Was the LED Light Strip a tech breakthrough? Or was the ability to run power to a shelf or display and retrofit it cost-effectively the real game-changer?

You know the old saying: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

In the world of retail fixtures and displays, there’s a similar thought: “You can install a light on a shelf, but without power, it doesn’t do anything.”

Today, there are many cost-effective LED lighting options to retrofit a gondola shelf or retail display, but that wasn’t always the case.

These new retail lighting systems are a great way to highlight and showcase products without hard-wiring each shelf.

At CBSF, we’ve seen a growing demand for shelf and display lighting in coolers, checkouts, end caps, display cases, and more. The great thing about the newest shelf lighting solutions is that they work with metal, wood, glass, and plexi units.

GETTING A QUOTE IS SIMPLE

If you want to add shelf or display lighting to your gondola shelves or retail displays, whether new or retrofitted, getting a quote is fast and easy. Contact us today.

Video Transcription:

This is an LED strip

A tech breakthrough that changed retail shelf and display lighting forever.

Or did it?

Most people think the invention of LED lighting was a breakthrough that made retrofitting shelf and display lighting possible for retailers. This allowed them to highlight their goods and improve the shopping experience.

But bizarrely, the LED light wasn’t the real breakthrough.

You see, the real breakthrough was figuring out how to get power to the shelves without turning a store upside down in the process.

To understand why, we have to go back a few years.

Back when retailers were selling radios and stereos on shelves, shoppers could walk into the audio-visual department, push a button, and try all the electronics.

At the time, there was an electrical shelving track specifically designed to power all of these electronics.

At CBSF, we’d take this track, turn it vertically, stick it behind gondola shelving and use it to power shelf lighting.

But with the fall of electronic stores and the rise of online shopping, the lack of demand caused the electric track to be discontinued.

And for many years there was no simple way to power shelf lighting.

But then, the LED lighting strip became more common and after a gap of 3 years, producers responded to the need for shelf lighting power distribution.  Today, there are amazing solutions for retrofitting a shelf or display without tearing your store apart.

And that’s why shelf lighting is more cost-effective and widely used by retailers than ever before.