Paint choices at Home Depot
Paint colors can express warmth. Some hues are subtle. Others, bold. Or cool looking.
“The biggest concern our customers have is picking the right color. The average shopper spends around 90 to 100 days choosing a color,” said Chris Waits, merchandising VP for paint at Home Depot.
Picking a paint color is, “DIY-friendly, but it’s a commitment,” said the VP.
“Color is subjective and personal, plus there are so many choices,” he said, in talking about when shoppers come into the paint department at the big retailer.
“Shoppers want to choose a color that’s on-trend. They want the right finish, and they want their project to go well. Most of the time, they will live with that color until the next time they paint,” said the merchandising VP of paint.
Waits is a 32-year veteran of Home Depot.
He first worked in the paint department in the 1990s, said the retailer, “and now he’s back to ensure the department has a sound strategy for the future.”
He shared the strategy and roles that innovation and sustainability play in the world of paint.
“We’ve really tried to take a lot of the guesswork out for the customer. For starters, we update our color palette every year with the most popular trending colors,” he said.
Their 2023 color palette, for example, “was handpicked by our trend design team who travel around the world to ensure our colors reflect current trends,” said Waits.
There are so many different variables that influence trends, he said. “We’ll see color trends start in fashion and textiles. Then they infiltrate the hospitality industry with high-end hotel and restaurant designs. Then they carry over into residential designs.”
When the retailer introduces its color palettes for the year, said Waits, “we are doing the work for our customers so they can feel confident and inspired with the color and paint they buy.”
DIY painting projects get more sustainable
“One thing is for certain,” said the VP, “paint is constantly changing.”
If you haven’t been in the paint department for a year or so, he said, “you’ll be surprised at the new technologies and products that are available. The merchant team is constantly working with suppliers to keep a pipeline of innovation going from year to year.”
Every year, he said, we examine all of our products closely in cooperation with our suppliers. It’s our job and that of our suppliers to be true paint experts.
“We look to our supplier partners, companies like Behr Paint, during that process to tell us what they are working on, whether it’s a new technology, a newly identified chemical of concern or a sustainability enhancement,” said Waits.
“We know that customers expect us to be the paint experts, so it’s our job to take concerns off the table before they become concerns for shoppers. For example, all of our indoor paints are low- or no-VOC,” he said.
Most customers don’t come in asking about VOCs.
But, he said, the retailer knows that they can impact indoor air quality, and their suppliers know – so they’ve worked together to remove them.
“We didn’t make that change because shoppers asked for it. We did it because it was the right thing to do, and because our shoppers count on Home Depot to be the experts they can trust,” said Waits.
