When you bring in painters and decorators to revitalise your shop, the goal is not only to choose a colour scheme and design layout that appeals to your personal tastes, but also one that will endear your business to your customers.
Colours and patterns are extraordinarily powerful, and the goal of any redecoration job is to take full advantage of colour theory to tell your customers everything they need to know about your business before they read a single word or look at a single product.
The first few seconds a customer looks at your shop can be massively important, as they shape their first impression and whether they want to learn more.
The best way to grab their attention is through the use of vivid, eye-catching yet visually pleasing colours, but which are the best ones for your shop?
There are a lot of answers to this, but here are some tips to help you decide.
Should You Use Colour Psychology When Redecorating Your Shop?
Colours not only make us happy, but they also can have a remarkable effect on our mood and behaviour. This is known as colour psychology, and it is an essential tool to use when decorating your shop, either in whole or in part.
Your colour scheme will inspire different emotions and points of view, which in turn can inspire customers to shop in different ways.
Everyone has a subjective view of colour, but here are some classic examples of retail colour meanings:
- Red – Passionate and energetic, it is often associated with impulse purchases, which is why it is commonly used in takeaway restaurants.
- Blue – Calming and authoritative, blue is typically used for banks, building societies and estate agents, as it allows for the creation of an aura of trust and professionalism when meeting with agents and executives.
- Yellow – Effervescent and optimistic, yellow is often used to inspire creativity and positivity, although it can also easily overwhelm when not paired with a calmer colour.
- Green – The colour of nature, green is often used to convey freshness, spa-style relaxation and ecological awareness. This is why skin care and cosmetics shops often use green to emphasise their green credentials.
- Orange – Warm, energetic and playful, orange is equal parts exciting and unique, although it can also be overwhelmingly vibrant at times.
- Black – Whilst technically not a colour, it conveys a rich elegance that is remarkably common in sophisticated modern offices and shops.
- White – Clean and minimalistic, it is commonly used in boutique-style shops that want to emphasise elegance, although care must be taken to make a store look too empty, as it also makes a space look larger.
Should You Use Colour Zones?
You are not necessarily limited to a single colour, but instead can take advantage of colour zones to shape a particular store and increase the focus on specific areas.
A corner shop or supermarket, which contains a wide variety of products, will often use zonal accents to a warm, light colour scheme to provide a signpost from one area of the store to another, subconsciously guiding a customer around the shop.
Not every shop needs this, and your products, brand and retail focus should shape the paint scheme you use.