Signify’s connected lighting helps M&S run its operations more effectively

• Signify launches Interact Retail multisite management in collaboration with Marks & Spencer
• New cloud-based, connected lighting system provides retail businesses with the ability to manage scenes and schedules for all their stores remotely from a single dashboard, insights in energy savings, and insights in lighting failures
• Creating a network of connected stores enables retailers to centralize their lighting management and reduce their operational costs

Eindhoven, the Netherlands – Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, announced at EuroShop its further step in the Retail IoT space through the launch of Interact Retail multisite management – a cloud-based, connected lighting system designed for multiple stores and retail distribution centers. Signify’s Interact Retail multisite management connected lighting system has been vetted by leading UK retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S).

With this introduction, Signify builds upon its heritage of over 2,000 deployments of the Interact Retail connected lighting system, which enables retailers to for example reduce energy consumption by defining scenes and schedules on store level. The new features make it possible to create a network of connected stores. This helps the retailer to create and manage uniform light schedules for its stores from a single dashboard, to reduce its operational costs, ensure compliance and to easily plan maintenance.

Interact Retail multisite management software enables M&S to reduce its energy cost. “Compared to sites with conventional lighting controls, the new system enables us to be much more responsive. We can now adapt the light settings within the same day and deploy this to any number of stores connected to the Interact Retail multisite system. This will help us to reduce our operational expenses and meet our sustainability targets,” said Alan Chisholm, Head of Standards & Innovation, Property & Store Development at M&S.

“At Signify, we have a rich history in providing high quality lighting for retail chains – but with the launch of Interact Retail multisite management, we’re truly taking a leap forward. Store operations have never been more challenging. Our customers need to cater to the evolving needs of the shoppers and stay relevant by introducing new experiences. At the same time, they need to reduce operational expenses. Current lighting control solutions require on-site visits to modify a store’s scenes and schedules, making chain-wide adaptations expensive and time consuming. Interact Retail multisite management is the first lighting control system that provides the necessary flexibility required by retailers today,” said Simon den Uijl, Segment manager Food & Large Retail at Signify.

Connected lighting benefits for retailers

Reduced energy cost – With Interact Retail multisite management, facility managers can monitor energy consumption across the stores, and optimize the light settings. Sensors will enable daylight harvesting and trigger the right light behavior based on presence. Interact Retail multisite management also allows companies define automated schedules, for example lowering the light levels during the day when restocking and cleaning, or during winter when the shorter days allow for different light levels. On days when energy prices surge, the energy manager can react within the hour by implementing a modified lighting schedule that mitigates peak tariffs. All of this helps businesses meet regulatory demands and sustainability goals.

Maximize operational efficiency – Remotely manage the lighting scenes and schedules for all your stores from a single dashboard. This will help you to adapt trading and stocking hours, and easily deploy new experiences and harmonize retail spaces, without the need for on-site visits.

Maximize maintenance efficiency – Interact Retail multisite management enables the store maintenance team to be preventive instead of reactive, giving immediate insight into current faults and flagging potential future defects before they occur in order to limit downtime and return visits.

 Cost-efficient and easy-to-use, Interact Retail multisite management makes central lighting control more accessible than ever before. Stores that currently have Interact Retail can easily be upgraded to multisite management by replacing the store gateway with one that can make a secure connection to the Interact Retail multisite cloud. Signify offers an upgrade service to customers with an Interact Retail installed base.

Different from other systems, Interact Retail multisite not only works with the general illumination for the sales floor and back-of-house, but also with refrigeration and display lighting, soft pastel up lighting and the outdoor lighting for parking lots and store façades.

Interact Retail multisite management helps customers in their journey towards becoming more adaptive to the evolving needs in retail and to be fully ready for technology upgrades in the future. For more information on Interact Retail multisite management and its availability in your market, please contact your local Signify office or visit the Interact Retail website.

Interact Retail multisite management is launched and demonstrated at EuroShop 2020 which takes place from February 16-20 in Dusseldorf, Germany.