How to Select and Design Retail Lighting in 5 Steps

Retail lighting includes all light sources you use to make your space visible and highlight products or areas of your store. You can create a retail lighting plan by layering four different lighting types, incorporating several different fixtures, and choosing light bulbs with brightness and tone in mind.

In this article, we will look at the different types of lighting, bulbs, and fixtures—along with best practices for lighting your store—and what you can expect to spend on your lighting plan.

Why Is Store Lighting Important?

The lighting you choose when opening a retail store is a major part of your merchandising strategy. Effective retail lighting will make your store well-lit and easy to explore and strengthen your displays by highlighting products. It can impact everything from how people shop to the way that customers feel about your business.

Here are some of the reasons lighting is important for your business:

• Guides customers to key areas of your store: Illuminating displays and product areas will draw customers in and make them want to engage with your products.
• Sets a mood: The lighting you choose will determine the ambiance your store elicits, which also plays a role in crafting customer sentiment.
• Creates a backdrop for any shopping experience: Good lighting is the base upon which your store gets built. Without good lighting, nothing in your store will be visible and any other merchandising implementations will be wasted.
• Draws customers in: A well-lit space creates an inviting atmosphere that will entice customers to come and explore.
• Determines how long people want to shop: How well people can see and whether or not your lighting scheme promotes exploration are major factors in keeping customers engaged.

A sleek store design enhanced by a bright and cool-toned lighting scheme. (Source: Relumination)

Let’s take a look at five steps for selecting and designing the lighting that best suits your retail space.

1. Learn the Types of Store Lighting

When lighting your space, there are four different types of lighting that you will layer together to form a cohesive lighting strategy: accent, task, ambient, and decorative lighting. Click through the tabs below to learn when to use each lighting type.

• Accent
• Task
• Ambient
• Decorative

A back-lit open cabinet creates a stunning backdrop for hair products in this trendy salon. (Source: TheSalonBusiness.com)

Spotlight wall sconces highlight new artwork in this gallery. (Source: Louie Lighting Blog)

Accent lighting is used to highlight specific products or key areas, indicating their importance and drawing the eye. Accent lighting helps to guide customers to key products or areas by increasing their visibility or accentuating them.

When considering how you want to use accent lighting, determining your key products will be the first step. This might be your newest products for stores with faster turnover, or it might be your annual best sellers. Either way, giving your key products a visual push through accent lighting will help to promote those products to customers.

When you know what items you want to highlight with accent lighting, it is time to determine what type of accent lighting works best for your space. For stores with less floor space, wall sconces or track lighting might be your best option. For places with more space, you can opt to create a lit shelving wall to pack a punch. Other common types of accent lighting are can lights, picture lights, track or recessed lights, and inner-cabinet lighting.

Chic lights over the register create a bright place for transaction to occur. (Source: WeekendsinRotterdam)

Fitting rooms spruced with extra task lighting create a perfect space to try on clothes.

Task lighting is used to provide light for a specific task or purpose. This includes lighting up the register, where transactions will happen; the fitting rooms, where people will be trying on and evaluating clothes; and your office space, where you fill out paperwork and work each day. Task lighting is used as a supplemental light source anywhere tasks are being done.

You will want to think about what tasks or activities will happen in your store on a regular basis when determining where you want to install task light sources. For most retail businesses, your register will be the first place that comes to mind, but you will also want to think about other tasks that are performed in your store.

For example, at my clothing boutique, we had task lighting throughout our backstock areas, in the fitting rooms, and in the back office. A butcher, on the other hand, will likely want to add task lighting to the meat preparation area, refrigeration rooms, and the office space. Consider the tasks that are essential to your business, and install task lighting where it makes sense.

This shop created ambient lighting using a combination of pot lights and a statement light fixture to create a calming, well-lit space. (Source: Zen Merchandiser)

Ambient lighting is the main lighting source for your store. It is the backdrop on which you will layer other kinds of lighting and creates a comfortable environment for customers to explore your space. Ambient lighting should reach every corner of your store.

While ambient lighting is a backdrop, it does not have to be boring, and you can choose fixtures that make a statement. Anything from chandeliers to simple pot lights will work to light up your store. The main objective is to create even light dispersal, ensuring the visibility is not compromised at any point throughout your space. We will go over how to create this even dispersal later in this article.

