Flower shop lighting design: 10 Best Practices

Flowershops are special
Flowers and plants are amazing and bring nature inside and show our love and affection for one another. As natural products it is important to show them in the best possible light and also provide sufficient light for the plants and cut-flowers to maintain health. If you're interested in lighting design tips and best practices for flower shops, please read this blog.

by Jille Kuipers

Problems with Flower Store Lighting Design 

Problems with lighting in a flower shop can have a significant impact on the quality of the flowers and the overall atmosphere of the store. Proper lighting is crucial for showcasing the beauty of the flowers and creating an inviting shopping environment. Here are some common lighting problems in flower shops. We’ll discuss solutions later on.

Allow for natural light  

Natural light is amazing as allows people to see well, and plants and flowers are natural products after all. However if a shop uses only natural light, it could make the whole shop looking quite dim, especially from the road, or when the shopper is looking from the outside-in. 
Problem: Flower shops often rely on natural light to enhance the beauty of the flowers. If the shop lacks sufficient windows or if the location does not receive adequate natural light, it can be challenging to showcase the flowers effectively.
Solution: Consider installing large windows, skylights, or glass doors to allow more natural light into the shop. Additionally, strategically place mirrors to reflect and amplify the available natural light.

Use spotlights properly 

Until recently, conventional spots were primarily made in warmwhite light, it can negatively influence the presentation of flowers and plants to the customer. for most plants and flowers it is beneficial to show them in a bright neutral white or coolwhite light so its natural colors stand out.
In addition, spots can consume a lot of energy and drive up the energy costs.
Conventional spots can also contain some UV and the light beam contains heat. Flowers however like to be in cool temperatures and the UV and the heat of the light-beam can cause them to age prematurely.

Inconsistent Lighting 

Problem: Uneven lighting can create shadows and dark spots, making it difficult for customers to see the plants and flowers clearly.
Solution: Use a combination of ambient, task, and accent lighting to provide even illumination throughout the shop. Track lighting or adjustable fixtures can be used to focus light where it's needed most.

Harsh Lighting

Problem: Overly bright or harsh lighting can distort the colors of the flowers and create an uncomfortable shopping experience.
Solution: Opt for soft and diffused lighting. Use warm white or daylight LED bulbs to mimic natural light. Consider using fixtures with dimmers to adjust the intensity as needed throughout the day.

Wrong Color Temperature

Problem: Using the wrong color temperature of lighting can affect the appearance of flower colors. For instance, too cool white light can make flowers appear bluish.
Solution: Choose lighting with a color temperature around 4000K, which resembles natural daylight. This helps showcase the true colors of the flowers.

Excessive Heat

Problem: Some lighting fixtures can generate a lot of heat, which can wilt and damage delicate flowers.
Solution: Opt for LED lighting, which emits very little heat compared to incandescent or halogen lights. This will help maintain the freshness of the flowers.

Inadequate Lighting for Work Areas

Problem: Flower shops often have work areas where arrangements are prepared. Inadequate lighting in these areas can affect the quality of the arrangements.
Solution: Install task lighting, such as under-cabinet LED lights or adjustable desk lamps, in work areas to provide sufficient illumination for florists.

Inefficient Energy Use

Problem: Poorly designed lighting systems can lead to high energy bills.
Solution: Invest in energy-efficient lighting solutions, such as LED bulbs or fixtures. These not only save on energy costs but also have a longer lifespan, reducing maintenance expenses.

Lack of Lighting Maintenance

Problem: Failing to regularly maintain lighting fixtures can result in flickering bulbs, burnt-out lights, and uneven illumination.
Solution: Implement a routine maintenance schedule to replace bulbs and fixtures as needed. This ensures consistent and reliable lighting.

Inadequate Lighting Design

Problem: A poorly planned lighting layout can hinder the overall aesthetic appeal of the flower shop.
Solution: Consult with a professional lighting designer to create a lighting plan that enhances the shop's atmosphere and showcases the flowers effectively.
Addressing these lighting problems can improve the overall shopping experience for customers and help preserve the freshness and beauty of the flowers in your shop.

Flower shop lighting design TIPSS

Use lighting to create an amazing shopping experience
Lighting plays a vital role in retail. Lighting can help a shop to create its unique identity or character, so that the customer can recognise it as the right place to shop. Lighting in its functional role helps people to see, it can help to guide visitors and facilitate orientation within the shop. It can also highlight and accentuate special displays and points of interest to attract customers to selected areas. In retail lighting there are several approaches to categorise lighting in.

In this blog we’ll highlight TIPSS - Tempt, Influence, Persuade, Sell, Save.

Tempt with light

Tempt is all about helping you to attract the customer and tempting them to have a look inside. The lighted shop must stand out in a shopping mall or shopping street. The shop window and shop interior must be inviting and arousing interest. It can be also be done with facade lighting and signage. The shop window display must be so lighted that potential customers become interested in what they see and, wishing to see more, are tempted in. 

Influence with light

The general atmosphere of the sales area and the way goods are presented, as brought out by the lighting, must be such as to positively influence the behaviour of the shopper - the true quality of badly-lighted products will not be appreciated. Lighting can also offer visual guidance. Lighting can help guide the shopper around the shop or towards certain areas. Layered lighting, Color temperature and the right intensity/ brightness need to be selected.

