Sherwin-Williams

The Sherwin-Williams and WPP Enterpise Solutions teams have worked together since 2017. What began as a focused “make our digital channels work harder for pros” brief has grown into an integrated customer experience program that spans digital tools, in‑store enablement and a new model for funding and measuring CX as a growth engine rather than a cost line. In 2024, that work was recognized when Sherwin‑Williams honored us with its Marketing Agency Partner Award as part of its Vendor of the Year awards program.

Sherwin‑Williams is the world’s largest coatings company, with more than 5,000 company‑owned locations and operations in over 120 countries. Its customers range from DIY painters trying find the perfect color to independent pro crews and global facilities managers. In 2019, Sherwin‑Williams asked WPP Enterprise Solutions to help modernize its digital channels. The initial brief was practical with the goal of making it easier for professional painters to manage their accounts, place orders and keep jobs moving.

But underneath sat a larger question: how might Sherwin‑Williams not only enhance the customer experience and deepen relationships with pros and homeowners, but also scale the way it serves them?

Solving against this central question is what ultimately evolved the work from individual app releases into a connected customer experience system used by pros, DIY customers and store teams. And as that system matured, it also changed how Sherwin-Williams treats CX internally: from a line of service cost to an investment in deepening relationships, backed by executive sponsorship and a multi‑year roadmap. Here’s how.

Design
Sherwin-Williams set out with a specific CX problem on the pro side and, together with WPP Enterprise Solutions, built a system that connects digital tools, in-store enablement and field adoption for both pros and homeowners.

Build
For professional painters, Sherwin‑Williams is a partner in running the business, not just a place to buy paint. The first wave of work focused on making that promise concrete by creating modernized solutions across two core digital channels: the PRO+ app and the pro web experience. Historically, pros needed to piece information together across receipts, store visits, and phone calls, but as a result of Sherwin-Williams and WPP Enterprise Solutions collaboration and efforts, pros can now:

• Check pricing, inventory, and past purchases in one place.

• Reorder from job history in a few taps.

• Schedule delivery to job sites and plan pickups around crew time.

• Use business tools that help them estimate, bid, and manage jobs more efficiently.

New offerings like scheduled delivery, integrated across app and web, turned logistics into a value proposition. Pros can plan their week around reliable delivery and pickup windows, cut unplanned trips to the store, and keep more crew hours on the job rather than on the road.

As adoption has grown, so has the impact. Pro customers who rely on digital channels now interact with Sherwin‑Williams more often and in more predictable ways. Stores receive better‑planned orders; pros save time and gain confidence that materials will be where they need them, when they need them; and the business surfaces richer data to tune offers, inventory, and service.

Run
On the DIY side of the business, the hard part is not finding paint; it is choosing the right color and products with enough confidence to move from inspiration to purchase. Too often, customers abandon the journey somewhere between “I have an idea” and “I know this will work in my space.”

Sherwin‑Williams and Enterprise Solutions built a suite of tools to close that gap and treat customer experience as a conversion system, not a collection of point solutions. These include:

• Color and project tools that help customers explore palettes, see combinations, and narrow choices quickly.

• Simplified sampling paths that make it easier to test colors at home before committing.

• Virtual color consultation services that give customers access to expert guidance from right inside their project space. In‑store experiences like the color bar and paint advisors that connect digital exploration to physical shelves.

The goal is simple: reduce the friction between “I’m overwhelmed by color and options” and “I know what I’m buying and why.” When customers can visualize the outcome and feel supported in their decisions, they buy more confidently, make fewer returns, and are more likely to come back.

Across these journeys, Sherwin‑Williams has seen lifts in indicators such as engagement with color tools, sampling conversion and completion of online‑to‑store journeys; showing that better experience design converts into measurable commercial performance, not just higher satisfaction scores.

On the DIY side, Sherwin‑Williams used the same CX approach to rework how homeowners choose and sample color. The AI‑powered color experience reached the top 10 in Google Play’s House & Home category, with 1.5k downloads in its first two months and a step‑change in sampling behavior including a 2x increase in individual samples for the top 15 colors and higher demand for dark and high‑saturation shades.

Taken together, these results made the case that CX - when treated as a system spanning digital tools, in‑store enablement, and field adoption - can move both revenue and customer behavior. The 2024 Marketing Agency Partner Award within Sherwin‑Williams’ Vendor of the Year program reinforced that this CX system is delivering real commercial and customer value.

Sherwin‑Williams is now extending the same CX operating model into new journeys, from deeper in‑store integration for pros to the next generation of AI‑assisted tools that link inspiration, sampling, and purchase. Data from the PRO+ app and homeowner experiences is feeding back into product, merchandising and media, making each new initiative faster and more targeted than the last. WPP Enterprise Solutions remains embedded as a partner, helping Sherwin‑Williams treat CX as long‑term growth infrastructure rather than a series of one‑off digital projects.