Retail Lighting Tips for Shops

When a retail client needs help with their shop lighting, most of the work you’ll be doing for them as an electrician will be technical. But they’ll be even happier if you help them with suggestions for how to improve the overall look and feel of their store using lighting. Here are some tips you can share to add value to your service.

Capture Attention with the Window Display

The window display is so important for shops. It’s what captures the attention and draws customers in off the street. So make sure it counts!

If your retail customer is unsure how to make the most of their window display lighting, you could suggest adding bright and bold lighting or contrast lighting to capture attention. You could also encourage them to install dynamic lighting, including lights at different levels and angles and spotlights to highlight key products.

Use Layering

Layering is a great technique for lighting up shops and making the overall look and feel more impressive. It involves combining ambient lighting with accent lighting, and mixing them both up to create the right effect.

Ambient lighting should be low so that the accent lighting really gets noticed. This is something your customers will probably want to experiment with, but make some suggestions to help them out.

Illuminate the Right Areas

It’s important to focus light on the right areas when lighting a shop. A good rule of thumb is to light up what the customers should be looking at.

If your retail customer has an item that they really want to get noticed, like a new product or something on special offer, encourage them to highlight it with a spotlight and draw their customers towards it so it gets more attention.

Install Lighting in Shelves

Shelves are one area where retailers want to direct attention. Lighting is an easy way to highlight products and ranges on shelves, and high-quality lighting is essential to create the right effect.

LED lighting is often the best choice for shelves, where the bright lights, usually white, can draw the attention of customers.

Don’t Forget the Changing Rooms

If your retail customer is selling clothing, you need to focus on the changing rooms too. The light here should focus primarily on being flattering for the customers! Anyone using the changing room should know that they look fabulous in their new clothes.

Encourage your customer to install lighting at the sides of the mirrors to reduce shadows in the changing room. If you put a light above, it can create shadows that will get in the way. It’s also a good idea to use a warm light in the changing rooms rather than one that is too harsh.

Help Your Retail Customers Out

These are a few of the tips that you can share with your retail customers to help them take their lighting to the next level. They may already have plans in place for the types of lighting they want to use and where, but your professional advice will always be appreciated and will help add value to your service.