Fagerhult's websites use cookies to enhance user experience and optimization of the site. By browsing, you agree that cookies are used.
x
Fagerhult Innovator
  • Categories

  • Case studies
  • Product
  • Trends
  • Knowledge
  • Portraits
  • Sustainability
  • Insights

Visit fagerhult.com

The science of shopping

There are several visual techniques used in a shop to dictate which products are discovered and how they are interpreted. We might believe we have full control of our purchases and the way we shop – but that is not always the case.

text katarina morén styf photo david holmqvist, istock photo
Facebook LinkedIn Twitter E-mail

All retailers are interested in increasing sales, using advanced and detailed procedures in terms of marketing and displays techniques to influence purchase decisions and light is one of the key factors.

Research suggests that more than 65 percent of buying decisions are made in the physical store. All decisions are made consciously but the products and brands in a shop must pass our non-conscious filter to pop up as a viable choice. This amplifies the importance of the retailer to set the stage – since a lot of valuable decisions are made on site. Jens Nordfält, PhD in store marketing, is dedicated to research and education at the Stockholm School of Economics and at the ICA, one of the Nordic region’s leading retail companies.

“We know that the store experience affects the consumer significantly. Many customers allow themselves to be influenced of what to buy, but also what they should think about a product’s price and quality. In fact, it is impossible to consider a product without being influenced by the perceptual system. And the perception is mainly affected by visual impression”, Jens explains.

There are many factors that affect the decisions made in a shop; the product assortment, the brand, the pricing, how the merchandise is positioned and displayed both in the shop and on the shelves. Research has shown that the shop atmosphere is central; defined by the colours, lighting, scent, sound, design, size and shape. Correlations between feelings such as joy and excitement affect not only the time spent in the shop but also the share of purchases made.

Science2.jpg

As a large percentage of the purchase decisions are made in the shop, the atmosphere is an decisive factor as well as colours used. We believe that the lighting is an important element not only setting an atmosphere but also enhancing and signifying colours of the merchandise. Furthermore the light itself can enhance or generate colours by using Tunable White or RGB.

There are a couple of experiments that have tested the effects of lighting, which is often treated as only one of many elements in the store. To summarise, the research studies show that warm colours draw more attention but conversely cool colours are more appreciated.

These findings are something we at Fagerhult have incorporated in the way we plan light. We have examples where we have illuminated displays positioned next to the walls with blue LED strips casting blue light in the whole shop and using warmer light levels on the actual merchandise. Then we achieve a cool, encouraging atmosphere but also draw attention towards the products. This atmosphere can also be achieved with Tunable White that gives even greater flexibility for the retailer.

Light has been proven to significantly affect two human areas: vision and sense of excitement. Lighting is necessary for us as customers to process the relevant information in the shop, but it can also enhance specific products where the retailer wants to boost sales. In that way, a well planned lighting solution can increase sales.

The commercial impact of a lighting installation can also relate to how well it correlates with the brand values and the total shop experience. These values can be more difficult to measure in direct sales, but we know a good lighting solution can reinforce brand value and give the visitor a better experience, even if the actual purchase is later made on-line.

Lighting is an effective tool when you deliberately want to take the customer around the shop in a predetermined order, and a perfect way to complement and strengthen the effects of the layout of the store.

Retail_science1.jpg
"Lighting is an effective tool when you deliberately want to take the customer around the shop in a predetermined order, and a perfect way to complement and strengthen the effects of the layout of the store." Jens Nordfält, PhD In Store Marketing

We have done tests in shops where we displayed soft drinks bottles with narrow beams and a warm light to bring out the warm colours of the bottles. We compared this with the same display using only the general store lighting, which is very common in supermarkets today.

The customers paid more attention to the accentuated bottles and the sales of those increased. It all comes down to how our eyes and senses work. Our eyes and senses are always looking and searching for the brightest spot, that’s where the information is – no light, no information.

Source: In-store marketing – research and industry knowledge in retail, Jens Nordfält. 2007.

