How to Choose a Color Matching System for Your Paint Department

First things first, let’s answer the question:  What is a retail paint color matching system?

At its most basic, a paint color matching system is a computerized tool that allows you to search formulas, match competitor’s colors in your own paint and products, and most importantly custom match any sample.

What are the Benefits of Having a Retail Paint Color Matching System?

How exactly do paint color matching systems aid your department? They help you:

• Stay Competitive:  In the digital age it is important to keep your business up-to-date with the current relevant technologies. Most modern paint departments have taken the initiative and implemented a color matching system. Having one in your arsenal allows you to stay competitive.
• Save Time:  Not only does the system allow you to stay with the times, it also allows you to save time. The precision of the device reduces time spent on corrections that inevitably come with simply guessing at a color’s formula. An added bonus to this, is that costs are also minimized by getting a color right the first time
• Implement New Formulas with Ease:  Staying current with the color matching technology itself allows you to stay on the leading-edge in other areas as well. For instance, utilizing the system allows your department to carry the latest formulas from your manufacturer. This sets you even further ahead of the competition.

There’s one final, significant reason to put color matching technology into action throughout your department: Where our human eyes are fallible, the system is not. Color can look different depending on the individual, which can cause avoidable variances in color matching. Color control technology allows a department to establish consistent color matching, making it easier on everyone.

When is the Right Time to Implement Retail Paint Color Tools?

Purchasing digital tools for paint matching is a big step for any department. It’s also a step that pays off in the long run. While there are many reasons a store may decide to update their color matching processes, we’ve found that there are three common catalysts:

1. A New Beginning

When you’re starting from scratch, every facet of a project can be overwhelming. Luckily, color matching systems can bring a bit of calm to the chaos, and provide at least one area you don’t have to worry about. Whether opening a new store, installing a new paint department, or initiating new technology, being at square-one is often the positive momentum one needs to implement the latest color matching systems.

2. Making an Upgrade

Being an established store or department is a commendable feat! But to maintain that success, stores will occasionally need to enhance the fundamentals of their processes to increase efficiency and stay on the cutting-edge of technology. No matter what your reason is for upgrading, streamlining the systems through top-of-the-line color matching systems is a frequent incentive for changing a department’s current processes.

3. Changes for the Better

Unfortunately, sometimes a department’s current program just isn’t working. Whether the device’s support has been unreliable, or the quality of the system itself just isn’t living up to your expectations – for one reason or the other, it’s causing dissatisfaction within the store. Moving away from the old and implementing a state-of-the-art color matching program is often a department’s easiest way to erase the headaches of former systems.

What to Look for When Choosing a Color Matching System

• Texture Measurement Capabilities:  Why limit yourself? The optimal color matching device should be able to measure across any texture, not just one particular finish.
• Lab Quality Accuracy:  Strive for perfection. Be sure to select a color matching system that gives precise results in measurement, formulation, and correction — giving your customers the color they want the first time. 
•  A Trusted Solution:  Just because you’re not a paint laboratory, doesn’t mean you can’t be just as accurate. Don’t settle for second best; choose a device given a stamp of approval by well-known paint manufacturers.
• Dispenser Compatibility:  Make life easy; ensure your color matching device is compatible with your paint dispenser, thus saving you extra time and effort.
•  Excellent Support:  You can’t put a price on ease of mind. Your ideal color matching system should be supported by an enthusiastic, highly-knowledgeable team of individuals who specialize specifically in retail paint.
• Simplicity:  Kick complications to the curb. Ensure the system you choose is easy to learn and easy to use. Specially, be certain the product can swiftly search formulas, quickly color match, and rapidly re-dispense a customer’s saved formulas.

Every business has different needs, but the right color matching system can be your paint department’s best friend. Explore our retail paint color solutions here, then connect with our team so we can help you find the right tools for your store.