Business Drivers / Finance

Sylvania explains how to make your lighting infrastructure work as a retail asset

Retailers are operating in tough conditions. Finding new ways to add value to the business, whether that is through cost-reduction or an improved in-store experience, is increasingly difficult. This is where a change of mindset can be beneficial. By considering lighting infrastructure as an asset, rather than simply as a necessary cost, it is possible to achieve both of these outcomes. For example, a decrease in energy expenditure has the potential to increase net profit margins significantly in certain retail environments. So, just how do you go about reducing energy consumption and realising these financial gains for your own retail estate – whatever its size?

Sylvania has created a roadmap to make it easier for facilities managers to take a structured approach to unlocking efficiency gains from lighting infrastructure. The first and most important step is to define why you are reviewing your lighting infrastructure and what you want to get out of the process. This should be informed by wider business drivers – is the focus on creating consistency across a global estate, or is it improving efficiency to hit sustainability targets and reduce overall energy consumption? Needs will be varied and will differ depending on the nature of the business and the size and scope of the review.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking you know what you need based on the lighting solutions you are familiar with or have seen in a competitor’s shop. The reality is you don’t know what you need until you audit what you already have, and then align this to the objectives you established at the outset. Legacy light fittings may no longer be fit-for-purpose. You need an exact picture of what kind of lighting infrastructure is already in place, especially if your business operates across multiple sites. Relying on a best guess or anecdotal evidence won’t provide the level of accuracy required to create a true picture of the current situation and could affect the type of solution recommended.

Lighting typically represents 30% of overall energy consumption so any reduction in this figure is going to have a positive effect on costs. However, it may not be possible to undertake a complete refurbishment. Retrofit or incremental upgrades should be considered as a cost-effective alternative. These provide low-risk upgrade options, allowing retailers to benefit from products such as energy efficient LEDs that are also smart-enabled, to take advantage of emerging technologies at a later date.

Of course who you choose to work with is critical. Lighting suppliers need to understand the needs of the retail sector and its fast turnaround times to minimise disruption and store downtime, while supplying high quality and reliable solutions that suit the specific needs of the retail environment.

Read more about how to align lighting to business drivers in our eBook, ‘A Public Display of Acumen’.