Environmental beauty, including daylighting, plays a big role in the success of your retail location. The more attractive the lighting and other environmental aspects of your store, the more successful your store will be. Incorporating daylighting in your retail location can help boost sales, improve customer loyalty and increase profits. Here’s what to know.
Benefits of Daylighting in Retail
Daylighting enhances retail environments to create a pleasant place for shopping. Daylighting can attract more customers and ultimately increase sales. In fact, daylighting draws people into indoor spaces so well that stores with daylighting sell almost 30% more products than other stores.
In one 1999 study, 108 retail chain stores were evaluated. Two-thirds of the stores had skylights. All stores were designed and operated the same. Stores with daylighting felt cleaner, more spacious, and open to customers and employees. Some customers even chose to shop at the daylit stores because they liked the way the store felt. Skylights increased the sales and if that particular retail chain included skylights in all stores, it’s believed sales would increase by 40% chain-wide.
Skylights and daylighting enable customers to be more relaxed and happier overall in the store environment. Daylighting provides better product visibility, improved employee morale, and greater customer loyalty.
Daylighting Successes
In 1993, Wal-Mart built a store in Lawrence, KS with skylights on one side of the building. The side of the building with skylights had increased sales. Employees and shoppers had preferences for the daylit half of the store – so much so that employees from departments on the daylit half even asked for their departments to be moved to the daylit areas. Shoppers also expressed their preference for the skylit half.
Target in Fullerton, CA reported that they can continue to operate during a blackout because their registers are on battery backup and skylights above provide natural daylighting. Another target in Pheonix AZ was built with skylights. At this Target, the skylights were covered for six months and the store was operated by electric lighting.
The skylights were then uncovered for another six months and the sales difference was measured. It’s estimated the Target experienced a 15%-20% increase in sales when the store was daylit. These results encouraged other target stores to install skylights.
Lamb’s Thriftway Store in Portland OR reports that the portion of the store with skylights has low employee turnaround and happier employees. Sales from the daylit part of the store increased after skylights were added.
Troubleshooting Daylighting Issues
Stores that rely too much on daylighting may seem dim on overcast days, so it’s important to be thoughtful about daylighting design. This will help ensure the store has enough light even at times when the sun goes down or on overcast days.
Daylighting can also have an effect on certain types of merchandise. For example, processed meats in the Mexico City Mega Market turned green because of daylighting. Choosing where and how to expose merchandise to daylighting is important.
Be Smart About Your Daylighting
Work with an architect or knowledgeable designer to ensure that your retail location’s daylighting is an effective, positive influence on your store. VTECH skylights allow the maximum amount of daylight into your store without increasing the temperature inside.
Our solid-state skylights are made from one solid piece. With a Polyurethane and Isocyanate frame fused together with LoĒ³ 366 glass, our skylights are strong and durable.
VTECH skylights can withstand high impacts, pressure from high wind, fire, persistent exposure to water, and other stressors from the environment. Learn more about the strength, durability, and service life of VTECH skylights on our certifications page, where you can see how our skylights hold up to the most challenging environmental troubles. Our skylights are guaranteed not to leak and will last for decades.
This is important for retail locations because VTECH skylights require minimal maintenance in order to look their best. VTECH skylights don’t rely on caulk, which can deteriorate. Therefore, retail businesses need only keep their skylights clean in order to get the maximum benefit from their skylights. To learn more about installing VTECH skylights in your retail location, call us today.