A common mistake that many flower shops make is to use general overhead lights. While you will need general lighting, it doesn’t have to be the general overhead lights with LED tubes or LED panels. A better approach is to create a layered lighting plan with multiple fixture types in place for a more pleasing effect. General lights, some in-built shelf lighting and Spot lights might create a more inspiring shopping experience.

Persuade with light 

The overall look and light fit out is part of the shop interior and part of the sales strategy. It is also important to highlight the natural beauty of plants and flowers. Shoppers enter a flower store and hope to bring something home later on. Plants can be highlighted with accents to show them almost as art-pieces so they are presented in the best possible way. This can be done with accent lighting. Accent lighting has a narrow beam, which means light is emitted in a concentrated and directional way to grab attention. 

As a florist you spend a lot of effort in making the most wonder bouquets and plant presentation. Colors and contrast is often important for you as florist. So the right Color Rendering in which your flowers and plants are shown is also very important. Flower shops contain a many different hues or shades of green. Therefore green must be rendered well and with some vibrancy as if is a beautiful day indoor the whole year round,. regardless of outdoor weather or lack of natural daylight in a shopping mall. Aside for green colors such as red, yellow, white and blue are also important, especially for cut flowers. CRI, which is, color rendering index, represents how close the objects are to their true colors in the light. The closer this number is to 100, the closer the objects under light appear to their true colors. If light fixtures with a low CRI value are used, customers may experience color-sensing problems and this may affect purchasing decisions. It is recommended to use lighting fixtures with CRI value of 90 and above in florist shops.

What about color temperature? The color of light itself is expressed on a kelvin scale. This scale ranges from 1000 to 10000, although in practice most light range from 2700K (warmwhite) to 6500K (coolwhite). If the shop features many plants including tropical plants, foliage plants you might benefit from choosing a cooler color temperature. And if you’re using a high light intensity, cooler temperatures tend to be more pleasant. Consider warmwhite primarily for dim/ cosy settings.

The light should also support photosynthesis, so the plants stay healthy. Healthy plants prolongs shelf life and reduces unsellable stock. Lighting plays a key role in allowing the plant to stay well.

Flower shop lighting differs in a key aspect from general retail lighting, it is about people and living plants. The average plant will stay a few days or sometimes even a few weeks in a flower shop. during this period it is important that they stay healthy and look good. Therefore the light should enable plants to photosynthesise. The primary colors for this are deep red and royal blue. however this would generate a purple color and will look the leaves look dark, purple light can also dry out the eyes and make color rendition more difficult. General grow-lights, like the ones used in greenhouses or indoor farms, are therefore not recommended. the other alternative is to use general white light which is used by other shops like clothing stores. However white light is optimised for the human eye, it contains a relative large amount of green and very little deep red. There are lamps that reduce the amount of green and have a larger amount of red, such as the HortiPower Bloomer 2. These lights are relatively white with a pinkish color tone. The HortiPower Florister has an optimised spectrum for color rendering and photosynthesis and can help to accentuate shelfs and plants.

Sell

Lighting should help the cashier and customer to see each other clearly. The right lighting can help create an environment where people feel more safe. It is important to have soft diffused lighting at the cashier area, so the whole face is lit and the customer can see in particular the eyes well. A dramatic effect with heavy accent lightings or uplighting is not welcomed here, as it can cast shadows on people’s faces.

Flower shop lighting design values

* Use light of a color temperature of about 4000K, and make lights cooler if light intensity in the shop is very high.

* Generally speaking for lighting levels above 1000 lux the colour of the light should become cooler as the lighting level is increased.

* Depending on the brightness of the surroundings, the following illuminance values are recommended: General lighting 300-500 to 1000-2000 lux, accent lighting 3000 to 10000 lux. during the evening, these levels can be reduced.

* If you have big or important plants or bouquets you can consider accent lighting. 

* Avoid lights based on gas or traditional lights that emit a lot of heat. Use zero mercury and UV.

* Request a lighting design that has information on the micromole per square meter per second (µmol/m2/s) so you can review the lighting intensity as is perceived by the plants.

* Use a minimum of 20 µmol/m2/s for small seedlings and young plants. For tropical foliage plants use 80 to 120 µmol/m2/s, so your plants keep looking good and keep their leaves up

Save

Choose energy efficient lighting to save money. LED lighting uses lower watts to create higher lumens or micromoles, compared to traditional lighting such as halogen, and this allows you to cut down on energy costs. The lamps also last longer than traditional lights and it means you will save on bulb replacement costs as well.
Reduce heat. Flowers are sensitive to heat and lighting produces heat. traditional lighting technologies such as halogen convert the majority of energy into heat and a little part in light. LED convert the majority of energy int light and a little part in heat. Note that the LED chips inside a light source as well as some electronic components still need to dissipate heat although much less than traditional lights.

What lighting solutions can you consider?  

The HortiPower PlantParent can be used with a footbase and helps to illuminate a corners of plants, or large standing plants. It emits high quality light for people and plants. It is also a great choice to use as suspended task lighting, in a retail shelf or indoor greenhouse cabinet.
The HortiPower Florister can be used to highlight and accentuate plants. It emits light in a narrow beam and at high quality. It can also be used to keep a greenwall healthy.
The Nurser 3 can be used in a shelf under which you propagate seedlings. You would need to consider the viewing angle to avoid glare. It can also be used in an indoor greenhouse cabinet.
The Bloomer 2 can be used for a relatively short greenwall, or in a fixture that uses an E27 fitting.