The Latest Research on Retail Lighting Design

Lighting as Part of a Holistic Retail Experience

Studies of retail design often focus on singular elements such as store layout, failing to acknowledge that the act of shopping is always a multisensory, holistic experience. A 2025 study by the University of Kent sought to change this, examining flagship retail environments on Oxford Street, including Lush, Disney, and Primark. The research analysed atmospherics such as lighting, layout, flow, and sensory cues alongside observed shopper behaviour.

In stores such as Lush and Disney, lighting reinforced brightness, colour, and product visibility, contributing to perceptions of energy, enjoyment, and immersion. By contrast, Primark’s lighting supported efficient, task-focused shopping. Shoppers were willing to accept a less enjoyable environment when their goal was rapid product acquisition. For retailers, this highlights that lighting should align with store purpose and brand positioning rather than follow generic standards.

The study’s author, Cariad Martin, notes:

“The process of shopping online is relatively one-dimensional, certainly not multisensory, and generally would be difficult for shoppers to differentiate much between shopping with one brand or another. This means that shoppers are much more likely to revert back to price being the sole factor when deciding between similar products.”

“Multisensory, interactive retail experiences allow retailers to differentiate their goods from similar goods on the market, something that is significantly more difficult to do with ecommerce.”

Exterior Lighting Affects Shopping Decisions

A 2025 research paper, The Influence of Fashion Retailers on Customer Psychology Using Visual Merchandising and Store Layout to Improve Shopping Decision provides strong evidence that lighting influences how customers notice, enter, and navigate retail environments.

The authors describe the window display as the store’s ‘first line of offence’, acting as a direct and immediate connection between the shopper and the merchandise. Lighting plays a key role in this interaction by enhancing visibility, creating contrast, and supporting visual storytelling.

Key insights from the paper include:

Well-designed exterior lighting helps create strong first impressions, particularly during evening or low-light conditions.
Effective lighting increases the visibility of window displays, signage, and entrances, making stores easier to recognise and more inviting to approach.
Brand colours, logos, and exterior lighting work together to strengthen brand identity and differentiation in competitive retail environments.

The study concludes that: ‘Exterior lighting emerges as one of the most influential factors in shaping consumer behaviour and decision-making processes,’ and ‘Such findings underscore the importance of investing in high-quality, thoughtfully designed exterior lighting as an integral component of retail strategy, with a clear and measurable impact on attracting and engaging potential customers.’

Interior Lighting Affects Shopping Decisions

The same study highlights the importance of interior lighting once customers enter the store.

Adequate and well-distributed lighting allows customers to see fine details in fabrics, finishes, and colours, supporting confident product evaluation. Brighter environments are consistently associated with higher perceived value, better ambience, and more positive brand impressions. In the paper, the authors use the example of retailers like H&M, which use this concept to create a clean, well-lit shopping atmosphere that promotes a sense of value and quality.

The study concludes that ‘The impact of interior lighting on customer shopping decisions is substantial and statistically significant.’

Light Influences Visual Perception and Product Evaluation

A 2025 study published in the Journal of Business Research uncovered how lighting influences perceived product size. The research found that under bright lighting, certain products with convex shapes appear larger to customers — which shifts visual attention and can affect judgement of product desirability.

Why this matters: lighting changes how products look in customers’ eyes, not just whether they can see them. This can influence choice, perceived value, and how merchandise is evaluated relative to competitors on display.

Why Lighting is a Strategic Retail Investment

“The latest research presents a consistent message: lighting is not decorative. It is a foundational element of retail design that supports experience, perception, and behaviour,” says Dave Hughes, Head of Lighting Design at Fagerhult.

Key evidence-based insights include:

Exterior and interior lighting are linked to store entry, exploration, and in-store behaviour.
Lighting influences psychological comfort, mood, and well-being in retail spaces.
Brightness and light quality affect how products are visually perceived and evaluated.

Fagerhult combines research-led insight with technical expertise to help retailers translate evidence into lighting solutions that support both brand experience and commercial performance. Get in touch with our team to learn more about how we can help you.

