Lighting & Hospitality
Is your lighting holding you back from repeat customers? Lighting doesn’t just serve to illuminate your guests’ food and drink, how a restaurant/cafe is lit will affect how your patrons feel and how much time they will spend in your eatery.
Your objective may be turn over tables quickly, especially during a busy service, but during periods of quiet, you want the customers to be relaxed so that they stay for longer and in turn buy more drinks and dessert. *kaching!* If you have the right lighting, your customer will feel more comfortable and relaxed. You also want the customer to return. Even if your food has is “hatted” and your service gets 5 star reviews on Tripadvisor, if your customer can’t see their food, or feels like they are under a spotlight, they aren’t likely to return.
Don’t forget to consider lighting throughout the day if you run a breakfast, lunch and dinner service. Breakfast is often fast-paced, while dinner diners aren’t typically as rushed (except for those eager to get to their movie).
Keep in mind that often lighting needs to be balanced with the decor to prevent eye discomfort and headaches. That is not desirable for a Sunday Chill Sesh or Friday night drinks.
Engage a designer when reconsidering your lighting. make sure they understand the psychology of lighting to ensure your customer feels comfortable complementing your food, service and overall ambience.
