The power of colour in ecommerce websites- by Urban River

We know colour is important when designing ecommerce websites – but just how important is it? It can account for up to 85% of the reason why people buy one product and not another! Let’s take a look at how colour can influence your customers, and their spending decisions on ecommerce websites.

Black
Black is associated with luxury, high-end products. Tapping into this colour is a must if you are trying to sell a high cost item to your customers on your ecommerce websites.

Red
Red is a tricky one. It can make a person feel impulsive – which is why red is so often used in sale signs. It grabs attention, and makes people want to take risks (there’s a reason why red sports cars cost more to insure!). Sounds good right? Not always. Red can benefit your ecommerce website when having a sale or when you’re trying to encourage an impulse buy, but it’s also associated with the word stop and with alarms. That could counteract that impulsiveness and may make a person be even more careful with their cash.

Green
Green is a calming colour, and is associated with nature and healthiness. Making your customer feel more relaxed could take away some of the pain when it comes to parting with their money. As well as making them feel generally calmer when browsing your ecommerce website. If you’re looking to promote how healthy or environmentally friendly your product is – green is the colour for you.

Pink
It’s not just a girl’s colour – it’s a relaxing colour for everyone. Research shows that pink slows down endocrine systems and soothes tense muscles. If you’re looking for a calm, happy customer, add some pink to your palette. Take a look at how this pastel palette we created for a premium chocolate company creates a relaxing customer experience chocolatefayre.

Orange
Orange is great for attracting attention, and call to action buttons often do far better in this colour than any else. However, it is associated with affordability and good value. This is great if your brand is built around your low prices, but if you are trying to sell a luxury product – stay away from orange. The ecommerce website we created for our client Snowshock, makes use of splashes of colour to reflect the zingy slush flavours and call to actions.

Blue
Loyalty and trustworthiness are associated with this colour. It is also the most common favourite colour, so you’ve got little chance of annoying anyone with this. If you’re looking to generate a feeling of security, blue can help give your customers a little more reassurance. It can show that you are reliable, and its important that an ecommerce website feels secure to use. Many finance organisations and solicitors stick with blue – and you can see why. Blue is not only associated with loyalty – it encourages loyalty in others. So if you’re looking for return customers, this could be the colour for you.

Yellow
Unlike blue, yellow is the least common favourite colour, and it has a marmite effect. You either absolutely love it, or absolutely hate it. It is eyecatching, and associated with words. For example, like energy and life – so yellow isn’t a total no-go. It also increases appetite, so if you’re in the food industry it won’t hurt to incorporate it into your website.

White
White is sleek, modern and pure. Perfect for Apple, wouldn’t you say? It’s also not a shocking or vibrant colour, so people are more likely to focus on your product than get distracted by different colours. It can be boring though – so don’t be afraid to add a splash of a different colour alongside it to keep your scheme interesting.

Need some colour expert help?
So there you have it. Colours are having more of an effect on you than you may have previously thought. It’s vital to take it into account when putting together your ecommerce websites. At web design newcastle, Urban River, they design and build ecommerce websites that have impact. They drive traffic, create a great user experience and ultimately create sales for you. If you’d like them to support you in designing a website or in your ecommerce offering – get in touch



Urban River is a valued member of Design Network North. Design Network North is part of RTC’s new programme called ‘Designing Better Business’ – launched in 2016 - which will provide support for north east businesses looking to continue to innovate and design better world leading products.
RTC was founded in 1989 with the sole purpose of helping businesses innovate and create new higher value products. Today, the business operates out of offices in Sunderland, Gateshead, Leeds and Daresbury and specialises in helping companies develop new products, embed new skills through training and access funding for innovation.
Designing Better Business’ is part funded by European Regional Development Fund, as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.