Colors are an important design element that can multiply all your design efforts exponentially. It is a powerful way to talk about your brand without having to do any talking at all! Each color has a different symbolic meaning of its own and invokes different emotions. When setting up your Shopify store, you need to be able to leverage this.
Different industries have a set of colors associated with them. The colors used help shape the brand persona and perception. For instance, red and blue are the most popular colors in the automotive sector. This is because red tends to scream masculinity and blue represents reliability.
To choose the right color palette for your health and wellness Shopify store, you need to first understand your ideal client, analyze your competitors, and create a mood board based on color psychology.
What is Color Psychology?
Color psychology studies how different colors affect human behavior - both micro and macro behaviors.
Unlike common belief, color isn’t just something that’s about aesthetics - but much more than that. Strategic Shopify store design processes focus on how different colors may affect emotions, judgments, and even responses - and incorporate it accordingly.
The same applies to health and wellness sites as well - the users are impacted by the color schemes - much more than what meets the eye.
The colors you choose for your store design can calm or even excite users. Clients can be persuaded to use the sites depending on the colors used. The right colors can build trust and encourage engagement.
For example, blue often promotes relaxation, while red can increase alertness. Designers use these effects to enhance user experience and achieve specific goals.
For Shopify health and wellness brands, knowledge of color psychology is substantial. It enables one to come up with relevant graphics and website architecture that complies with and appeals to the customers.
The Science Behind Color Psychology: Why Is It Important in Shopify Store Design Process
Color psychology is more than just theory- it's backed by solid scientific research.
Several studies have demonstrated that particular colors can alter one's mood, feelings, and actions.
Red color, for example, is associated with an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, which is energizing. On the other hand, heart rates usually fall when one is exposed to blue which is calming.
Warm hues include reds, oranges, and yellows, which tend to excite and energize. Blue, green, and purple are cooler in nature and are generally fair or low in energy and stimulate peace rather than action.
But it is worth mentioning that these effects of colors are not absolute. Cultural background and personal experiences can influence how an individual perceives and reacts to colors. Such variability, however, introduces an extra complexity layer in color psychology, especially for brands that cater to multiple geographic locations.
Colors also play a crucial role in shaping perceptions. In the health industry, for example, the color of medication can affect how patients perceive its effectiveness. This demonstrates the subtle yet powerful impact of color on our minds.
In the case of Shopify health and wellness brands, color psychology is one of the most important aspects. It allows for the creation of website designs and branding strategies that resonate with users on a deeper level.
How to Leverage Color Psychology in Health and Wellness Shopify Stores
You’d be surprised how large a part the aesthetics of your store play in converting shoppers. 42% of shoppers form an opinion of a website based on its design, including color scheme. What’s more, 52% of shoppers do not visit a website again if they don’t like its aesthetics.
Color plays a large part and by not taking care of how you use color on your website, you won’t be able to capture shopper interest. Here are a few ways to do it:
1. Understand Color Impacts
Colors evoke emotions and behaviors. This is especially significant in health and wellness. This is how you can apply colors appropriately:
- Blue: Creates calm. Use for relaxation products or stress relief services.
- Green: Represents health. Perfect for nutrition or natural product lines.
- Red: Energizes. Great for fitness gear or workout supplements.
- Orange: Boosts mood. Ideal for mental health resources or vitamins.
- Purple: Promotes creativity. Suits yoga or mindfulness products.
- Yellow: Increases happiness. Good for mood-enhancing products.
For your health and wellness brand, choose colors that would help promote the objectives of your product. Need customer calm out? Blue becomes the choice. Looking to push someone? Red it is.
Bear in mind, that the colors selected should also match the expectation of the customer so as to help in serving the purpose of the brand.
Source: JD School of Design
2. Research Cultural Color Sensitivity
Diverse cultures assign different meanings to colors. This is particularly important for global Shopify health and wellness stores:
- In the Western world, the color white stands for cleanliness and new beginnings. However, white in India means death for some cultures.
- Red in China means good fortune. In the West, red is associated with passion, love, and lust.
- Yellow in Indian culture is regarded as pious and lucky. However, In Egypt, yellow is reserved for mourning.
Think about the culture of your target audience when selecting colors. Some groups will appreciate a color that others will not. For instance:
- A calming blue for a meditation product may need adjustment in cultures where blue signifies sadness.
- Green, often used for health products, might not be suitable for some Middle Eastern markets where it has religious significance.
