SHOP / RETAIL LIGHTINGShop / Retail Lighting Special lighting effects will attract attention and help create mood New lighting functions - The future in shop lighting Retail is a very demanding and at the same time fast-moving world, and as a consequence, so is the art of shop lighting. Not only has the shape of the luminaires employed changed over the years, so too has the function of shop lighting. The following four lighting functions would become the basics of new lighting concepts:
Attracting light (light the product) The fact that our eyes are always attracted to the area of the highest brightness is the reason why lighting is still largely focused on creating the highest lighting levels on the merchandise. This need for accent lighting, as it is called, often means that illuminating the vertical planes is very important. Additional general lighting, mainly using wide-beam luminaires, is then installed to fill up areas where the lighting level is too low. This is why the use of adjustable downlights or spots on power tracks is so popular, these often being used in combination with luminaires for fluorescent lamps or with downlights. The directional part of the lighting system makes it possible to show the special offers or products of special interest so as to reveal their quality in the best possible way. Enticing light (light the shop ambience) Shoppers also want to shop in an exciting and enjoyable way. In addition to being attracted by the lighting they must also be enticed by it. Enticing light is being employed more than ever before to create a memorable shopping experience. Today lighting is being employed much more suggestively than in the past, to persuade and to manipulate. Today, lighting systems (e.g. gobos, dynamic lighting etc.) that enhance the shop ambience must also be considered, as must lighting that underlines the architecture of the space and supports the interior design, both aimed at creating the right atmosphere and style. The consequence of which result in a larger percentage of the lighting consisting of luminaires used for purposes other than illuminating the merchandise. In the future, what will be needed are lighting systems that are able to provide a combination of lighting functions. In the near future, say within the next five years, the focus of attention will be divided between the merchandise and the shoppers themselves. The modeling power of the light, or the illumination of the human face, will become more important and will stay central in the future way of thinking. Future lighting solutions will take the comfort, mood and interaction of people more into consideration and will provide for their well-being as well. It will also physically support humans and their biorhythms. a. Relational light In the more distant future, say five to ten years from now, shopping will become an individual experience. Each shopper will have his or her own individual strategy of living and this will lead to lighting that plays a much larger role in the total process of retailing. The future will be with the eye on total system thinking. Vital and invigorating light that can be controlled, even 'orchestrated' and integrated, will be required. Even sustainable systems and self-repairing light will become possible in the future. We must constantly update these new, innovative lighting solutions and at the same time develop new lighting hardware for tomorrow. The various suggestions for attracting light, enticing light, humanising light and relational light will be totally integrated in the design of shop-lighting installations within the next ten years.
Accent lighting (object lighting): To bring objects to light Local/localised lighting: To add extra highlights in areas of special interest in the space Merchandise lighting: To illuminate merchandise stored in racks and shelves Task lighting: At the counters and cashier areas Architectural lighting: To form and underline the architecture of the space and provide for basic orientation Special/decorative lighting: Elements and solutions to underline the shopping ambience (gobo, dynamic lighting etc.) |