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Good lighting has a significant positive effect on sales in a retail environment. It strongly effects both perception and purchasing behavior of the customers. However, a light source has many variables that determine if the produced light has the desired characteristics and effects. These variables must be accurate in a grocery store setting so that the displayed products are discerned with their best appearance and color.
Color temperature is one of the most significant variables in grocery store lighting.
What is “color temperature”?
Color temperature indicates to which color spectrum a light source renders. The amount of light and heat produced by a lighting source is determined by what spectrum of color it belongs to.
Color temperature is an important aspect in any lighting design, be it a business or academic setting. However, it is of greater significance in retail applications where light and heat produced by a lighting source affect the quality and appearance of products.
Why color temperature is important in grocery store lighting?
A store owner should carefully choose the store lighting with the right color temperature to ensure that the products are presented in the best possible light.
Differences in color temperature can result in variations in color rendering. If a light source has a spectrum that is missing one or two colors or has very small portion of specific colors, it will not be able to represent the true color of products. Furthermore, if the light source is very bright, customers will not see the products in their true colors due to glare.
Color temperature is particularly important in grocery store lighting as different colors of light have different psychological impacts. The warm lights have a lower color temperature and the cool lights have a higher color temperature. So, you have to use lights with higher color temperature in the fresh produce and meat display cases as they tend to spoil quickly under heat.
Another method used to measure the quality of a light source is Color Rendering Index (CRI). It measures how accurately a light source can render the color of an object in comparison to a natural light source. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 100 and natural light has a CRI of 100.
It has been said that the higher the CRI, the better a light source is in rendering the natural colors accurately. However, this method has become outdated and inadequate in terms of today’s technology. An incandescent lamp has a CRI of nearly 100 but it has a poor color rendering and distorts colors with an excessive yellow glow with too little blue content. So, unlike color temperature, CRI cannot be an ideal yardstick to measure the quality of a light source.
The quality of grocery store lighting cannot be compromised where appearance is of paramount importance. So, to have the best option for your grocery store lighting, choose Promolux specialty lighting for retail merchandising as they have a balanced spectrum and contain all necessary colors of light in the right amount. The lights, with their right color temperature, can dramatically improve the appearance of products by allowing their colors to appear clear and vivid.