In order to make sure your color choice will not be offensive:
- Identify the meaning of these colors among the populations of your target markets.
- Try out your website's design on people of diverse national contexts.
- You might want to create different color versions according to the region where the products will be used.
- Be open to adapting your color palette based on cultural feedback.
Also, keep in mind that the right choice in colors taking into account socio-cultural factors can be of high value for your store’s competitiveness and customers’ confidence building. This helps promote regional market entry and business quick growth.
3. Design for Color Accessibility
Owing to the nature of health and wellness Shopify stores, color accessibility is highly important.
Did you know color vision deficiency exists in approximately 12% of men and 0.5% of women? And among these, confusion between red and green is the most prevalent among those who are color-blind.
Here are some color accessibility strategies to consider in your Shopify health and wellness website:
Ensure high contrast:
- Either dark text on light backgrounds or light text on dark.
- Good for enhancing no matter who the target users are.
Use colors in conjunction with symbols:
- Example: an icon with a heart for cardio products, and a leaf icon for natural products.
- Aids individuals who have issues differentiating colors.
Provide customizable themes:
- Allow users to choose color schemes.
- Caters to individual preferences and needs.
Do not use certain contrasting colors that may be inappropriate:
- It is not a good practice to use only red and green for conveying information.
- Try blue and yellow to see if this works better.
Test your design:
- Play with color blindness simulators to see how accessible your website is.
- Get feedback from users with various visual abilities.
4. Enhance User Experience with Color
Just like images or fonts, color can also enhance the user experience in your Shopify health and beauty store. Here’s what to do:
Draw attention to important content:
- Reserve attention-grabbing colors for super important stuff such as the benefits of the products, prices, etc.
Here’s an example from DermaCo.’s website that uses red to indicate price drops, limited stock, and best sellers only.
Establish color categories:
- Color code particular types or categories of products with specific labels.
- E.g. Green – Organic products, Purple - Sleep medicine.
- Customers will find it easier to move around your store.
Here’s an example from Superfeet -
Indicate progress with colors:
- Color can indicate what percent or how much of something has been achieved.
- Example: Use blue to complete a progress bar for the customers’ wellness challenge.
Capture user attention to focus on an action:
- Use different colors for CTA to maximize users’ attention.
- Catch users’ eyes to a new product or special offer using striking colors
5. Test and Refine Your Color Strategy
Color selection for your Shopify health and wellness store is an ongoing process, not a one-time decision. Start with color psychology principles, but don't stop there.
Perform A/B testing on the different variations of the color swatches and check the effect on any crucial metrics such as conversion rates, time on the site, or even the add-to-cart clicks. For example, do users respond better to a green “Buy Now” button compared to an orange one?
Observe how users interact with the site after changing the colors and learn how such shifts enhance or diminish the users’ interactions. Look at metrics such as the number of clicks on an ad and the number of views of a product page.
You can also ask the consumers how they feel about colors and what their favorite hues are through the medium of questionnaires and interviews. This type of qualitative information may help improve your color strategy.
Stay attuned to seasonal trends and industry developments, experimenting with trending colors while maintaining brand consistency.
Make changes gradually while you monitor the extent of the changes as well as the changes over periods. You can leverage heat maps that show where the most clicks are made by users.
Remember, the goal is to find a color scheme that not only looks appealing but also supports your business objectives and resonates with your customers. Regular testing and refinement will help you create an optimal color strategy that enhances the user experience and boosts your store's performance.
Want to Design a High-Converting Health and Wellness Store? We’ve Got You!
Setting up a high-converting health and wellness store design can get tricky. To build and design an impressive store, you need to work with Shopify design experts who understand what you are looking for and have industry knowledge of colors, changing trends, and consumer preferences.
Also read: Why Your Shopify Store Design Is Important to Increase Conversion Rates
We help you bring your ideas to life with Shopify web design, development, marketing, and support services from experts.
Our team of Shopify experts works with Shopify merchants like you to design a store that reflects the personality of your brand and caters to the functionalities you require. Whether you want to revamp your existing design or build a new one from scratch, we will help you create a positive shopping experience on your Shopify store design.
Reach out to us at info@xgentech.net and we’ll help you set up your Shopify store design and implement these health and wellness website tips to get more conversions.
We're working with some leading Shopify and Shopify Plus brands to help them design a great online experience for their customers. If you are a health and wellness brand looking for more design inspiration, do explore these brands:
Learn more about our Shopify experts for health and wellness brands here.
