Design Lighting Layouts – strategic use and placement of light

The retail-shopping environment today is set much like a stage.  Similar to a stage, a store must design lighting layouts to create a very visual and intentional experience.  As customers enter a store they are exposed to a vast retail landscape.  Almost every retail store is divided into separate departments, each with its own bright color scheme. Often the store décor further differentiates the departmental divisions.   Light is the design element that completes the visual environment.  The lighting design of a retail store is an integral component to its success.  In order to begin to design lighting layouts, the designer must first analyze the retail operation. What is the environment and what message is the store trying to communicate?  If you design lighting layouts to correctly complement your store, you will see more customers.

For example, value and discount stores usually feature high amounts of ambient light.  The light in these stores is often produced   using direct fluorescent light.  The high levels of lighting provide good general lighting for customers to examine product labels and product features.  Often as a designer begins to design lighting layouts for these types of stores he includes natural lighting sources.

The lighting layouts for specialty retailers, such as clothing stores are different. Mid to high levels of ambient lighting are used but often it is in combination with spot lighting.  Spot lighting is used to feature selected products or displays and thereby attracts shoppers to those items. 

The lighting layouts for high-end or up-scale retailers are often even more distinctive. As experts design lighting layouts for this store type they generally use lower ambient light levels and even more accent lighting.  Illuminating products with feature lighting accentuates the textures and color of the products on display.  It also sets a mood. The feeling that this lighting creates for customers translates to an image for the retailer.  And, as mentioned above the feature lighting draws attention to products and pulls shopper to the accented areas. It requires thought and study to design lighting layouts with impact.

The book Discovery-Based Retail discusses the importance of proper design lighting layouts, and how it affects customer flow through a store.  For more information on how to design lighting layouts get your copy of Discovery Based Retail today!