Find inspiration

  • All
  • Case studies
  • Product
  • Trends
  • Knowledge
  • Portraits
  • Sustainability
  • Insights

Repair shops – a new retail category?

Behind that rough and eye-catching shop concept there is an underlying sustainable mind-set for every choice and decision, from walls to the type of f ...

Catching fire

The "Spira Lamp” is a piece of art. It is the vision of designer and artist Ingegerd Råman, realised by Fagerhult in collaboration with skilled partne ...

Labelling the light The six emotions of lighting design

Communication is vital when creating innovative and functional lighting design. When things go wrong it is normally caused by misunderstandings. ...

Ageless but not sharp-eyed. How do we meet the increased lighting needs of an aging population?

Branding interiors – not only in-store

In 1954, Coca-Cola’s advertising slogan was “For people on the go”. Sixty years later the same phrase embodies the design of the company’s new Europea ...

Vialume – designing good light

It’s very easy to understand why one wants to make some effort in the design of an pendant interior luminaire, just like you make an effort with the r ...

Making an entrance

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Lighting is the ”red carpet” of the hospitality industry and one of the most effective ways ...

How to make money on sustainability It’s common sense!

Corporate social responsibility isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Big or small, retailer or supplier, every company needs to be accountable for its actio ...

The revitalization of outdoor lighting control

With advanced lighting control, energy consumption in urban areas can be reduced by 40% – without affecting people’s perceived safety and visual comfo ...

No compromise – The Blue Planet

The Blue Planet is the largest aquarium in northern Europe, with more than 20 000 animals living in 7 million litres of water. From the outside, it’s ...

Expressing and enhancing the qualities of the surrounding

Architectonical lighting, outdoor lighting, exhibitions, discos, shows, operas… Oscar Nyström has done it all. From luxury hotel resorts to super yach ...

Lighting control in retail Attract, Guide, Save

How can you make light personal? To attract customers in a shop, creating an inspiring atmosphere and at the same time increase both sales and energy ...

Industrial Chic

Industrial chic, and rugged pendant lighting in particular, has been a part of the interior designer’s palette for longer than many of us might imagin ...

Involving all senses in retail

An ideal store environment is one that engages our senses. When working with light, we are constantly developing lit experiences focusing on the visua ...

The science of shopping

There are several visual techniques used in a shop to dictate which products are discovered and how they are interpreted. We might believe we have ful ...

Putting the wheels in motion

A total of 188 Evolume pole luminaires have been equipped with e-Sense Motion in a breakthrough project undertaken in conjunction with the Swedish Tra ...

Play with Notor

Defined by a minimalist style that houses so many possibilities, Notor’s flexibility has helped keep it relevant for over 15 years. The technology has ...

Pendant Gallery

Design is a universal language without end, within the form of expression there is something that speaks to all of us. The time when the options were ...

Connecting through fibre and thread

Conventional woven handcraft meets modern lighting in Malin Bobeck’s art pieces. As a Textile designer and artist she creates using optical fibre text ...

Light – the soul of Electronic Dance Music

With his Cloud Nine-tour, artist and producer Kygo has taken musical entertainment to a new level. The creative force behind Kygo’s spectacular light ...

Storytelling in a Virtual Reality 

The consumer won’t buy what you are doing. They buy why you are doing it. Virtual Reality is the new, intriguing way to tell that story. ”It’s so real ...

The electric Advent candelabra – A Swedish lighting phenomenon

No, it is not the Northern Lights but it is still a phenomenon. The electric Advent candelabra are a Swedish lighting tradition that cannot be experie ...

Islands of Light pendant lighting versus office distractions

A study into the use of pendant lighting at a school in Denmark could have lessons for increasing productivity and reducing stress in the workplace. ...

Exploring in adaptable light Little Explorers at Marina Mall in Dubai

Lego is one of the most popular children’s toys in the world. No wonder that, alongside Little Explorers, Majid Al Futtaim Holding have based a seriou ...

History of the lantern

The design of outdoor lighting has always been determined by the shape of the light source. Not anymore. In co-operation with groundbreaking lighting ...

