Tips for Making Your Retail Lighting Distinctive with LEDs

Retail lighting should do more than merely illuminate a store. It should welcome and draw customers in the door. How is this done? By creating an attractive ambiance unique to your store. This is already common practice in the paint color choices of store interiors. But establishing ambiance through effective use of lighting is under-exploited, especially through effective use of LED lighting.

Ambiance starts with using the right light color temperature. For those unfamiliar with the term “color temperature,” it’s a way of describing the warmth, coolness, or brightness of white light. For example, light from a fireplace has a warm if somewhat dim appearance. Incandescent lighting also has a degree of warmth. Sunlight however, is very bright and resembles neither fire light nor incandescent light. Color temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin (K). This is the temperature you would need to heat up a block of carbon to produce the same type of light. This is only a convention used to describe the light quality. LED lights produce very little heat, but can put out light with different color temperatures.

There are three color temperatures:

  • Warm white light. Warm white light has a temperature range between 2000 K to 3000 K. It has a yellowish white appearance and produces a cozy and intimate effect. It works best where you want to create a relaxed and intimate atmosphere.
  • Cool white light. Cool white light has a temperature range of 3100 K to 4500 K. This light temperature is bright and vibrant. Its color is white with a slight blue tinge. It works well when you wish to emphasize the natural colors of your merchandise.
  • Daylight light. Daylight light as the name suggests, simulates daylight. It has a temperature range of 4600 K to 6500 K. The light is white with blue in it. Like being out in the sunshine, it produces an invigorating effect. This works to great effect when selling outdoor goods.

LED lights with adjustable color temperature are available so that you can get it just right. This also allows you to adjust the light temperature of different sections of your store to different settings.

Other effects possible with LEDs include:

  • Adding accent colors to walls and ceilings. This is a less committing way of adding accents than using paint. If you don’t like it or would like to experiment, change the color of the lighting.
  • Skylights. Rather than cutting a hole in your roof, install an LED skylight panel. Some are white in color but appear as though real sunlight is shining through them. Others simulate clouds against a blue sky. These sky lights also put out the same white light that you encounter outdoors on a sunny day. However, they don’t emit ultra violet. This works well when selling outdoor goods such as camping gear, fishing gear, or lawn and garden products.
  • Texture emphasis. LED lights that shine across the surface of brick or stone surfaces, cast shadows that emphasize their attractive texture. Experiment with different colors such as reds, blues, or purple.

Want to Improve Your Grocery Store’s Lighting? 3 Reasons Why LED Lighting Fits the Bill

A grocery store is not just a building with aisles full of food. It can contain quite a few departments including meat, deli, seafood, bakery, produce, and sometimes a pharmacy. Then you have the front desk, break room, warehouse, refrigerator, freezer, loading dock, and general storage room. Switching to LED is one of the smartest things that you can do when you want to upgrade the lighting as a whole.

Light Is Always Needed

Every one of these departments or areas require lighting for efficient operation. This means you will need to have the lights on in most of the grocery store at all times. Since LED lighting is so efficient, you should be able to see a noticeable difference in your energy costs when changing all of the lights over to LED.

Brightness Is Key

An often overlooked advantage of LED lighting is the fact that it takes no time to reach complete brightness. This means that as soon as an employee walks into a room and turns the light on, they can start working. While this may only save a few seconds, over time it can amount to hours or even days. Also, it is easier for your employees to be safe when they have full illumination for handling tasks.

Spend Less on Cooling

It is important for a grocery store to be kept at a cool temperature at all times. This is especially true in the deli and meat department, as well as the refrigerator and freezer storage rooms. LED lights do not produce heat, so you do not have to worry about combating with lights that heat up these areas. Ultimately, this upgrade to better lighting will also provide you with lower cooling costs.

LED Lighting And Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time is in full effect. Some people enjoy this time of the year because the extra hour of sleep. However, others are never thrilled about seeing nightfall come quickly. This change will have an impact on your ability to have the outdoor lighting you need.

