Store lighting trends: shopping experience in a cost-efficient fashion

Multinational retail chains have realised the significant role of lighting a long time ago – this is well indicated by the fact that until recently hypermarkets were built without windows, so that customers aren’t aware of the passing of time while inside.

Lighting can be used to position brands and to boost the impact of certain marketing tools. It can also reflect the store owner’s intention, helping to keep customers and bring in new ones. According to Zsuzsanna Bonyhádi, indoor marketing manager with GE Lighting responsible for markets in Europe, the Near East and Africa, the most important tool for selling and improving customer experience is finding the right combination of highlighting and general lighting solutions: for instance basic food products require different lighting than frozen products. In her view lighting strength regulation and intelligent control systems are also important to have. Upper category chains typically wish to create a classic marketplace atmosphere. Ms Bonyhádi’s estimation is that well-selected lighting solutions can increase sales by as much as 34 percent. Discounters use practical store interiors for quick shopping, therefore they don’t apply special lighting solutions to increase shopping time. Traditional stores opt for LED-compatible solutions or traditional technology. Small premium shops make efforts to offer a shopping experience, so they install customised solutions. Around 2010 LED solutions started their conquest in retail units. These are costlier to purchase than traditional sources of light, but they are more energy saving and last 50 times longer than classic light bulbs. Gábor Baktai, project manager of Osram told Trade magazin that in the LED segment many unknown – mainly Chinese – brands appeared in the market and these are poor quality products. Major brands offer a guarantee period up to 5 years, but these unknown lighting technology solutions often end up in the bin after a year. Despite these problems the retail sector is the most rapidly growing area in the spreading of LED technology. It is enough to say that Walmart, the world’s biggest retail chain announced this spring that they would switch to GE’s LED ceiling light fixtures in all new US hypermarkets. GE’s LED lights use 40 percent less energy than the lighting used so far.