Lighting Considerations For Apparel, Fashion & Jewelry Stores

Using a proper lightning in a store can provide one of the best strategies that can improve sales. It is advisable to keep in mind the fact that in visual merchandising a great attention needs to be paid so as to create a friendly environment for customers. It is also known that 90 % of the decisions that are made for purchasing an item of jewelry or of clothing is made on the spot, therefore this percentage tells us a lot about the way in which we need to exploit this advantage that the stores have.

A proper approach of the entire aspects connected with the way in which we built our marketing strategies can provide a strong impact on customers, who will certainly tag a brand according to its staff and services, and only after that they will think about the products. It might sound weird, but the first impact that a person has with an item of clothing, of jewelry and son on is given by the way in which (s)he felt while buying it.

The quality of the products can be seen long after they were acquired, but the first impact is precious and it is the first thing that the customers actually witness. Let us not crumble this fragile advantage that we have in front of our customers!

We deal here with some aspects that are vital for our stores. It is true that an effective light has the ability to attract customers, guide them through our store, draw attention to specific products or allow consumers to examine and appreciate merchandise. But what happens when we fail to organize our store as the customers want? How do we know what pleases them?

These questions will always remain like a thorn in our mind. Sometimes we choose to do nothing at all than doing something wrong. This is the reason why we see some retailers who give too much credit to the products themselves, than to marketing strategies. It is, of course, the case of little brands; we are aware of the type of customers that exist nowadays, those who might know everything about what we sell, they know where they can find the products they intent to buy but they don’t know a very important thing: the feeling they can get right on spot! With so many ways to buy things, the close-to-customer attitude is probably the best we can offer!

So we’ve already stated that lightning is very important and that it can shape behavior. Customers enjoy their time in our store and they became good advocates after that. Whether it is ambient lightning, architecture lightning or focal point lightning, we must know that, after all, if a client tries to buy something and the light inside gives him a pale look, he might think that that item doesn’t look good on her / him. To avoid that, we can simply adjust the light to a neutral aspect.

Best Practices You Should Keep In Mind

There are a lot of things to be said about this topic, but some of the most important things we need to be aware of when choosing, fixing, adjusting the lightning are:

» if you choose fluorescent lightning you must keep in mind the fact that it does not produce very much power, it doesn’t have the main function to illuminate jewelry, therefore it is not indicated for diamonds and gemstone cases, and it is inconsistent – it might affect the aspect of your jewelry in time;

» halogen lights generate a lot of heat, use more energy than others and in time they can change their intensity making diamonds look yellow;

» ceramic metal halide lights require more energy as they get old;

» LED can’t be used for higher ceilings; the beam spreads not very much;

» for ambient areas halogen lights or ceramic metal halide lights shouldn’t be used;

» in showcases, adjust the lightning so it won’t cast shadows (made by the furniture or by the people that come close), otherwise you’ll miss the sparkle of the gems; light source must be placed on customer side of the case;

» for diamonds, it is advisable to use a 4000 Kelvin (or higher) lamp;

» for colored gemstones, don’t use a lightning that has an intensity under 3000 Kelvin; if they are placed in the same ceiling with diamonds you should better think of light fixtures over 4200 Kelvin;

» avoid all direct down ceiling lightning and uniform distribution of brightness throughout;

» always bear in mind that outstanding lightning is an investment, not an expense!

» don’t over illuminate;

Hopefully we've shed some light on retail lighting best practices. The above best practices work great for apparel, fashion and jewelry stores especially.