How to do Retail Store Lighting Design? A Complete Guide

Hey retail store owners! Want to know the secret ingredient to transform your store so much that none leaves without buying? You will be surprised to know – it’s the underestimated part called lighting! Your lighting matters as much as your products nowadays! Smart LED lighting brings numerous advantages to shopping malls, transforming spaces both functionally and aesthetically. That’s why it’s unavoidable to understand how to do retail store lighting design, so that none of your customers step out of your store without buying some stuff. Join us, as we walk you through the best lighting for retail stores! 

Purpose of Retail Store Lighting Design 

To know the best lighting for your store, it’s necessary to understand the purpose of lighting a particular corner of your store. Let’s see how it works!

• Showcase merchandise: Proper retail store lighting design highlights the specific products or areas of the store, allowing the customer to focus on one thing at a time. It should be such that the best color, texture, and design of your product is emphasized. When the best comes out, they naturally buy!

• Guide shoppers: Good retail lighting works like a silent guide for the shopper. Using different types & intensity of light fixtures can help your customers to easily navigate through your store. Specialized options like tape lights, LED Downlights etc. can help direct customers to desired products, dressing rooms & receptions. 

• Create mood and ambience: Lighting incredibly influences emotions and desires. That’s why restaurants use warm, cozy lightning to set a mood of comfort. While bright light encourages freshness & excitement, warm lighting evokes comfort. Perfect lighting highlights your products to seem more attractive to the customers. This way, they are naturally compelled to reach their wallets!

• Highlight architectural features: Your store’s architecture is its unique identity! Wall washing with LED up & down lights and making a dramatic silhouette with backlights are some options. Similarly, LED Panels can focus on unique features of your store. All these enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of your store!

• Reflect Brand identity: Following popular store lighting design tips can actually increase your brand value because lighting enhances the aesthetics of your store or showroom, while simultaneously making your products reflect their best angles, texture, colour and shapes. So choose your colour temperature, styles & every other factor wisely!

• Enhance overall experience: Dynamic and exciting lighting, whether it’s a photogenic dressing room or a mirror bordered with tape lights, proper retail lighting engages shoppers! In the modern world, the shopping experience matters as much as the products. A good dressing room selfie can actually make them buy! So take care of it too! 

Retail Lighting Layout

Commercial lighting design for retail is usually divided into lighting for shelves, specific tasks, enhancing architecture and overall ambience. Let’s look into each in detail!

• Interactive LED Display Panels

Your store comes alive with properly lit ceilings & walls! Programmable LED lit ceiling, walls and displays create captivating visuals for shoppers with digital displays of new products, visual landscapes with models, motion sensored interactive graphics etc. These create memorable & immersive experience, raising chances of sales. 

• Smart & ambient lighting systems 

Modern retail stores can benefit from smart LED lighting systems. Perfectly networked lighting accompanied by motion sensors enable automation like dimmable colour temperature, remote monitoring etc. Change from fresh & bright morning lights to warm & cozy evening set up, with one touch! These not only looks good, but reduces operational costs too.

• Focused Task lighting 

It’s necessary to provide uniform and direct lighting for spaces where specific tasks are performed like billing counters, dressing rooms etc. It can simplify shopper experience and increase chances of sale. No one wants a long queue at billing counter. And everyone likes a well lit & photogenic dressing room. Ensure those! 

• Architectural Accent lighting 

A store’s architectural features are part of its unique identity. There’s brand value in them! Wall washing with grazing up & down lights, backlighting translucent partitions, and highlighting textures are great for showcasing architectural designs and finishes, creating visual richness. Enhancing aesthetic appeal surely works magic for sales!

• Dynamic Window Lighting 

Who doesn’t love window shopping right? Colorful lighting with mannequin highlights have always been necessary. Additionally promotion events, discount posters, etc attract foot traffic to the store. Focus on those!

• Integrated Shelf Lighting 

LED strip lighting integrated into shelves provides user-specific illumination, highlighting your products and their details to the fullest. It’s about putting your products in the best possible light, right at the point of decision for buyers!

How to do Retail Store Lighting Design?

Store lighting design tips –

1. Create balance when choosing commercial lighting design for retail

Take care of customer experience when creating a balanced lighting scheme for a retail store. Good retail lighting creates an atmosphere that urges people to browse and explore. 

If showroom lighting is too bright or uses too many contrasting color temperatures, it can overwhelm the shopper’s senses. Instead, strike a balance between ambient and accent lighting.

2. Use ambient lighting to set the mood and vibe

Retail store lighting needs to be ambient enough to highlight products but simultaneously comfortable enough for the shopper to stay at your store. It shouldn’t wash off colours with extremely bright light, nor should it make products seem dark or dull. 

3. Plan lighting to bring out the uniqueness of your space

When choosing the right lighting, it’s important to think about the layout and purpose of the space. Take into account the store’s size and shape, as well as the kind of products being showcased. Is the area spacious or compact? What type of merchandise is featured?

 Pay attention to where the light fixtures are installed – are they thoughtfully placed, or scattered without a clear plan? A mix of too many different fixtures or poorly positioned lighting can lead to visual clutter and disrupt the overall shopping experience.

4. Pay attention to the texture of walls, ceilings & furniture 

Texture is the most essential factor when considering lighting options for a particular corner. It should increase visual impact, while reflecting the mood, color and atmosphere of the space.

Softer, more diffused lighting tends to smooth out the texture of whatever it’s shining on. On the other hand, directional lighting creates shadows that bring out texture and detail. That’s why, especially in retail settings like display areas, it’s a good idea to go with LEDs that have a diffused lens, it helps cut down on glare and gives a cleaner look.

5. Use suitable colour temperature, CRI and brightness 

Colour temperature and Color Rendering Index (CRI) are essential to provide a comfortable tone and mood to your store. A CRI of 95+ is generally advised for retail stores, to show truer and more natural color of the products.

Invest in the best retail lighting layout 

Think of retail lighting as a layered experience – ambient lighting sets the mood, while accent and task lighting draw attention where it matters. Want products to truly stand out? Go for high CRI lights, the right color temperature, and don’t forget to keep glare in check, for best lighting for retail stores.

Explore more on how to do retail store lighting design with versatile products on our website!