Sparks Electrical News August 2020

LIGHTING

12

The benefits of smart lighting in retail

T he retail sector changed rapidly over the past decade. One of the biggest changes is that more retailers are introducing on- line offerings as trends continue to show an increase in online sales. Nevertheless, stores have continued to develop both front-of- house and back-of-house as a result of enhanced technology. Customer experience is becoming increasingly important and, as demand is high for a faster service from purchase to delivery, there is also change in the back-of-house. Aurora’s Smart Commercial Solution provides multiple benefits for retailers and can be tailored to suit the individual goals of each business.

Enhancing instore experience Using beacons located in each light fitting, the Smart Commercial

Solution can significantly enhance a customer’s experience. Having the ability to send messages through a brand’s app when a customer arrives at the carpark or enters the store, can help in way- finding and proximity marketing, driving increased basket spend. Increased employee communication Location based messaging to employees can also be used to increase efficiency and enhance cus- tomer service. Should a customer be interested in a promotional product, employees can be notified, enabling them to provide more information and secure a sale. Footfall counting and management Do you need to know how many customers have entered your store or shopping centre? Aurora’s smart lighting technology can provide this infor- mation in real time or with time series analytics. Store layout design With the company’s smart technology, retailers can obtain greater transparency as regards shop floor activity. Understanding customers’ move- ments, where they head to first, where they spend the most time, the average time they spend at tills and counters, and more, allows decisions to be made about store layout designs to accommodate changing customer trends. Back-of-house efficiency Through tracking tools, occupancy detection and object identification of stock and equipment can be used to better plan stock locations to improve picking and packing efficiencies. Reduced Energy Usage and Lighting Management Lighting can play a large role in retail, whether it is a high street fashion outlet or supermarket. Understanding how much energy each fixture is using whilst reviewing data to see how that area is being utilised can allow for changes in schedul- ing, dimming or occupancy detection to increase energy savings. For example, in the back-of-house where there are aisles of stock, lights can be left on all day though only few staff head there. Oc- cupancy detection enables lights to come on only when the space is entered, leading to increased energy savings. In addition, if any lighting start to fail, notifica- tions can be sent immediately to those who can order a replacement. This reduces the need for regular lighting checks. For further savings, should natural light enter a store, daylight harvesting can also be applied to ensure artificial lighting is only used when necessary. Dashboards and reporting tools can provide ana- lytical data from all aspects of a retail operation, from warehouse product movements, to a cus- tomer’s experience with products, staff and the store, and to lighting and energy savings. All data can be acquired and delivered in the desired for- mat to be reviewed from one dashboard. Furthermore, this system allows for remote management of an entire chain of stores, enabling the head office to analyse and manage all branch- es instead of only individual stores. Centralised, remote management and control

Enquiries: www.auroralighting.com

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

AUGUST 2020