Helping wholesalers give the right advice about lighting

Simon Greenwood, Trade Channel Director Northern Europe with Thorn Lighting, asks if there is enough support for wholesalers when it comes to lighting.

The lighting market is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by the rise of LED technology and the increasing popularity of connected lighting systems.

In these days of difficult trading conditions, electrical wholesalers need help and support from manufacturers so they can offer the right products to the right customers.

As lighting is becoming more complex, especially as we move to a connected lighting industry with all of the technical advances that entails, so are the challenges facing electrical wholesalers.

Support

In terms of a company’s product, there should always be technical and product support information available as standard from a manufacturer. This should go without saying however, as we have seen in the last few years, lighting is becoming a significantly more complex industry.

It is important that wholesalers are constantly educated to make them more aware, not only of the continuing evolution of lighting products, but also of lighting regulations that will help with future challenges. This is also something that will enable them to build trust and long lasting relationships with their customers.

A step in the right direction is the standardisation of lighting using the ETIM (European Technical Information Model) categorisation, which will remove any ambiguity and ensure everyone uses the same terms.

Understanding

This is something that we as a lighting manufacturer will endorse and will work closely with associated bodies in order to raise awareness and understanding.

Another example would be that we have been working throughout this year to raise awareness on many topics with electrical wholesalers and the emphasis has recently been on the important subject of office lighting, with a focus on colour temperature, distribution, UGR and lifetime.

With the European Standard set UGR = 19, it means that choosing the right luminaire is the most important part of lighting in the workspace and this information is invaluable.

There is much to be gained by working closely with electrical wholesalers to help them benefit from the wide reaching knowledge and industry expertise which is available to them. This way it is possible to ensure they have all the right products and information to help them deliver the right end result.

As customers’ needs and expectations change, wholesalers must adapt their approach and add value by connecting the right products to the right customers and they can only achieve this if we continue to provide them with the information they need.

www.thornlighting.co.uk/en-gb