Your lighting, or lack thereof, can help or hurt your business. Many people do not like shopping at stores or walking through parking lots when it is dark. The right mixture of lights can highlight your business, hospital, parking lot, etc. You do not have to flood your parking lot or the outside walkway with lights that are too bright and a little annoying.

You can use lights that you can place along your walkway. This will give your customers and employees enough light, and it will also help them see where they are going during the dark evenings and nights. There are several LED lighting options for you to choose from, including solar lights. When you use solar lighting, you do not have to worry about plugging and unplugging lights or buying replacement batteries.

It does not matter what type of lights you will choose to put outside, you will want to make sure the lights fit the style of your business. You will also want to make sure the lights are subtle. No one will be hesitant from navigating from your walkway or parking lot during the dark.

Consider Upgrading to LED for Retail Lighting to Enjoy Cooler Temperatures

For any retail business, lighting is one of the most crucial parts as it can display merchandise in a positive or negative way. Certain color temperatures can make products look more appealing, but another important aspect to take into consideration is the temperature of your retail space. Upgrading to LED for retail lighting can keep the temperature down, which will help you enjoy several other benefits as well.

Reduced Energy Costs

When you do not have to worry about your light bulbs producing excessive heat, your energy costs will naturally decrease. It will not be necessary to run your cooling system as frequently as before, and you might even be able to get away with not running it at all during certain parts of the year.

Enhanced Comfort

For your employees and customers, comfort is key. Comfortable employees will work harder, smarter, and better to not only keep your business looking and functioning properly, but to ensure that your customers are happy with their experience from the moment they walk in the door. Additionally, customers will likely stay longer in a comfortable retail space compared to an uncomfortable one.

Less Risk of Harm

Although most of the light bulbs should be in areas where people cannot touch them easily, you will enjoy having LED lights as they do not radiate enough heat to harm those who might touch the bulbs. It allows you to install these lights where you would normally have to avoid due to the risk of injury.

Bask in the Warm Glow of Energy Efficiency

Your business is booming, but your bank account is suffering.  As you look around your busy restaurant, you wonder why?  Then you see it, the flickering nuisance of another incandescent light bulb about to die.  It’s your restaurant’s lighting!  You may have remodeled everything else last year, but your lighting system is original to the building that was built in 1970.  You know it’s time to upgrade, but you’ve bought LED light bulbs for your home and while they’re long lasting they cast a blue light that leave you feeling cold even on the warmest of nights.  You shudder to think of how it will make your food appear.  Fear not!  LED light bulbs are not as limited as you may think; we can help you turn your restaurant’s lighting into something energy-efficient and beautiful!

The Kitchen

This is the place you would want those bright LED lights.  Relumination can work with you to understand your employee’s needs and design the best lighting system for your kitchen.  Perhaps the prep station in the corner has always been a bit dim or your walk in freezer could use a light or two.  Relumination can add lighting wherever you need while cutting your energy bills.

The Lobby

When your customers walk in you want to amaze them, but not blow them away with bright blue-toned lights.  Using LED bulbs with mid-level lumens (the system for measuring the color of light produced by a bulb) and strategic placement, your customers will be drawn in by the inviting atmosphere.

The Dining Area

Lower the lumens!  The higher the lumens the brighter and more blue the light.  For example a 75-watt incandescent bulb produces 1,100 lumens.  So for your dining room, Relumination would install a lighting system using bulbs that produce lower lumens and a warm, relaxing light for your guests.

The Bar

Are you paying more for colored incandescent bulbs to give your bar or other areas of your restaurant a little pizzazz?  Then the switch to LED lighting will save you money.  Not only do LED bulbs last 50,000 hours longer, but some are also color adjustable.  Having a special on Appletinis?  Change the backlighting color of your bar to green to celebrate the special without having to change the bulb!

Stop worrying about which light bulb you’ll have to change next.

Benefits of Replacing the Interior Lighting in Your Coffee Shop

As an owner of a coffee shop, it’s important that you’re always looking into new ways to keep your small business energy-efficient and inviting for customers. If it’s been years since you’ve changed the interior lighting, you may find that you’re paying much more than you need to be on energy costs. Since the costs of replacing the lighting in your entire coffee shop can be high if you haven’t been planning to do a replacement for a long time, it’s a good idea to look into all the benefits that you can enjoy.

