Lighting in Design Q2 2022

Connected lighting in the retail market Grocery and large retail have been forced to adapt to the evolving landscape, accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. Customer expectations have shifted with the influx of online shopping and brick-and-mortar retailers have been required to provide an omnichannel experience while

improving a store’s operational efficiency. T he retail landscape has evolved in recent years with the growth of online shopping. The pandemic led to reduced opening hours, restrictions on the number of people allowed in brick-and-mortar stores, and concern over safety of indoor exposure to the virus. Although grocery stores have seen fewer disruptions than other re tail, due to their essential nature, many have been required to modify their opening hours, leading consumers to experience grocery delivery or pick up rather than shopping in-store. In addition, shop pers have decreased their number of store visits overall, opting instead for weekly store purchases. The pandemic has also led to an increased amount of spending in a decreased amount of time. Accord ing to a study in Europe and the US, spending per minute increased by 49%. Similarly, another study found that European customers reduced shopping by an average of 5%while simultaneously increas ing basket size by roughly 16%. These shifts have created many challenges for the retail segment, especially brick-and mortar retailers that have had to adapt quickly to handle the increase of purchases with an influx of online shopping combined with the need for pickup and delivery options. The importance of an omnichannel retail approach has become more apparent than ever before. Although this evolution in shopping trends has created challenges for the retail segment, it has also revealed opportunities. Through technology advancements, retailers

can address many pain points, provide a more experiential and personalised experience with omnichannel shopping, reach sustainability goals, and achieve operational excellence through energy savings, staff efficiency, and improved store maintenance. Retailers have massively adopted LED lighting and environmentally friendly refrigerators and are increasingly adopting self-checkout solutions and electronic shelf labels. Lighting controls have evolved, enabling new levels of energy savings, ambiance creation, and operational efficiency through advanced scene setting, sensor automation, and remote monitoring and lighting management. Adoption of indoor positioning systems (IPSs), utilising lighting solutions, has grown in recent years across many verticals, with retail seeing especially strong growth due to the benefits and use cases available within this sector. Although location-based services and mapping via GPS are commonplace in the outdoor environment, this functionality has not always been available indoors. IPSs can provide value to facility owners, managers, and corporations, as well as shoppers and employees within in a retail store. Retail trends Shifting customer expectations: With the increase of onl ine shopping, to draw in customers, grocery retailers need to differentiate their store experience, shifting their store format from

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LiD Q2 - 2022