For most car dealerships, the bulk of their inventory is located outdoors. The showroom is a great place to feature the newest or most popular models, but there are only so many cars that it can hold. It is also easier to illuminate the display models indoors.
Illuminating the rest of a dealership’s inventory located outside creates certain challenges. The goal is threefold:
- Enhance the visual appeal of the cars on the lot.
- Deliver an appealing customer experience.
- Provide a safe and secure environment not only for the customers but also for dealership employees and the merchandise itself.
All the things listed above contribute to the reason the dealership exists in the first place: to market and sell the cars on the lot successfully.
This article will explore the critical role of outdoor lighting in enhancing car dealership operations. Investing in quality outdoor lighting will greatly contribute to the success of your business.
How to Achieve Important Goals for Outdoor Illumination of Your Car Dealership
The key considerations for illuminating your car dealership are as follows:
Enhancing the Visual Appeal of the Products
As with any product displayed at a store, proper lighting can improve its appearance. In the case of cars on a dealership lot, lights can be strategically placed to enhance their features. Their colors appear more vibrant, and the lines of their exteriors appear sleek. To achieve this, the light needs to be evenly spread and a careful balance of brightness and ambiance must be struck.
It's not just the cars that can look more appealing with proper lighting. Architectural and sign lighting also enhances your site and promotes your brand effectively. Proper placement of these lights highlights entrances, signage, facades, and landscape elements.
Delivering an Appealing Customer Experience
To create a positive first impression and make the area inviting to customers, it’s important to understand the concept of color temperature. Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) describes the general color appearance of a light source. It’s measured in Kelvin (K) degrees. Light sources with a warmer/yellow color are in the lower Kelvin range (2500K-3500K). Those with a cooler color (white/blue) are in the higher Kelvin range (4000K-6500K).
For outdoor dealership lots, it’s recommended that you use a light source with a 5000K CCT. For smaller lots, 4000K CCT might be a better choice. In this way, the light is cool enough to highlight the features of the cars on your lot but not so cool that it gives off a bluish tint and is uncomfortable for the eyes.
Another way to enhance customer experience is to ensure that key areas are properly illuminated. This includes test drive areas, building entrances, and parking lots. In this way, customers will experience an inviting and safe atmosphere.
Providing a Safe and Secure Environment
Car dealerships not only need to be a safe environment for customers and employees, but they also need to be secure due to the nature of the products that they sell. The merchandise at a dealership is not the same as the merchandise at a convenience store.
Bright lighting at important areas like entrances, perimeters, and car lots provides a significant deterrence to thieves and vandals. Surveillance equipment such as security cameras can be integrated into lighting systems to provide an added layer of security lighting for auto sales.
Lighting Installation Tips
Here are some additional tips for an effective car dealership lighting installation:
Install LED Lighting Systems
LED lighting for car dealerships is highly recommended. LED lighting systems are superior to all other types of lighting systems.
- They have a much longer lifespan. 50K hours of life, minimally.
- They are the most efficient type of lighting.
- They are extremely durable.
- They require less maintenance.
- They provide a better quality of lighting.
- They provide long-term cost savings.
Select the Best Light Poles for the Job
Square steel light poles are the most common and economical poles to use for car lot lighting. However, there are many other types to choose from that have their own advantages:
- Round straight and round tapered steel poles are just as strong as square steel poles but offer better wind resistance.
- Aluminum poles are lighter than steel poles making them easier to install. They also have a much longer lifespan and are corrosion-resistant.
- Fiberglass poles are the lightest of the pole types and do not rust or corrode.
For more information on light pole types, see our article on light pole FAQs.
Pole Height Recommendations
The height of the light poles that you use will vary based on certain factors, but they will be 20-25 feet, in general. Shorter light poles can be used effectively in smaller areas. Taller light poles will provide a wider spread of light but will require more powerful lights.
LightMart Can Help!
LightMart can provide the expertise needed for the right auto dealership lighting solutions. Our PK series has fixtures ranging from 100 – 300 watts and can accommodate up to four fixtures per pole. This gives your auto dealer architect a wide range of choices to produce the perfect lighting solution for the space(s).
We also offer LED outdoor light fixtures for many applications, such as wall packs used for perimeter lighting.
Contact us today; one of our lighting experts will guide you through selecting light fixtures and poles to light your project.