If you have a busy retail outlet, the last thing you need is a problem with your electrics.

It could mean you having to close your doors to customers because your till and card readers don’t work or your lighting has been affected.

Finding a good electrician at short notice is often difficult. Most of us are booked up weeks or months in advance and you could face a substantial bill for a short-notice call-out from anyone you do find is free.

So, the best answer for you may well be a regular maintenance contract. That way, you’ll know you have a reliable, qualified electrician on call to deal with any problems you face.

A contract could also save you money in the long term. How? Here are three important ways:

It reduces the time your business is closed/affected by loss of power

The longer you have to spend finding or waiting for an electrician, the more money your store is losing.

How much would a day’s closure affect your takings? On a busy day, that could be thousands of pounds in trade lost. There’s also no guarantee that prospective customers won’t go to one of your rivals – and continue going there for some time afterwards.

A contract electrician picks up problems before they become larger and more expensive

If you have a regular maintenance contract, your electrician can diagnose and solve problems before they become more complicated. That, of course, means that they can be dealt with before they become expensive issues rather than everyday headaches.

It saves your staff time on surveys

Every business needs to survey its electrics regularly to ensure wires aren’t frayed, sockets aren’t damaged or overloaded, appliances have been properly PAT tested, and that there are no fire risks.

A maintenance contract means a qualified and experienced electrician would be carrying out inspections, picking up issues your staff may have missed. Your staff are also freed up to deal with your customers. It’s a win-win situation!

Thinking about an electrical maintenance contract for your shop? Call our experts on 0845 003 6856. Find out more about our commercial services here: /commercial-services/.

Well-designed lighting can help your shop attract customers and keep them in store.

Ultimately, it can help you make sales.

Poorly-designed lighting can end up fighting against all the other good work being done in your shop to make it attractive to customers.

Here are our tips to getting your shop lighting to work for you:

Create product spotlights

If you have showpiece items which are likely to bring people into your store or keep them interested in staying in it, you could create a product spotlight area.

Clever lighting can highlight your showpiece product while dimming the lights slightly around it.

You could use overhead lighting, up lighting, or side lighting to give your items impact.

Your go-to item will really pop when your customers see it.

Create a route through your shop

You don’t have to draw arrows on the flooring to get your customers to follow the path you’d like through your shop.

There are several techniques savvy shopkeepers use to keep people in their shop longer – giving them the best chance of making a sale. Lighting can be a big part of that.

Make your threshold light and bright – it’s your first impression.

Retailers know that 90% of people will instinctively turn to the right when going into a shop, so it’s best not to fight this. Create your most impressive display there and light it well.

Create a clear walking path from that point around the store. Light the path more slightly more brightly than other areas to help people follow it, ensuring they can still see your products clearly.

Even subtle differences in brightness will make a subconscious difference.

Segment your shop into different areas

You could do this with the brightness of your lights and different colours to create areas with different moods.

You could dim lights to make people more relaxed in certain areas – especially useful if you have products in that area which enhance relaxation, like aromatic oils or candles.

You could create a light bright play area which would attract children to toys or books aimed at them.

Don’t over-highlight counter areas

Keeping counter areas to a minimum and getting employees to walk around the store helps to make it look busy and breaks down the ‘us’ and ‘them’ barriers between staff and customers.

Don’t spoil that effect by having a huge spotlight over your counter areas.

While you want people to know where to pay and get help, it would be better to make them a key destination on your shop walking route.

Whether you’re in fashion, electronics, arts and crafts, or food retailing, great lighting could help your customers have a lightbulb moment and make that purchase!

If you’d like experienced electricians who can help you design your shop lighting in Cardiff, South Wales, and further afield, call us on 0645 003 6856. Discover our services for retailers here: /commercial-services/.