
Usually, for retail stores, adjustable downlights and ceiling LED spotlights will be a good choice for accent lighting. You can also choose other lights. For example, if clothing stores have little floor space, you can always go for scone lighting. On the other hand, you can go for shelf lightings if you want to make the lighting design stand out. Remember, that it will all depend on your light sources
Task Lighting
Task lighting is used for a specific task (as the name suggests). Shop owners can add everything from fluorescent bulbs to incandescent light bulbs to enhance the lighting designs in your store.
Another way to use this light correctly is to think of the busiest places. For example, installing these lights on your register is the most common step. Similarly, if you have a clothing store, you can add these lights to the back storage area to make the task lighting stand out correctly.
You can find the task lighting in various temperature shades too, which makes it easier for owners to experiment with their decorative lighting. All you need to do is ensure that your task lighting is placed correctly.
Ambient Lighting
Ambient lighting, also called general lighting is the main source of lighting in a room. It not only helps produce lighting in a room but also determines the overall theme of the room. including the warmth and the depth of these rooms.
This general lighting also provides a balanced light in the room without making it look too bright or uncomfortable to the eye. It allows users to navigate through the room easily, without the chance of bumping or crashing into things. Adding the simple primary source of lighting also allows users to regulate the other focused lighting better too.
Basic lights like chandeliers, ceiling-mounted fixtures, and track lights can help accomplish a proper lighting design. Keep in mind that the size, design, and furniture of the room all matter when picking the optimal ambient lighting set up for your room.
Decorative Lighting
Setting up a shop for customers and attracting them isn’t only about making everything bright. Rather it also matters that your lightings stay efficient and effective in the long run. For example, it is best to avoid installing incandescent light bulbs, if you do not want a hefty bill by the end of the month.
The best part about choosing this kind of decorative lighting is the flexibility it offers. Owners can add anything from a simple ornament under a light, to full-fletched designs to improve their shop’s appearance.
It is important to note is that although fluorescent lights look great in the shop, LED lighting is always best to add decorative lighting with the right color temperature.
How to Choose the Right Retail Lighting?
You are probably thinking of the right ways to add retail lighting to your window displays in your store. Keep in mind that coming up with the best ways to create the perfect general led lighting in your shops is something different. We are going to discuss all the possible things that store-owners should keep in mind before designing their shops.
Following are a few things to understand before you can even add something very basic like artificial light in your shop windows.
Choose the Right Brightness Levels
Choosing the right retail lighting begins with picking the right brightness levels for your retail lighting. To pick the right brightness, you should know that professionals measure the brightness levels in lumens.
The lumens are directly proportional to the brightness. The brightness of your bulb plays an important role in decorating your window display, shop, and products.
Although you can choose whether you want a bright or dull setting for your shop, it is best to consult with someone or see a few references before it. The best way to give yourself some flexibility is to add dimmer switches to the shop.
Otherwise, keep the lumens for the lighting in mind when choosing the brightness level. You can choose your brightness levels to match visible light accordingly.
Tone
The tone or color temperature of your bulbs will have an impact on your shop’s outlook and its color temperatures. You can either choose soft lighting or come up with a lighting scheme of your own.
You can choose between a warm light or a cool white according to the color temperature mentioned in the light. Once you understand the different tone options, you can create good lighting in your shop without trouble. All you need to do is ensure that all the color temperatures in your shops stay on the same level.
As a general rule, that warmer lights give off more welcoming feelings whereas, cooler tones can make your entire space look better. This is why many furniture stores blend various light options to get the right color temperatures and some extra light.
Know the Bulb Type
Like lighting options, various bulb types offer different aesthetics to your shop’s ambiance. To help you understand how these lights are different, let us take a look at the different options. Some of these options work best for ambiance while others are great for energy savings.
Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Bulbs
CFLs are an energy-efficient light source for your store which helps owners mimic other light options for a better energy cost. You can find these bulbs everywhere from fitting rooms to the primary light sources.