The ambient lighting that you choose will also be the main light source for creating your desired store ambiance. You want to be sure you are considering how your ambient lighting choices are impacting the mood your store evokes. For example, at my boutique, we used chandeliers with bright, warm bulbs—bright to make up for the lack of natural light and warm to create a homey and inviting atmosphere.

A creative lighting arrangement creates a stunning window display, beckoning customers inside. (Source: Inspired Magz)

Decorative lighting includes lighting features that serve an aesthetic rather than necessary purpose. Decorative lighting can be used to add embellishment to your space or to add to the ambiance of your storefront.

Decorative lighting can look like anything from an ornamental lamp, to a string of Christmas lights, to a lit window display. Lighting offers a great opportunity for decor and display elements—it’s not always just about keeping things lit.

2. Choose the Right Brightness and Tone

Light bulbs are measured in two ways: brightness and tone. Brightness, as you might expect, refers to how bright the light is. And tone refers to the color of the light, which also correlates with its temperature.

Brightness

When searching for bulbs, brightness will be indicated by lumens. The relationship between brightness and lumens is simple: the greater the lumens, the greater the brightness.

This graph is helpful for understanding the relationship between Lumens and Watts, and can help you determine what lumen level you should look for.

The brightness of bulbs will play a major role in creating an ambiance for your space. You will want to think about whether having a bright space or a dim space will be better for your business. For example, a massage parlor might want to use soft lighting to create a relaxing atmosphere, whereas a hardware store might want bright lighting to maximize visibility.

Later we will go over how to determine if you have enough bulbs to cover your entire space with light. Don’t worry, it’s easy math. But this question can be easily answered by the number of lumens you have throughout your store, so you will want to keep track of that number as you devise your store lighting plan.

Tone

For tone, or the color temperature of your bulb, you will want to look for the number of kelvin associated with the bulb. As the number of kelvin increases, the cooler the tone of your light will be; as the number of kelvin decreases, the warmer the tone of your light will be.

Higher kelvin emit cooler tones, and lower kelvin emit warmer tones.

Just like with brightness, the tone you choose for your lighting will play a major role in setting the ambiance of your space. So, you will want to consider whether warmer or cooler tones will be better suited for your business. Taking the same example as above, the massage parlor will likely opt for warmer tones to set a welcoming mood, where the hardware store will probably choose cooler tones to increase visibility and give a sense of cleanliness.

You can blend different color tones throughout your store, but smaller stores tend to choose one tone and stick with it. When choosing the right one for your store, consider natural light, wall color, and ceiling height. It is best to play around with different lighting options in your space before you settle on a bulb to order in bulk.

3. Select Your Bulb Type

Once you determine the type of light you want your bulbs to emit, it’s time to consider different bulb types. Generally speaking, when choosing your bulb type, no one type of bulb is best for dim or bright uses or for warm or cool tones. Nowadays, you can achieve most lighting schemes with any bulb type.

The factors you will want to consider when choosing which type of bulb you are going to use are average cost, operating life, energy efficiency, color range, and the type of store lighting the bulb is best suited for.

Click through the tabs to learn more about the different types of bulbs:

One of the best places to find a wide variety of inexpensive bulbs available to buy in bulk is 1000bulbs.com. Check out its website to see all that it has to offer.

4. Pick Your Fixtures

The three types of bulbs listed above, in any lumen and color temperature, can be used in a wide variety of light fixtures. Most retail store lighting combines several different types of fixtures with various bulbs to deliver the correct amount of light throughout the space.

Select from the drop-down menu below to learn more about each fixture’s features, best uses, and associated costs.