Related News

Reducing Waste and Supporting Seasonal Retail Needs

Retail stores frequently update their layouts for seasonal campaigns. Whether transitioning from summer to winter collections, Christmas to spring promotions, or rotating promotional zones, these changes almost always involve moving displays, fixtures, and signage. When spotlights remain fixed as layouts shift, lighting often ends up directed at empty floors or blank walls. This wastes energy and undermines display impact, making it a key area for improving efficiency strategies. The business case for efficient seasonal lighting According to the Carbon Trust Green Business Fund, energy management is increasingly seen as a profitable focus for retailers: a 20% reduction in energy costs can deliver the same bottom-line benefit as a 5% increase in sales. JW-Q Reducing waste in seasonal lighting layouts is part of this opportunity. Staff awareness and training, intelligent fixture selection, and adaptive control systems all contribute. “Lighting should be a tool that adapts alongside the store, rather than a fixed overhead,” explains Johan. “Displays should stay well lit; empty spaces stay dark. That supports sustainability and operational efficiency without compromising the visual impact or customer experience.” LED technology: directional light for dynamic layouts Movable LED spotlights are well suited to stores with frequently changing displays because they provide directional, controllable, and efficient illumination. “Unlike fixed lighting, these spotlights allow staff to re-aim fixtures more easily as layouts change, ensuring light is used where it’s needed most. For even greater flexibility, some spotlights are mounted on tracks, allowing them to be repositioned forward and back, as well as swiveled to adjust the direction of light – though not all LED spotlights offer this capability. Their efficiency and long lifespan also reduce operational costs and waste,” adds Johan. LED technology continues to evolve rapidly. At Fagerhult, we track these developments closely to ensure our lighting solutions take full advantage of the latest advancements. Staff awareness and training Educating store teams to understand lighting zones, switch off unused areas, and re-aim spotlights after layout changes can deliver savings. “In a retail context where displays shift frequently, encouraging staff to check and adjust lighting after each change helps ensure light stays focused on products, not empty space,” says Johan. “Teams should know how to operate equipment and controls correctly, and understand the impact on visual impact, cost, and sustainability.” Other simple practices that help to reduce waste include regularly cleaning windows and fixtures. According to the Carbon Trust Green Business Fund’s energy-efficiency guide, light levels can drop by up to 30% over just a few years without routine maintenance. A “switch off” policy combined with clear labelling of switches and zones can also reduce lighting costs by up to 15%. Smart and adaptable lighting controls Even with directional LED fixtures in place, lighting can still be misaligned during seasonal display changes. Smart controls allow lights to adapt quickly to shifting layouts, ensuring products and promotional zones are always highlighted appropriately. Features such as zoning, dimming, timers, occupancy sensors, daylight sensors, and schedule-based scenes enable lighting to respond dynamically to store activity and seasonal changes. This flexibility ensures the right areas are lit at the right intensity, supporting both visual impact and operational efficiency. By integrating smart controls with directional fixtures, retailers can ensure that lighting aligns with every seasonal layout change, keeping merchandise in focus while reducing energy wasted on unoccupied spaces. Practical takeaways for retailers For retailers, optimising seasonal display lighting comes down to three core strategies: Invest in directional spotlight LED lighting that is energy-efficient, long-lasting, and compatible with flexible mounting and smart controls. Implement smart lighting controls such as zoning, dimming, occupancy sensors, and daylight harvesting to ensure lights adapt automatically to changing layouts and store activity. Provide staff training to ensure lighting is aligned with seasonal changes, zones are managed efficiently, and maintenance is carried out consistently. “When combined, these strategies create a responsive lighting system that adapts to store needs, maximises the impact of seasonal displays, and minimises energy waste,” says Johan. “Lighting is transformed from a fixed overhead into a dynamic asset that supports merchandising, sustainability, and operational efficiency simultaneously.” For Fagerhult, these principles underpin an approach that aligns environmental responsibility with commercial practicality. Stores using adaptable LED systems and trained staff are well-positioned to deliver vibrant seasonal displays while reducing energy use and operational costs. If you’re looking to optimise your store’s lighting, get in touch with the Fagerhult team. Our retail lighting specialists can help you find the right solution for your space.

