No matter how we define “eCommerce”, we know that almost every website is selling something – be it a person’s skills or products or services, a catalog of items or simply courses and certifications. The formula of “success” of an online store, just like a brick and mortar store is very simple – it has to be attractive, inviting and comfortable for the customer once s/he is inside.
Colors play the most important role in attracting the customer’s attention, create desire, express meaning quickly and result in driving more conversions and even earn your customers’ trust and loyalty.
But you might wonder how can color accomplish all these benefits and yet maintain a consistent brand identity? It can happen if you develop a color scheme and use it across the website and all marketing collateral. A well thought out color scheme will help you achieve a strong branding and recall factor.
Understanding Colors
It is very important to understand how to use color psychology to your advantage. Different colors evoke different feelings and emotions and have varied meanings and interpretations. The human brain reacts differently to each.
85% of consumers say color is the primary reason for purchasing a product
Here are some widely used colors and the kind of personality they have:
- Red: Energy, Passion, Desire, Attention, Anger, Excitement, Warmth
- Blue: Corporate, High Quality, Honestly, Trust, Reliability, Coldness
- Green: Freshness, Balance, Youth, Harmony, Money, Safety, Growth
- Yellow: Happiness, Intellect, Cheerfulness, Honor, Loyalty, Adventure
- Orange: Joy, Sunshine, Energy, Happiness, Success, Enthusiasm
- Pink: Love, Romance, Gentleness, Sophistication, Sincerity
- Purple: Stability, Royalty, Luxury, Creativity, Mystery, Magic, Power
- Brown: Organic, Natural, Neutrality, Comfort, Confidence
- Black: Sophistication, Expensive, Elegance, Mystery, Authority
- White: Innocence, Purity, Perfection, Simplicity, Cleanliness
- Gray: Contemporary, Neutrality, Practicality, Timeliness
Let me give you some examples of successful eCommerce websites, some of which we have worked with, which have used colors beautifully and effectively.
Leatt
High on energy!
Leatt develops high-performance products for extreme sports athletes and the bright red color coupled with the catchy images packs a powerful punch into the website, reflecting energy and excitement, which is perfect for the potential customers – people who love to live on the edge!
Read Leatt’s integration success story
Sorinex
Bold and brilliant!
Sorinex is the leading innovator in American-made strength equipment since 1980. The website has effectively used black, red and white to maintain the class and yet reflect the high energy throughout the website. They have beautifully used bold red call-to-action buttons and text which clearly stand out on black or dark backgrounds and effectively guides the visitor.
A-Dam Underwear
Fresh pastels!
A fresh boxer brand for men with character – They are as fresh and quirky as they claim to be. The website uses cool pastel shades and illustrations to bring the viewers’ attention to the products. This is an amazing example of how using many different shades can create variety and still maintain continuity on a website.
Swann
Secure and reliable!
Swann is a leader in security monitoring solutions for homes and businesses. The various shades of blue perfectly convey feelings of trust, security and reliability.
The Mako Group
Go green!
They are a distributor of tactical equipment and weapon accessories and a registered contractor to the US Department of Defense. They have used green to depict balance and safety. They have maintained the black and green theme across their product images as well, which maintains their brand identity all throughout. The green CTA buttons also stand out in sharp contrast to the dark/black backgrounds and are easy to identify and can lead visitors to the right sections on the website.
Read The Mako Group’s integration success story
El Burro
www.elburro.no
Peppy Pinks, Greens and Yellows!
Located in Frogner, Olso, El Burro is a casual burreria that serves authentic Mexican street food. The website, through its colors, portrays the beauty of Mexican food and their passion for exotic spices and flavours. The vibrant and colorful images used in the website depict freshness, variety and finger-licking-deliciousness in their food. Yum!
drybar
Grey and Yellow. Not a dirty fellow!
The make hair styling products and tools crafted for the perfect blowout. The website is clean and stylish and what I loved is the use of colors and typography. The perfect combination of greys, bright yellow and white provides perfect contrast and creates a sense of harmony. What’s even more interesting is that their products have the same color scheme, which makes the overall experience way awesome!
Craftory
Classy neutrals.
Craftory is a Tallinn-based independent leather workshop, which designs and crafts wallets, pouches and sacks. The colors used on the website is as classy as their products. It is an excellent example where soft browns, olives, beiges and greys backgrounds nicely emphasize the leather product images. A dash of orange here and there highlights the important links and buttons and very subtly but effectively guides the user where it intends to.
The list can go on and on, as there is no end to color combinations in the world (and in websites).
So, it is evident that colors play a pivotal role in a customer’s buying decision and also to maintain your brand identity. With the examples given above, I hope you will be able to develop a good color scheme and branding experience for your online business.
Always remember, simplicity is everything!
You will some great color scheme generators online like Kuler, coolers etc. to help you choose your theme.
If you are using any of the eCommerce platforms like Magento, Shopify, Bigcommerce, Prestashop etc., you will find a lot of themes online. I will write about the best themes for each of these Ecommerce platforms, so keep watching this space.
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