Flush Recessed

• Features: Flush with the ceiling; customizable trim finishes; uniform light distribution
• Best for: Low ceiling heights; ambient and accent lighting
• Cost of fixture: $10–$50

Exposed Canister

• Features: Exposed canister; customizable trim finishes; uniform light distribution
• Best for: Industrial or open ceiling designs; ambient and accent lighting
• Cost of fixture: $5–$30

Eye Ball Down Spot

• Features: Strong, precise light source pointed downward; small in size; small light coverage area
• Best for: Accent and task lighting
• Cost of fixture: $10–$50

Adjustable

• Features: Adjustable to point light anywhere; strong, precise light source; small light coverage area
• Best for: Accent and task lighting
• Cost of fixture: $20–$50

Pendant

• Features: Many styles to choose from; needs fewer bright bulbs because suspended closer to ground; even light dispersal
• Best for: Small spaces; decorative, accent, and task lighting
• Cost of fixture: $100–$1,000

For suspended lights like pendant lights, a good rule to follow is to leave 7 feet of clearance from the bottom of the fixture to the floor, and when mounting above a table, leave 30 to 36 inches of room from the bottom of the fixture to the table.

Reel

• Features: Minimalist design; diffuses light evenly; recessed bulb; size options
• Best for: Ambient lighting
• Cost of fixture: $50–$150

Flush Light Panel

• Features: No visible bulbs; flush with ceiling; many styles to choose from; large in size
• Best for: Ambient and decorative lighting; low ceiling heights
• Cost of fixture: $40–$250

Suspended Luminary

• Features: Many style options; diffuse light evenly; exposed fixture; illuminates large surface areas
• Best for: High ceiling spaces; ambient lighting
• Cost of fixture: $100–$1,000

Full Room Luminous Ceiling

• Features: Even lighting throughout entire space; completely concealed light source; makes space appear bigger; many style options; laborious installation
• Best for: Large spaces; ambient lighting
• Cost of fixture: $10–$500

Suspended Mounted Luminary

• Features: Attached directly to ceiling; disperses light evenly over large areas; many different style options
• Best for: Ambient lighting
• Cost of fixture: $50–$500

Track Lighting

• Features: Highly customizable; multi-directional light dispersal; adjustable options; can cover large or precise areas with light
• Best for: Ambient, task, or accent lighting
• Cost of fixture: $20–$200

Surface Mounted Fixture

• Features: Low profile; many different style types; disperses light evenly over medium-sized areas; easy to install
• Best for: Tight ceiling spaces; ambient and task lighting
• Cost of fixture: $15–$150

Coffered Light Recess

• Features: Concealed by sunken ceiling feature; soft, widely dispersed light source; makes your space feel taller and more open; typically requires custom installation
• Best for: Ceilings with sunken or coffered features; ambient lighting
• Cost of fixture: $70–$700

Suspended Hanging

• Features: Many style options; disperse light evenly over medium-sized areas; typically placed in sets
• Best for: High ceiling spaces; ambient and task lighting
• Cost of fixture: $100–$1,000

5. Set Up and Price Your Store Lighting

Now that you know the basics, you’re ready to put your retail store lighting plan together by layering the four types of lighting using different fixtures and a cohesive tone. The easiest method is to sketch out your lighting ideas onto your retail store floor plan. You can do this using tracing paper over your store’s blueprint, or you can use an online store layout and design tool, like SmartDraw.

However you handle it, the five-step, bottom-up lighting design approach covered below is an easy way to get the results you want and ensure that light covers your entire space.

Highlight Your Merchandise With Accent Lighting

By starting with your accent lights, you can build a lighting design with evenly dispersed pops of illumination exactly where you want them.

For example, the boutique pictured above started with versatile ceiling-mounted track lighting and spotlights along the perimeter to highlight its wall product displays:

• Fixtures: (8) 4 bulb adjustable track light systems (~$100 each); (4) spotlights (~$50 each)
• Bulbs: 36 LED bulbs (~$12 each)
• Total Estimated Cost: $1,432

Brighten Your Workspaces With Task Lighting

Task lighting, which generally covers a larger area than accent lights, is the lighting type you will layer on to your space. For this, think “what tasks or activities are performed in my shop every day? Let’s light up the places where those tasks occur to make them easier and more pleasant.”

The boutique pictured above added a series of pendant lights over the checkout counter, and (not pictured) sconces into its fitting rooms and back office.

• Fixtures: (6) flea market pendant light fixtures (~$75 each); (4) wall sconces (~$90 each)
• Bulbs: 10 LED bulbs (~$12 each)
• Total Estimated Cost: $930

Add Interest With Decorative Lighting

Once your accent and task lighting elements are in place, see if you have any lighting “holes” or areas that could benefit from a statement piece. For example, in the exterior shot of the boutique above, funky LED signs were placed in the window display to create visual interest where the owner felt it was lacking.