Plenty of Options in Styles

Exchanging the lighting in your coffee shop business can be the perfect excuse to make some other remodeling changes in the space. From hanging lights to wall mounted lighting, you’ll want to look into what styles stand out the most to you.

Reduced Energy Costs

The biggest benefit business owners find when replacing the lighting is the energy savings. Older lighting, even by a few hours, can be more costly to power than you may be comfortable with. By changing out the lights, you could be lowering your energy bill and even be eligible for tax savings from the government.

Adjust the Lighting

Coffee shops are unique in that dim lighting is often better than stark, white lights. By changing out the lighting in your coffee shop, you can pick out lights that look great and produce just enough light for the space to be inviting.

How Your Grocery Store Lighting Can Benefit by Switching to LED

Managing a grocery store is a lot of work, so it makes sense to reduce required upkeep, thus allowing you to focus on your most important responsibilities. Also, when you make a crucial decision for your grocery store, you have to make sure it is one that is beneficial immediately and in the long run.

Switching to LED lighting for grocery store lighting is a great move to make for several reasons.

Greater Consistency

When a light goes out, an employee needs to stop what they are doing to get a replacement. Doing this takes time and that means time away from customers and their other duties, along with potentially giving off the wrong impression to a customer when you have unlit areas in the grocery store.

A wise addition to your grocery store is LED lighting because these lights last a lot longer compared to its alternatives, which means less replacing lights and more focusing on customer satisfaction.

Reduced Expenses

Compared to other light bulbs, LED light bulbs consume less energy. So, in addition to not having to worry about changing these light bulbs as often, you also get to benefit from reduced expenses.

Better Appearance

It is important to know that an LED light bulb will produce light that looks as good as it did on day one as the day before it goes out, which means there is no need to be concerned about color problems.

Some lights need time to warm up before providing sufficient lighting, but this is not the case with LED lighting, so you will find that the pros for LED lighting far outweigh any negatives.

Bring Your Store Into The Light With LED Retail Store Lighting

Have you ever thought about how lighting makes an impact on your store? The lighting in your store has a big job to do because it is needed to show off all of the products you have in your store. The lighting also provides a big part of your store’s design. The places where you use your retail lighting and why you are using that lighting can be the big difference in your store design being successful or your store design being incomplete.

Savings

There are a number of benefits of using LED lighting in your retail store, such as a reduction in maintenance and repair costs and energy savings. If your retail store is independently owned, you are probably paying for all of your expenses. When you implement LED lighting, you will see a decrease in the amount of energy that is being used. This will result in an increase in the amount of money you will save. LED lighting will produce a low amount of heat or no heat at all; this will allow you to not have to use your air conditioning units to cool the store because of the heat from the lighting.

Aesthetics

You may wonder how a change of lighting will affect the look of your store. LED lighting will save energy, reduce maintenance costs, and save you money, but that does not mean you will sacrifice the look and feel of your store. LED lighting will give your retail store a better output than your previous lights. The lighting will also do a better job of making your merchandise stand out and look more appealing to customers. When you have LED lighting in your store, you have the ability to be more imaginative and creative with your store design. You will be able to place emphasis on every product in every location in your establishment.

Whatever LED lighting plans you want to use for your store, you will immediately begin to see the benefits, and your customers will too.

Why LED Lighting is a Better Choice for Your Grocery Store

The type of lighting you select for your grocery store is important. When food looks attractive and appetizing, shoppers want to buy them. When you have the best lighting possible, you can save energy and money, and in addition provide your customers with an enjoyable shopping experience.

More and more grocery stores are finding the benefits of using LED lighting over fluorescent lighting. If you’re a grocery store retailer, here are some reasons to use LED lighting, as well as some considerations to make.

Offers Exceptional Coloring

LED lighting improves the color of foods.

  • Meats—Although sliced meats that look discolored may only be an aesthetic concern, it can turn off shoppers from buying. When you use LED lighting, you don’t have to worry about meat discoloration.
  • Produce—Fruits and vegetables look better under LED lighting. To draw additional attention on certain types of produce, use special optics that can enhance the color spectrum of fresh foods even more.

