More than just lighting.
Dynamic lighting concepts
A service-oriented knowledge centre for all those who want to know more about the topic of light.
Refurbish now and be ready for the technology shift.
Where there is light, there is life.
Insights - Inspirations - Visions
E-Line Pro
Do you need help?
Make contact
The retail trade is dead - long live the retail trade. After immense competitive pressure from online and fears over the decline of city centres, companies are now rediscovering the strength of their local presence. It is no longer just about selling products. Customer experience, brand identity, and inspiration are at the heart of today's shop concepts. Guido Fox, Global Business Development Manager Retail at TRILUX, explains what the retail sector is currently exploring, where it's heading, and the role lighting plays.
Everyone wants and needs thriving retail in city centres. The classic shopping trip remains highly relevant for citizens. According to "The Future of Retail" study by management consultants PwC Germany, bricks-and-mortar retail is still the most frequented shopping channel in the country and a key driver of attractive city centres. Many cities are therefore working with retailers to test new concepts to revitalise these areas, for example, merging a mix of shopping, dining, and leisure activities. This turns an ordinary stroll into "experience shopping," encouraging longer visits. And businesses are embracing the opportunity to trial new formats under the banner: "Retail? Absolutely, but differently!
Retailers focus on what they can do better than online-only retailers: Creating experiences, building relationships and conveying the brand identity. Shops are designed less as places of consumption and more as places for social meetings. The result is hybrid concepts comprising a store, café, event location and co-working spaces. Large shopping malls are also adopting mixed-use models. Loop5 in Wiesbaden, for example, was extensively refurbished into a hybrid space combining shopping and entertainment, with attractions like a two-storey slide tower, water playground, and freefall tower. This trend is known as "retailtainment" – a fusion of retail and entertainment. Hot off the press are smart stores, AI-supported processes and self-checkout systems for greater customer friendliness and profitability. Meanwhile, multi-channel retailing blends the digital and physical worlds: traditional retailers are opening online shops, and online brands are launching physical stores to improve customer service and returns.
Store design must now create emotional experiences for customers. After all, customers aren't just shopping; they want to be inspired. This often means rethinking interiors, sometimes reducing retail space to make room for themed zones or experiences. The newly created areas are used in a variety of ways, for example, for art or history, ideally with reference to the product or location. For instance, the Japanese fashion company Uniqlo has set up "Culture Corners" in some prestigious shops to highlight its sustainability. Other brands are experimenting with artificial intelligence. The beauty group SHISEIDO commissioned the AI service provider Magnific.ai to create a store design - and drew inspiration from it for their Tokyo branch. Flexibility and sustainability play an important role in the implementation. The store's infrastructure must be open for future remodelling and have a high level of recyclability.
Design and lighting work hand in hand to shape a space. They should be conceived as one, both functionally and atmospherically. Lighting supports the customer journey on three levels: light to see (basic, normative lighting), light to look at (accents and highlights), and light to be seen (luminaire design, light art).
The quality of light is also crucial for the shopping experience. For example, excellent colour rendering is important in the beauty and fashion sector so customers can perceive colours realistically. Here, it is worth paying attention to a CRI>90 and high colour saturation at the desired wavelengths. Other seemingly small technical details often make a big difference, such as the choice of optical systems, which will impact the lighting effect (facetted, lens or free-form systems) the beam angles, and image quality. The illumination of vertical surfaces with special asymmetrical light distributions is also important in retail.
Smart lighting isn't mandatory - but its potential means it's now included in most modern store concepts. One reason for this is energy savings. Shops with a lot of daylight, such as DIY stores, can significantly reduce energy costs for lighting with daylight control. Added to this is the enormous flexibility that a smart networked system offers, for example, when changing the product range or remodelling a shop. Classic lighting management features used by retailers are individually programmed time-based scenes, such as illuminating shop windows in the evening. Plug-and-play lighting management solutions such as LiveLink Retailmake setup easy. As a rule, the luminaires are networked wirelessly and commissioned according to the lighting design specifications. Wired systems can also be personalised using LiveLink One App. Crucially, stricter CO₂ reduction targets (Scope 2) are now pushing retailers towards energy-efficient smart lighting. Smart lighting is set to become the new retail standard with its simplicity and effectiveness.
Many thanks for your feedback about this article
Select a different country or region to view content for your location.
Select how or where you would like to share this page.
Head office UK
TRILUX House Winsford Way Boreham Interchange Essex CM2 5PD
TRILUX ONE is your personal e-business platform. It bundles all important information and supports you in all processes related to your new lighting.
An error has occurred.