Lighting the Way: Creating Inclusive Retail Spaces

Dave Hughes, Head of Lighting Design at Fagerhult, shares his thoughts on how strategic lighting choices can enhance accessibility, comfort, and the overall shopping experience for everyone. Retail lighting has evolved far beyond its traditional role of simply illuminating spaces, products, or displays. Today, it plays a crucial part in shaping the overall shopping experience, creating an inviting, comfortable, and inclusive environment that works for both customers and staff, and showcases the products housed within. From a design perspective, truly inclusive retail spaces should not only reflect a brand’s identity and aesthetic but also enhance accessibility, wellbeing, and engagement. Thoughtfully designed lighting can make all the difference, influencing mood, navigation, and even purchasing decisions. To explore the role of lighting in fostering an inclusive retail experience, we spoke to Dave Hughes - Head of Lighting Design at Fagerhult - to gain his expert insights on how lighting can help transform retail spaces for everyone. Tell us a bit about your background. I’ve been with Fagerhult for just over eight years, primarily as a Retail Design Manager, and I recently stepped into the role of Head of Lighting Design. Before that, I spent over 11 years at iGuzzini, progressing from a Junior to a Senior Designer. I also have a background in product design, which definitely complements my current role. What does inclusivity mean for you, in your role? Inclusive lighting is about recognising and responding to the diverse needs of individuals, creating spaces that are welcoming, functional, and emotionally enriching for everyone. You can’t, therefore, take a one-size-fits-all approach, as what works for one person may not be suitable for another. What kinds of conditions do you take into account when considering lighting solutions for inclusive retail environments? We consider how lighting can best support a wide range of needs, from people with disabilities, people with health conditions, neurodivergent conditions, people with sight loss, as well as older customers. This is why there isn’t one, single recommended approach. For instance, someone with autism may prefer calm, low-light environments, while an older shopper may require higher light levels to read clearly. Balancing those needs in one space, like a busy bookstore, can be a challenge. We’ve worked on projects specifically aimed at supporting neurodiverse individuals, including those with autism. In one case for a major banking group, we collaborated with a charity to better understand the needs of autistic customers. We walked through a branch together, and they highlighted specific lighting triggers, such as areas that were too bright, high in contrast or glare, which could cause discomfort or distress. Based on their feedback, we provided tailored recommendations to help create a more supportive environment. It’s encouraging to see businesses increasingly aware of the diverse challenges customers may face and actively seeking ways to reduce those triggers through thoughtful design. What are the core principles you follow for inclusive lighting design? Reducing glare and avoiding high contrast is key. We advise a softer light scheme to avoid this. Sensory or breakout rooms are also starting to appear in retail spaces. These quiet, personalised spaces often feature adjustable lighting. They’re still relatively rare, but they can be a valuable addition for creating more inclusive and supportive environments. It pays to be aware that, in some cases, well-planned lighting schemes can be undermined during commissioning, for example when spotlights are repositioned to highlight a particular product without consideration for how that could impact the overall environment. What starts as a glare-free setup can quickly become uncomfortable if fixtures are aimed too sharply. Have technologies like control systems helped with inclusivity? Absolutely. Control systems have allowed far more flexibility. With digital lighting control systems like DALI or Casambi, you can customise environments more easily than with traditional mains voltage setups. Casambi offers wireless control via apps, making it easy to tweak lighting without rewiring, ideal for creating flexible retail spaces. These systems allow for more responsive, user-friendly environments, helping to make retail lighting both inclusive and efficient. How do you balance a brand’s aesthetic with inclusivity, comfort, and sustainability? It all has to be considered from the beginning. Too often, these essential considerations get brought into the conversation late, which makes integration harder. For inclusivity and brand aesthetics, it’s about compromise and prioritising the most critical needs for the environment you’re creating. At Fagerhult, we focus heavily on sustainability too, exploring new materials like hemp-based composites, and recycled aluminium in our fittings. What does the future look like for inclusive retail spaces? Creating inclusive retail environments is a balancing act, merging brand aesthetics, accessibility, sustainability, and comfort. Thoughtful lighting schemes play a crucial role, from reducing glare and contrast to enabling flexible, calming atmospheres for people with different sensory preferences. I’ve seen retailers now leveraging advanced technology to gain deeper insights into customer behaviour. With complete store mapping, a combination of cameras and sensors can be used to track movement throughout a space. One fascinating aspect of this technology is its ability to distinguish between staff and customers. By analysing movement patterns, the system can recognise individuals who spend extended periods in the store and automatically classify them as staff members. Though it doesn’t identify individuals personally, it can tag and follow a single person’s movements anonymously to build behavioural insights. Some stores have also integrated cameras into digital screens, adding another layer of data collection. These cameras can estimate a shopper’s age and gender in real time and link this information to heat mapping, allowing retailers to track how different demographics navigate the store. Additionally, facial expression analysis enables the system to gauge reactions to advertisements or displays, whether a person is engaged, indifferent, or even frowning. While this level of detail may seem daunting to some, it also opens up possibilities for enhancing the shopping experience, and could contribute to creating more inclusive environments. For example, if the system detects an elderly shopper, it could theoretically adjust lighting levels in their vicinity to improve visibility. However, implementing such personalised adjustments in a busy retail environment remains a significant challenge, and it’s not being commonly adopted – yet! This technology represents a powerful shift in retail analytics, offering opportunities for both businesses and customers, provided it is used ethically and with privacy in mind. While still early days, it’s a powerful reminder that the future of retail lighting isn’t just smart, it’s human-centred.

