Euroshop is the world’s largest retail trade fair and it will be held on the second week of February of next year in Dusseldorf, Germany. The trade show bills itself as “the engine for ideas, innovations, solutions, contacts and business for the retail industry.” One thing is for sure, there will definitely be no shortage of retail displays at the expo. But, there will also likely be a good deal of excellent exhibition design, including a special lighting design section which will highlight how retail stores can use lighting to emphasize (or de-emphasize) certain pieces and how lighting can make a retail display really ‘pop’.
With a whopping 178,680 square feet of exhibition space, the retail industry certainly seems to have gotten out of the recession and squarely back on its feet. Profits show that also to be the case. But, there’s no such thing as consumer spending or buying being high enough, so the Euroshop expo will showcase the various ways that retail displays can be augmented with lighting design to create attractive displays that appeal to consumers on an emotional level.
Emotional design is an interesting consideration for the industry. It’s long been recognized that lighting can have profound impacts on the mood and emotions of individuals. Emotions are also the best way to appeal to consumers to get them to purchase a new item. Something that marketers and advertisers have been taking advantage of for quite some time.
The new ‘Lighting Designer’s Zone’ that will be featured in the expo is expected to showcase a variety of lighting exhibition design including energy-efficient pieces and sustainable architectural lighting. Vendors will be exhibiting all of their products for retail displays and visual merchandising, including additional considerations specific to the retail industry like merchandise security and the specialized IT needs of vendors.
Lighting design is a particularly interesting application that seems to be increasingly adopted for use in retail displays. It’s special affinity for spotlighting, emphasizing or creating a unique impression allows retailers to promote sales and also to create an artistic display out of their retail merchandise. As mentioned earlier, the emotional resonance of lighting has implications for the retail industry as well as many other industries, and makes it a crucial consideration for exhibition design as well.