The glittering light of Nordic summer

Devina Solglitter is a creative collaboration between Fagerhult and Orrefors Glasswork. ”I wanted to reflect the glittering light that captures the s ...

The Dandy Lab: Exploring the future of retail

Smart cities, smart homes and now – smart shops. Hyped London pop-up store The Dandy Lab explores the Internet of Things in a physical retail environm ...

Booster Pro Lighting for a premium shop experience

In the Stockholm based Mall of Scandinavia (the largest shopping centre in Scandinavia) the Norwegian cosmetic company Booster Pro opened a shop with ...

The many lives of Dino

Is it a cat? Or is it a chameleon? Architects Lars Pettersson and Morgan Rudberg are the masterminds behind Dino – the luminaire with a versatile char ...

Studio Streck create concepts - No magic, just hard work

When the interior designers at Studio Streck create a shop concept it is always based on the customer’s brand and perspective. This is something they ...

Kitchen Ghosts: Cooking delicious cinemagraphs

Kitchen Ghosts is a duo that has taken the foodie culture to a higher level. By focusing on displaying homemade food and its handcraft in a tasteful w ...

Food trends Lifestyle choices and their effects on food industry

Strong is the new skinny, LCHP instead of LCHF, dieting with Instagram and slow food instead of fast food. How will these trends effect the food indus ...

Food experiences with Tongue Twister

Have you ever thought about how complex food is? We used to say that we eat with our eyes, but are there several key factors to finding stunning flavo ...

70 years of lighting knowledge

Fagerhult is the story of a man who saw the world with new eyes. Who spotted opportunities in technological advancements and in the world around him. ...

Still a toddler, The MSC Lighting Design Programme at Danish Aalborg University, is considered one of the best in the world. In 2017 the programme was ...

Lighting design cowboys aiming for change

It is all about people, not the places. Swedish lighting designers Olsson & Linder are forerunners in Social Lighting, challenging politicians, offici ...

The Lobby - a new retail concept

The increasing online shopping trend within retail has made an impact in all traditional stores. Customers today are placing their order with a click ...

A changing world USA, China and Russia

A decade after the United Nations declared that a tipping point had been reached and more than half the world’s population now lives in urban areas, c ...

Light prophecy A journey into the future of 2025

We are only one year away from when Ridley Scotts adaptation of the Novel “Do androids dream of electric sheep”, more commonly known as Bladerunner, i ...

Proof of the pudding

Throughout the world, innovative designers and employers applying the Well Building Standard to create workplaces that are healthy for body and mind. ...

Skywalker − our brightest shining star

The 2018 Red Dot Award Winner Skywalker gives a brand new perspective on office space lighting. With a touch of magic, the design team from Above and ...

Creating the world’s best conference room Communicator on a crusade

After experiencing hundreds of badly planned conference facilities, communication expert David Phillips is taking things into his own hands. In the be ...

Fabulous Fabian – an icon reincarnated

Fabian is a subtle retro fixture, deeply connected with our innovative heritage. When launched in 1969 Fabian was Sweden’s – maybe even the worlds – e ...

Innovations for better light

Over the last 70 years within the lighting industry various new findings have come our way and we have embraced the change. When we started 1945 there ...

Hästens: A feeling of home

The luxury bed company Hästens new shop concept is based on recreating a feeling of home where you can sit down, have a coffee, read a book or even fa ...

Copenhagen Connected Lighting infrastructure and smart city solutions

Copenhagen brings connectivity to a new level. In the project Copenhagen Connecting the streetlights play a key role in the infrastructure for the new ...

Breakthrough in gerontology?

What if lighting could help the elderly to a happier and healthier life? Actually, it can! A new research project at Lund University indicates that d ...

Convergence: Restaurant Tying the knot. Noma in cross over collaboration with Club Monaco

What is your industry? Retail? Restaurant? Interior Design, Hospitality or Entertainment? And does it really matter? In The Convergence Economy brands ...

Fresh foodie technology There are 2 000 chefs lined up in your kitchen!

