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The right lighting can turn a simple store display into a powerful sales tool, drawing customers in and encouraging them to interact with your brand and merchandise.
For this article, we sat down with Eric Roth, Jay Rivard, and Steve Langsdale, three retail display experts at Frank Mayer, to discuss the role lighting plays in point of purchase. Here are their insights.
Today, it’s not uncommon to see lighting on a retail display. In fact, brands utilize it for a variety of reasons, including to make displays more attention-grabbing and dynamic, set a mood, illuminate product, and help direct attention to specific areas or features. Furthermore, it can also enhance brand image with large lit headers or logos.
All these use cases play a role in how customers perceive your brand and merchandise.
“Any element on the display, including lighting, influences the perception of the product,” Roth explains. “Think about when you see a cheap-looking display. It’s easy to assume the product represented is cheap, too.”
He continues, “The same goes for a high-end display that uses elements like lighting. It illustrates the merchandise is high-end, as well.”
Steve Langsdale expands. “In addition to perceived value, lighting can also highlight textures, finishes, and specific parts of a product, helping them look more appealing to a shopper.”
Ultimately, the right lighting strategy can transform a store display from functional to engaging, creating a lasting impression that resonates with shoppers and reinforces your brand’s identity.
Often, the objectives of the display will determine the best lighting. For instance, Rivard states LED lights are commonly used for backlit graphics or illuminated product decks, so attention is pulled to the merchandise.
Langsdale adds how spotlights can be used to draw attention to key areas on a display, while backlighting is a popular method to place behind shelves, graphics, or displays to create a glow and make the display pop.
And when it comes to choosing the right colors? Cool lights tend to enhance blues and whites while warm lights draw out colors like red and yellow.
At the end of the day, Roth points to the importance of zeroing in on what effect the lighting is meant to do. “Discussing the goals in advance with the client helps the display provider choose the right options,” he says. “Just like in your home, lighting is used for many things. Sometimes only ambient lighting is needed, while other times task lighting might be required.”
Sometimes, even the type of retail environment affects the kind of lighting used.
Performing a survey to confirm what ambient lighting a location uses is often helpful in determining colors and temperatures for store display lighting.
“Big box stores typically have bright lighting, which works best for visibility and navigation,” Langsdale says. “For displays in these environments, you may opt for brighter or different-toned lighting to stand out.”
While lighting may not be the most groundbreaking aspect of retail display design, evolving trends and subtle innovations continue to shape its role in point of purchase.
Probably the most noticeable trend is that it’s becoming more common for displays to have lit elements overall.
“Just a few years ago, LED lighting wasn’t a cost-effective option,” Rivard adds. “Now, it is.”
Additionally, Langsdale lists a couple other trends.
First, dynamic and programmable lighting is seeing a surge. This interactivity engages shoppers with movement and themes, helping to create a specific mood or vibe.
Secondly, motion sensor-controlled lighting is also being integrated into retail displays. Not only does it attract attention, but this option conserves energy when the display isn’t actively engaged.
Retail display lighting can be an effective way to enhance product appeal and draw shopper attention. By thoughtfully incorporating lighting into your merchandising display, you elevate the in-store experience and reinforce your brand image to shoppers.
