Refrigerated display case LED lighting
How to apply LED for vibrant, enticing and efficient refrigeration display cases.
In today’s time poor society, consumers are continuously looking to retailers to expand their range of goods and services with time saving options. For a retailer, this can mean expanding their refrigerated and frozen offer with produce such asthe latest superfood smoothie to the growing area of prepared salads, fruits and vegetables. In return, consumers become brand loyal and are willing to pay for the added convenience.
Increasing the chilled and frozen sections presents many benefits for retailers They can stock a wider variety, differentiate from competitors and reduce stock wastage through faster stock rotations. A wider portfolio can also encourage shoppers to increase browsing behaviour. Retailers will employ many tactics to optimise their store layouts in order to retain and enhance the shopper experience. One aspect which is often overlooked, which can help with all these factors, is lighting and in particular, display lighting.
LED Display lighting to increase customer engagement
From general shelving to refrigeration and freezer display cases, lighting can have a huge impact on the overall feel of an environment and influence the buying experience. Nualight, a specialist in refrigeration display lighting and a pioneer of LED, has helped many of the world’s leading retailers and refrigeration case manufacturers, build or upgrade their cases with efficient, expertly designed, LED lighting solutions.
Nualight believes that display cases can be a place of colour and contrast and with a planned and controlled use of the right light in the space, can enhance the customers experience, encouraging them to explore and discover produce in new and exciting ways.
Specialist design and engineering to improve the customer experience
As LED becomes readily available, so do cheap and poorly designed lighting solutions. Despite using LED, the quality of the light output can negatively impact the buying experience and a poor build quality can quickly lead to escalating maintenance costs.
Andrew Cronin, Vice President of Product Research & Development at Nualight explains, “In earlier years, we were called upon to help with inefficient, out of date lighting, however, we are now receiving an increasing number of calls from retailers and case manufacturers asking us to help with a previous LED installation which, has not performed as expected. It is an unfortunate position to be in for the customer, they will see the initial energy savings that come with LED, however, if the solution is poorly designed or uses inferior components, you will soon start to see a visible degradation of the light quality and you are back to square one.”
Andrew continues, “Good lighting will go a long way to encouraging a sale, bad lighting even with LED can have detrimental consequences.”
Refurbish your existing cases with Nualight LED solutions
Over the years Nualight has advised on many fluorescents to LED transitions. Nualight can provide solutions from a comprehensive, market leading, competitive and patented portfolio. Our portfolio has tiered family ranges to suit all budgets and requirements from Arctic – a family of LED tubes suitable for retrofit to the highly successful Orion and established Perfino ranges.
The energy savings with LED are outstanding. When replacing fluorescents with Orion – a range of high performing horizontal and vertical LED solutions with industry leading efficacies of 125lm/W, can achieve up to 90% energy savings whilst directing the light exactly where it is needed, with its specially designed optic. Orion is a good example of how to make energy savings and simultaneously improve the customer’s buying experience with LED lighting.
Perfino has outlasted competition and remains the industry benchmark for refrigeration display cases. It has gained the reputation as the range which will lift and enhance a wider range of colours across the spectrum, creating comparably more vibrant and enticing displays.
When used to good effect, lighting can uplift, entice and enhance the customers experience, but how can you tell that it is working?
At Nualight we have found that customers are rarely able to pinpoint when the lighting has been changed. They will pause and feel that something is different., They will begin to notice produce they had not noticed before. They may spend more time instore, perusing and exploring. Their mood and behaviour will become calm and relaxed making them more open to the retail or brand experience. So even though customers will not explicitly detail that the lighting is performing or that the ambience has become more inviting, they will certainly experience the positive change.
Nualight recommend that case lighting is 5-10 times brighter than the ambient store lighting to create the desired experience, but naturally this would come down to individual targets and objectives, whilst being conscious of over lighting.
There is a fine balance between providing a safe, welcoming and bright atmosphere whilst managing your financial and environmental objectives, which can be a lot easier when you can make informed decisions about your lighting.
Benefits of using Nualight LED solutions in supermarket display lighting:
High Impact Merchandising
- The slim and invisible nature of Nualight LED luminaires ensures customers are attracted to the produce within the case and not to the side or mullions of the case.
- An increased shelf life of produce and visibility of packaging.
- Reflect the true colours and textures as nature intended by employing LEDs which cover a wider range of the colour spectrum.
- The information on the labels does not fade but remains clear and vibrant because Nualight LED luminaires do not emit IR and UV wavelengths .
- A comfortable flicker free light
- Ambient contrast and theatre can be created as the LED solutions are very directional and uniform, eliminating any spill or waste light onto the floor and surrounding areas.
- LED solutions are considerably cooler than traditional light sources, which mean you can use them in hot cases.
Increased performance with reduced ownership costs
- Nualight solutions are designed to help retailers and supermarkets easily switch their cases from older technology to LED.
- Supermarkets and retailers can save up to 85% in energy usage and costs due to lower power consumption
- In comparison to fluorescents, which take time to warm up, LED provides instant light even at -30C, so the lights are ready as soon as your customers are.
- A dark case can indicate an empty case and a lost opportunity for sales. With LED there is no need to switch the “lights off” for the case to cool down.
- Improved shopping experience with good uniformity, minimal glare and elimination of dark spots.
- Minimal service and maintenance effort is requireddue to a long operating lifetime up to 50,000 hours. Furthermore, there is no need for replacements as the LED is likely to outlive the useful life of the case.
- The durable, slim profiles equate to less damage from vibrations and impact. As the solutions are mercury free, they are ideal and safe to use in food displays. All Nualight products are tested and certified, ensuring they are safe for food with NSF approvals.
- If retrofitting a case with LED, retailers will reap the immediate benefits mentioned above but also increase the overall performance of the case. Other case components such as the compressor will not have to work as hard to maintain a chilled or low temperature.