Retail

Lighting Design Goals

A well lit retail environment makes for a positive shopping experience and encourages customers to make purchase decisions. Think of lighting as you would any other marketing or sales promotion tool in your store. It should:

Attract and guide customers into and through the store.
Provide visual comfort
Lead customers through merchandise areas safely and effectively
Help them find and evaluate merchandise
Call attention to specific merchandise and reinforce merchandising themes.
Initiate a purchase

Good retail lighting design is a balance between the following three areas:

Human Needs

Visibility
Task performance
Visual comfort
Safety

Environmental and Economic Issues

Cost of lighting system ownership
Energy costs
Sustainability

Architectural

Lighting systems complement building design

Regardless of the space or area being illuminated, the design scheme usually employs a “layered” approach, combining the three basic categories of lighting:

General (also called ambient lighting),
Local (also called accent or task lighting)
Decorative

Lighting solutions for each store will vary depending on the target market, store concept and functional needs of the space.