• Average Cost: Mid-range. $2–$6 per bulb.
• Efficiency: 50–70 lumens per watt.
• Life: 7–9 years
• Best for General/ambient lighting and task lighting.
• Color temperature range: warm to cool.
Halogen
These bulbs use halogen gas to increase output and lighting both with the following features
- Color temperature range: Full spectrum of color temperatures, warm to cool.
- Average Cost: Low to mid-range. Ranging from $2–$8 per bulb.
- Energy efficiency: 12–15 lumens per watt.
- Best for: Accent lights, task lighting, and decorative fixtures
- Operating Life: 1–2 years
LED
LEDs are an energy-efficient light source with different fitting and design options. They use light-emitting diodes to operate and have the following features:
• Average Cost: $5–$20
• Energy efficiency: 60 lumens per watt.
• Operating Life: 1.5-6 years
• Best For All types of retail store
• Color temperature range: Full spectrum of color temperatures, warm to cool.
Color Rendering Index (CRI)
CRI is the standard used to determine the quality of the light bulbs used in general lighting and other types of lighting. The CRI determines how well a bulb can mimic natural light in any setting. Its rating ranges from 0-100 where 100 means that the bulb can replicate sunlight exactly. On average, a CRI rating between 80-90 fits general lighting needs perfectly. Therefore, it would be best to keep this in mind when you look for the ideal bulb choice for your indoors.
Learn Track Lighting
Track lighting is a simple yet effective method of getting versatility for your retail store designs. Track lighting comprises a system with lights fitted on a track along the base, allowing flexibility when it comes to placement. Store owners can try different designs and light their indoors accordingly. The track gets its connection directly from the main power and allows easy powering with a flick of a button.
Pick the Right Fixtures
While there are only three main types of bulbs that you can choose from, there are several fitting options that come with these bulbs. While the fitting of the bulbs doesn’t have much effect on the light’s performance, it can still impact the maintenance process. Picking the right fixture can determine how hard it is for store owners to change their lights when needed. It can also impact the area where the light falls. Make sure you install them in a way that allows you to make changes to the light with a flip of a switch.
Don’t Hesitate From Experimenting
One of the most basic rules of coming up with the right design options for your store is to know how to blend these lights. As you can see, three basic types of bulbs can serve numerous purposes when it comes to designing the interior of a retail shop. To help you out, we are going to guide you through the different lights and how they can help you.
Accent Lightings
- Helps owners focus their lightings on specific areas within the store.
- Evenly disperses light with small pops in attractive spots and products
- Focused illumination for customers
Task Lightings
- Task Lightings help users cover a larger area for illumination
- helps focus on daily tasks and activities
- Improves the overall look of the store
Decorative Lightings
- Helps create lighting in smaller yet important places like windows
- Add several color tones to the shop to improve the overall look
- Helps customers gain interest in the store
Ambient Lightings
- Helps fill gaps in store design
- Helps complete the overall lighting design
- helps create track lighting systems
Conclusion
Finding the right lighting designs and options for your shop isn’t an easy task. However, this piece breaks down each element of the lighting to make the selection process easier. While you may understand how to create the perfect interiors, let us do a quick recap of the important things to know.
- Start by choosing the right light type
- Add the right bulb to your setting
- Choose a balanced tone for your shop’s lighting
- Pick the right fixtures
- Learn how to add track lightings
- Consider the color rendering index when choosing your bulbs
- Do not avoid trying something new for your store.
Buy LED Retail Lighting from RC Lighting
If you need help with choosing a light for a retail store, shop, mall, or any other setting, we have you covered. RC Lighting offers the best-LED lights in various designs and sizes to meet your needs. You should check our collection of light fixtures, bulbs, and design options to create an inviting atmosphere. Make sure you reach out to us if you need more assistance or have more queries that you need answers to. We would love to help you create the perfect retail lighting setup for business. Send your inquiry now!