After spending hours – and probably a small fortune – searching for the right ingredients, there’s no excuse for bad cooking. So what to do when the r ...

How to make money on sustainability. It’s common sense!

Corporate social responsibility isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Big or small, retailer or supplier, every company needs to be accountable for its actio ...

Back to the future An innovation from the 1990s helped Fagerhult solve the LED equation

All the efficiency and all the visual comfort. How do you solve the light industries trickiest equation? The clues were in the past and the classic r5 ...

Ageless but not sharp-eyed How do we meet the increased lighting needs of an aging population?

We are getting older. Probably wiser. But as the human eye is aging, our needs for light increase dramatically. ”We are talking about raising the reti ...

Details that make a difference

”It is so easy to get caught up in the big words. I prefer the smaller ones. With many small changes you can make a huge difference. It takes knowledg ...

Primary light forms - Bespoke lighting for Fotografiska London

Opening mid 2019, Fotografiska London will be one of the largest museums in the world dedicated to photography. A postmodern architectural universe cr ...

Prep Work The showroom that makes room for the senses

How do you construct a friendly, healthy, and high-performance workspace? A space where conditions are sustainable for the employees and environment a ...

Focus on the human centric lighting

Light is well-being, but it can also be terror. Human centric lighting is, and should not, just be about increasing people’s performance. ”Smart ligh ...

The office of the future

Over the past few decades we have seen office trends come and go. What are the current trends, and what might the office of the future actually look l ...

Enhance your environment The lighting advisors guide to inspiring environments

Investing in exterior lighting designs is an effective way to increase the value and attractiveness of a property. ”Innovative and energy efficient t ...

Behavioral design Psychology that changes thoughts, feelings and actions

What do the toilets at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol have in common with pendant light fittings in Danish primary schools? Both are design initiatives in ...

Lighting controls How to increase lighting quality and lower energy consumption.

Yes! You can eat the cake and have it too… New research from the IT University in Copenhagen suggests that investing in high quality lighting can actu ...

Going to the movies

In the quest to quantify the emotional part of human centric lighting solutions we need to involve the end users. But advanced lighting professional l ...

Material girl. Designer Emma Olbers encourages to material awareness.

Emma Olbers is one of the pioneers in sustainable design. By being consistent in their choice of materials and production, she helps customers and con ...

Don't fear the robots.

The reporting of digitalization and automatization in the media, can sometimes seem dark and pessimistic. Instead of focusing on all the possibilities ...

Bringin the right light to the stage

Lighting designer and Director Alexander Hesse, is currently travelling the world with Swedish House Mafias come back tour. Here we learn his thoughts ...

Storytelling with BIM - White Architects share their view

Soon enough, lighting designs will be integrated directly into BIM models with the help of game technology. Christoffer Sundberg, farsighted BIM-strat ...

Sim Sala BIM! The revolution of the construction process

The construction and real estate market is undergoing a major change where digitization plays the leading role. The magic is spelled BIM – Building In ...

Back to basics! How to put human centric lighting into practice

Do you have neck and shoulder pain? It could be caused by bad lighting. Up to 40 percent of the population is sensitive for visual stimuli like glare ...

Lighting up the darkness Bringing light to places of grief

The cemetery is a place for meetings and farewells, a place associated with a range of emotions and moods. How can you, in a good way, turn a place th ...

Danborg & Kundla The researcher’s guideline to human-centric library lighting

How can lighting be used to create different activity zones that meet the visitors’ needs and enhances the experience in the library? In a new master’ ...

Subscribe for newsletter!
Name
Email
Fagerhult

Innovator is a celebration of the wonderful world of light, drawing inspiration from the latest trends, insights inspiring projects and, most importantly, the people that make it all happen.

Head Office. Fagerhults Belysning AB. SE-566 80 Habo. Sweden +46 36 10 85 00.
Copyright © 2017 AB Fagerhult. All rights reserved.

chevron-down chevron-right facebook linkedin medium mynewsdesk twitter vimeo youtube