If you want your store's sales signs stand out to customers, using the most vivid colors available to catch their eye is the best way for them to easily find the products.

My wife and I were doing some Christmas shopping in one of the big box chain stores. She was shopping and I was tagging along, looking around at the layouts. End caps with special items stood out, of course. That's what they're supposed to do. What I started noticing were the signs directing shoppers to the internal racks of clothing in the men's, women's and children's sections.

Meandering through the clothes, if you're browsing, you'd probably end up at one of those racks. But with a highly visible, colorful sign screaming at you to come see them, chances are better you'll gravitate to those racks first.

That's the point, of course, just like the end caps. They want you to see those items and buy them.

You should be doing the same with your products, starting with the signs that stand out. Whether it's a rack of autumn hunting camouflage or summer fishing apparel, guns or fishing rods on a rack, cleaning supplies and accessories, fishing lures and reels, or something else, a blazingly vivid sign makes shoppers take notice.

The Best Colors

Real estate "For Sale" signs are often red and white or black and yellow for a reason: red and yellow stand out more than others. Fire hydrants are red. Law enforcement and first responders in Europe wear clothing with chartreuse, an incredibly vivid shade of green.

McDonald's uses red and yellow for its Golden Arches, as does Shell to get your attention when you need gasoline or other stuff. Target has a vivid red dot in a circle (a target, right?) that you immediately recognize on TV or while driving past its store.

Professional angler Skeet Reese of California has competed for years on the MLF and B.A.S.S. tournament circuits. Anglers on the pro tours wear jerseys to help showcase their sponsors. Reese's jersey — and his truck, and some rods he once endorsed — are a stunning combo yellow and black. Easily visible whether he's at a weigh-in, driving down the road or on the water in his boat (which also sports the same colors). Pure Fishing's popular PowerBait line of soft plastic lures are in yellow packages, which stand out to customers. Zoom Baits uses a bright red and black colorway for its packages of soft plastic baits.

Red, chartreuse and yellow are immediately visible. Orange and hot pink, especially blaze orange like with hunting safety apparel, are others. Cyan, one of the shades in the color spectrum, is also known by some as teal and is vivid. Its used on some women's camouflage apparel as an accent, but it stands out. The NFL's Carolina Panthers have a shade of this in its uniforms.

These colors are the best for you to use for your signs in your stores and, possibly, for your main signs outside. Why? Because in a sea of camouflage, boxes, products and whatever else is in your store, they immediately get the attention of anyone walking around. Outdoors, drivers immediately can see these colors. Remember McDonald's and the red-and-yellow Golden Arches? You don't have to look hard to see their sign.

That may sound like common sense to use vivid colors. But too often I've seen  retailers go for the quick fix on signs with a white background and black ink. Maybe a little red around the edge, but that's it. Shoppers may see them but why scrimp on something as simple as a sign?

You're missing out by not being colorful. Add a little brightness to your shopping floor and you may see some added sales.