Increase sales, safety, and security with a business lighting plan.  A few of these tips can make a big difference if you need to show merchandise to its best advantage.

Try to:

• Put the light source close to the merchandise.
• For accent lighting, use narrow beam spotlights such as halogen PARs or MR-16s.
• For ambient lighting, use diffuse sources such as fluorescent lights.
• Increase aisle illumination with spill light from the accented merchandising areas or displays.
• Paint the lightest colors on the interior surfaces of shelving
• Organize your light fixtures patterns - chaotic patterns may confuse or fatigue your customers.
• Use the fewest types of lamps to get the desired effect, reducing the need to purchase, maintain, and manage a wide variety.
• General merchandise lighting should be about 3 times brighter than aisle lighting.
• Place quick turnover and impulse items under highly lit, color-corrected lighting for best brand and feature recognition.
• To highlight featured merchandise, use track lighting and make its lighting up to 15 times brighter than in the aisles.
• Make use of dimmer switches to establish the atmosphere in restaurants of upscale shops.
• Let spot lighting point out special goods in window displays.
• Invite customers in by using bollard fixtures to light a welcoming path to your business.
• Accompany overhead office lighting with task lighting designed for each job function to ensure optimum employee productivity.
• Install quality fixtures and lamps to reduce maintenance costs.

Be careful not to:

• Use incandescent lights for everything
• Rely only on track lighting rather than a mix of fixed location lighting
• Use floodlights rather than spotlights
• Accent everything, emphasizing nothing in particular (lack of focus)
• Settle for spotty, erratic lighting (you need ambient light to clearly see merchandise)
• Have random fixture layouts( cause visual chaos)
• Allow too many shiny surfaces
• Install black ceilings
• Decorate in dark finishes