How New Colour Standards Could Change Retail Lighting

A customer stops at a cosmetics stand to try a lipstick. In the design studio, the colour was vibrant and flattering. Under the store spotlight it looks muted, and later, in daylight, it shifts again. The product hasn’t changed – the light has. For decades, retailers have used the Colour Rendering Index (CRI) to judge how lighting reveals colour. Colour rendering refers to the ability of a light source to accurately show the true colours of objects compared to a reference or natural light source. CRI gave the industry a shared benchmark, but it was built on narrow foundations. Today, a newer approach, Colour Fidelity Index (Rf) metrics, offers a broader way to evaluate how faithfully light sources render colours, but it is not without its challenges. To understand what this means for retailers, we spoke with Henrik Clausen, Director of the Fagerhult Lighting Academy. CRI: A Useful but Incomplete Measure The Colour Rendering Index was introduced more than 50 years ago by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) and is still widely used in standards and specifications. CRI evaluates a light source using just eight test colours – soft, pastel shades that do not reflect the richness of real retail environments. HC quote The CIE has itself noted that ‘for some types of light sources, the CRI does not agree well with overall perceived colour rendering,’ particularly in cases of LED lighting with narrow-band spectral components – an issue that becomes especially relevant for saturated tones and complex materials. Rf: A Broader and More Comprehensive Measure The Rf metric, defined in the publications CIE 224:2017 and IES TM-30, was created to address these limitations. Instead of eight references, Rf evaluates 99 colour samples, selected to represent a broad range of real-world materials. Why Precision Matters in Retail In practice, much of retail design is built around appearance and perception. Premium packaging, cosmetics, fashion textiles, and even fresh food are all developed under specific lighting conditions. If colours shift when displayed in stores, the intended impression is lost. Rf metrics were designed to provide lighting specifiers with a broader toolset to preserve those intended appearances across a wider range of tones. “Rf could help to replicate the designer’s vision more faithfully,” Henrik says. “That is the real advantage for retail. The colours of a product or package are shown the way they were meant to be seen.” Image-colours Henrik was cautious, however, to note that end customers are unlikely to notice the difference directly.Instead, the benefit is mainly for specifiers and purchasing teams, who can use Rf data to help ensure consistency across stores and product categories; a high Rf is generally more likely to provide consistency than a high Ra. However, as the CIE notes, two different light sources with the same Rf value can still render the appearance of specific objects differently, so lighting booths will likely still be necessary to ensure accurate colour rendition across a range of sources. Since CRI is long-established, both CRI and Rf will continue to appear on product sheets for the foreseeable future. But the shortcomings of CRI are clear: a light can score highly while still distorting saturated or complex colours. Rf reveals these gaps by showing how a source performs across a much wider range of references. Customers Don’t Notice the Lights – But They Notice the Results While end customers are unlikely to consciously notice the difference between CRI and Rf, purchasing teams can use Rf data to increase the likelihood of consistency across stores and product categories. The benefit is indirect: customers may not name the technology, but they experience greater consistency in presentation when retailers apply it carefully. “Customers won’t walk in and say, ‘This is Rf lighting,’” Henrik points out. “But they will see products as they were designed to look, and that creates a sense of quality and trust.” Trade-offs and Practical Challenges Henrik noted important trade-offs with adopting Rf: higher colour rendering often means lower light output for the same energy input, raising environmental considerations. “There are pros and cons,” Henrik said. “More accuracy in specification is the benefit. But it is harder to measure, and you can lose efficiency if you push for the highest rendering levels.” The key recommendation is to carefully balance colour rendering accuracy with practical considerations such as energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness. He also pointed out that in practice, specifying exact values can be challenging, which is why Fagerhult often works with ranges such as ‘above 80’ or ‘above 90’ rather than precise figures. This approach gives customers confidence in quality without over-promising on measurement precision. The CIE also points out in its Position Statement on Colour Quality Metrics that the colour fidelity index alone does not encompass all aspects of colour quality; in particular it does not characterise colour preference. The Road Ahead Henrik underlined that Fagerhult has not yet adopted Rf metrics in its product documentation but is monitoring developments: “We are keeping track of what’s going on, and if customers want documentation in that way, then we’ll move. Our role is to support retailers with the standards and tools they find most valuable, helping them create lighting that reflects their products and brand as intended.” Take the Next Step in Retail Lighting Understanding and applying colour metrics can give retailers a competitive edge – ensuring products are seen as intended, building trust with customers, and strengthening brand perception. Fagerhult is here to guide you through this evolving landscape, balancing colour fidelity, efficiency, aesthetics, and practical considerations. Connect with our experts at Fagerhult to explore how precise lighting solutions can elevate your stores and bring your brand vision to life; get in touch.

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Related News

Reducing Waste and Supporting Seasonal Retail Needs

Lighting the Way: Creating Inclusive Retail Spaces

How New Colour Standards Could Change Retail Lighting