Is Ideal for Cold Foods

Although fluorescent lighting may be an efficient way for many applications, it’s not as effective as LED lighting when it comes to freezer and refrigerator lighting. For example, cold temperatures can cause a drop in the mercury vapor pressure that’s inside fluorescent lamps. This can result in a light output reduction of as much as 25 percent.

On the other hand, LED lightening doesn’t have this effect. In fact, sometimes the light output from LED lighting actually gets better in a cold setting.

LED Lights Last Longer

LED lights can last for more than 50,000 hours or about three times longer than fluorescent lights. This means you don’t have to change bulbs as much, which saves money. This type of lighting also reduces heat emissions.

It’s Environmentally Friendly

Since there are fewer bulbs to change, there’s not as much garbage in landfills. This gives LED lighting another advantage, making it more environmentally friendly.

Considerations

  • Unlike incandescent lights, there isn’t a single size of LED lamps.
  • Consider your store’s dimming needs.
  • A growing number of grocery stores are now using track fixtures for lighting up food displays such as in their produce sections.
  • Replacing fluorescent lights with LED lights in vertical and horizontal freezer cases can save your store as much as 50 percent in energy expenses.

Retail Lighting: How To Implement It To Your Advantage

Shopping is оftеn referred tо аs ‘retail therapy’. Іt іs sаіd sо bесаusе іt іs believed thаt whіlе shopping, аll five of the senses are activated аnd gіvе а sense оf elevated happiness. Whаt іs thе еffесt thаt lighting has on the senses in retail shops? Ноw muсh dоеs іt aid іn ‘therapy’ bу shopping? Whаt іs thе best wау tо usе lighting tо raise thе attention аnd retention levels оf customers?

Lighting conveys emotions аnd activates people’s instincts. Іt helps customers find thеіr wау аrоund the store and decide what they are going to purchase. Тhеrе аrе mаnу different options for retail lighting such as color, distribution, intensity аnd brightness of the lights. Тhеrе аrе sоmе retail lighting suggestions that саn help improve customer convenience, enhance thеіr sense оf well-being аnd can lead to аn increase іn customers аnd will result in higher chances for a sale.

Brightness іs оut, contrast іs іn: Іf a merchant want to attract instant attention tо а product оr placement, high contrast may be better suited thаn overly bright lighting. Νоt only will іt cut dоwn оn energy consumption, but will аlsо intensify attention to the display or product being advertised.

Vertical lighting improves orientation: While diffused general lighting mау generate а sense оf comfort, іt іs vertical illumination that will mаkе іt easier tо grasp thе layout оf thе room. Іt will bе easier fоr thе customers tо find thеіr wау аrоund thе aisles hеnсе thеу will be more likely tо buy a product from the store. Аt thе sаmе time, detailed accent lighting саn improve thе perception оf thе displays аnd mаkе thеm sееm mоrе attractive.

Increase familiarity wіth color: Colors influence thе emotions of the customers and guides thеm іntо а sense оf security if it is done correctly. Cool color temperatures suсh аs white mаkе thе area lооk bigger whіlе а warm color mау denote smallness аnd familiarity in the space. Transitional white light helps customers feel better аnd leads tо thеm spending mоrе time іn thе store. Еvеn wіthіn а single lighting concept, people tend tо shоw а preference fоr dіffеrеnt light colors. Keeping thіs іn mind, dіffеrеnt color temperatures shоuld bе implemented асrоss general аnd vertical lighting.

Use lights tо highlight features аnd shop windows: The fіrst impression of а shop comes from its window. Тhеrеfоrе іt would help tо focus оn accent lighting оn thе merchandise displayed in the windows (іn addition tо daylight). А furthеr step іn thіs regard, wоuld bе tо pinpoint accent lighting sо thаt іt focuses оn contrasts on the product being displayed. Then as the sun sets and the night lighting comes on, the levels оf light coming from the shop will bе еnоugh tо attract а customer to walk in.