Partner Article

How to Use Track Lighting in Retail

Starting a successful retail store is no easy endeavor. Between tracking inventory, managing a new set of employees and handling all the other tasks that arise throughout the day, it can seem overwhelming at times. With everything on your mind, you might forget seemingly little things like in-store music or the design of your display areas. Image is everything in retail, and something as simple as the lights you choose can make or break the shopping experience for your customers.

Designing your store’s lighting set up can present an especially unique challenge, however. Do your dressing rooms need to be brighter or dimmer than your main floor? Are fluorescent lights better than other types? Do you need spotlights on mannequins or on the products for sale? If you aren’t prepared to give a firm answer yet, then track lighting might be perfect for you. By placing strategic tracks around your shop, you will have the freedom to alter the lighting experience at will and make the most of your space.

Mannequins and Displays

These areas are where you pull potential customers into your store by showing them a new, flashy project in an eye-catching way. But if your display is dimly lit, that new product can end up looking drab and uninteresting. Use customizable track lighting to throw a spotlight on your models and displays. Repositioning the lights when you change your store’s layout and special samples is easy. Extra lights can be used to brighten dark corners and help draw customers to racks featuring sales and deals.

Merchandise Racks

Once you have your customer in the store, your lighting should naturally guide them to places where they can spend their money. The regular lighting within the store should make details clear and illuminate your products, but not every item needs a spotlight. Accent spots with your track lighting to draw customers to newly released products, sales and specials. So long as your store’s lighting doesn’t hide details of the product and the customer can clearly see what they are considering purchasing, it should be fine. If your store has access to natural daylight, take advantage of this—it clearly shows the colors of fabrics and materials so customers can truly see how something looks. Different types of bulbs affect colors in different ways, but natural light can help even this out.

Dressing Rooms

These tiny rooms are something of a sticking point for buyers. Good lighting design should extend throughout the store, but some buyers have found the singular overhead bulbs in dressing rooms distracting and disappointing. Using track lighting outside of your dressing rooms the throw extra light into the area can help solve this, as can recessed frontal lights that better illuminate the customer and remove distracting shadows. Be sure that your lighting design and set up project the image you want associated with your store.

Effective lighting design directly contributes to your store’s bottom line. If your products are not displayed in a professional and attractive way, customers will not want to buy them. Explore your lighting options to create an attractive ambience that draws customers in and showcases the strengths of your store. Creative use of flexible track lighting can solve many retail lighting issues and lead to greater successes for you.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Danielle M. .