Bad lighting driving customers out of restaurants

04 AUGUST 2014

Lux Magazine reports:

Bad food. Bad service. And now it's official: Bad lighting can ruin a restaurant's business.

Nearly a third of Brits have walked out of a pub or eatery because the illumination turned them off, according to a June survey by utility npower.

The trade publication BigHospitality reported that 17 percent of the 1,500 respondents beat a retreat because the lighting was too bright, while 12 percent bolted for the opposite reason – the lights were too dim .

'We can probably all think of an occasion that has been spoiled by a restaurant or bar not getting the ambience right and lighting is a crucial part of that,' said npower's head of customer service for small business, Rachel Vincent. 'Our research shows how damaging bad lighting can be to the success of a business. For this reason, business owners need to think about more than just their menus or location. Ambience is vital to securing new customers and getting old ones to return.'

The survey also showed that lighting mattered more than price to 66 percent of the respondents when picking a venue for a date, and that it outweighed music to 53 percent of them. A whopping 88 percent said that the lighting in general would affect how much they enjoy a date or a romantic meal.

BigHospitality advised restaurants to vary the lighting across sections in order to appeal to different ideas of ambience. It also noted that different lighitng matches well with different foods.

'For example, light bar food goes with soft lighting while sushi looks better in a brigther light,' it said.

So how would you make a Big Mac look appetizing?