5 Color Strategies For Brands and Retailers

1. Tell a story with color.

Rather than simply selecting colors you like, it can be more effective to start with a theme and choose colors that represent that concept. For example, you could capture the essence of the beach with colors reminiscent of sand, water, and sunshine. That would transport shoppers to an environment they associate with relaxation and enjoyment and make them want to stick around longer.

2. Comfort and calm customers. 

Warm colors like oranges and browns are inviting and reassuring to shoppers, while cooling colors like green and blue can have a calming effect. Orange supposedly makes you happy (and happy customers are more likely to linger longer in your store).

3. Alert your shoppers to certain products.

Bright colors like yellow and red grab customers' attention, stopping them in their tracks before they rush by a product display. That's because yellow is the color first perceived by the retina. Red, of course, has long been associated with stopping, whether it's on a traffic signal, emergency vehicle or store design. People generally buy more when there is red, but use these bold colors sparingly. Too much red will agitate shoppers.Tthe retail design team at our Charlotte marketing agency recommends making bright accent colors no more than 20 percent of your store's overall color scheme.

4. Build brand recognition.

Colors can increase brand recognition by 80 percent, according to a 2007 study by psychology and management researchers at the University of Loyola, Maryland. Finding a way to work your logo colors into your retail design will help customers associate those colors with your company.

5. Highlight rather than overpower your product.

Be careful not to drown out what you're selling by immersing it in too much color. In retail, you want the merchandise to pop and not the surroundings. If you are selling lingerie, for example, bold colors could work against the delicate quality of the product. Similarly, if you are selling electronics, too many bright, flashy colors can detract from your product's clean sleek look.

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