• Fixtures: (9) LED signs (~$45 each)
• Bulbs: NA
• Total Estimated Cost: $405

Decorative lighting is the lighting type best for attracting the eye and communicating your brand, so be creative and enjoy the design freedom. The right fixture in the right place can make your store memorable. However, decorative lighting must also be in line with your brand to be memorable in a positive light. For example, if this fun and funky boutique had chosen to install sleek, contemporary chandeliers, the decorative light would become a distraction, rather than an enhancement of the space.

Fill in the Gaps With Ambient Lighting

Use ambient lighting to fill in the lighting gaps between your accent, task, and decorative fixtures. Those elements need to be placed first so you can identify and fill in any gaps with ambient lighting, like this boutique does using track lighting systems to illuminate the center of the store.

• Fixtures: (6) 4 bulb adjustable track light systems (~$100 each)
• Bulbs: 24 LED bulbs (~$12 each)
• Total Estimated Cost: $888

Review Your Lighting Plan

When finalizing your lighting plan, there are a few things you should consider: staying on budget and code and lighting the entirety of your space. This includes reviewing your estimated cost, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and International Energy Conservation Code* (IECC) requirements, and your estimated light coverage based on your lumen count.

Pricing Your Retail Lighting Plan

Adding up the light fixtures and bulbs for this boutique’s lighting plan, the total approximate cost comes to $3,655. Some of our preferred sources for quality and cost-effective bulbs and fixtures include:

• 1000bulbs.com
• Lumens
• Alcon Lighting
• Wipro
• Access Lighting
• Cooledge
• LED Supply Co.

Of course, any wiring, retrofitting, or installation needs also impact the actual cost of any lighting plan. But the five-step layered lighting approach covered above gives you a head-start in judging your overall fixture and bulb needs, plus an idea of how much you are going to spend.

ADA and IECC Requirements

For commercial buildings, there are certain requirements that you have to meet per the ADA and IECC. You will want to be sure that you review these requirements and compliance to avoid penalties in the future.

*The IECC is a uniform standard that applies across state lines. There are, however, state-specific codes (ASHRAE/IES 90.1) that you can choose to implement instead. The IECC references ASHRAE/IES 90.1 as an alternative standard, providing a choice to businesses.

• ADA Requirements
• IECC Requirements

• Wall sconces should be no more than 4” from the wall.
• Lights that are less than 27” or more than 80” from the floor do not have depth requirements.
• Wall sconces should be between 2’4” and 6’8” from the floor.
• Light switches should be no more than 48” from the ground.
• Table lamp switches must be within 25” of reach.
• Table lamp switches should be less than 44” from the floor.
• Table and floor lamps should have 30” perimeter of navigation space.
• Lights cannot obstruct bathroom or light switch access.

(Source: Lighting Controls Association)

Light Coverage

To ensure that your plan will look great in real life, you will want to go back to your total lumens.

The Lighting Research Center recommends that retail stores aim for an ambient light measurement of 1.5 to 2.5 lumens per cubic foot. To calculate this, you first need to calculate the cubic area of your retail space, using this formula: Width x Length x Height of your sales floor = Total Cubic Area.

Then, multiply that total by 1.5-2.5 to get an estimate of appropriate lumens for the space.

After you figure up the total lumens needed to light the space, add up the total lumens provided by the bulbs in your lighting plan. Does the total number of lumens in your plan come close to the lumens needed per your cubic foot formula? If it’s close, then you’re on track. If your plan’s total lumens is greater, you can pare back lighting in some areas. If it’s lower than the recommended amount, you may need to fill in some gaps with more ambient lighting.

Bottom Line

Designing a retail store lighting scheme involves many factors, including bulbs and fixtures and accent, task, decorative, and ambient lighting. Using the process and tips covered above, you are ready to develop a retail lighting plan that keeps your space visible and enhances both your customer experience and your brand.

To learn about other visual merchandising practices and how you can implement them effectively, check out our visual merchandising guide.