A portable color sampling device (10) facilitates comparison of a color sampled from an object using an optical sensor (11) with a database (30,42,43,44) of stored colors. The database (30,42,43,44) of stored colors includes a merchandise database of articles for sale, and an indication of the location of those articles, including an indication of some or all of retailer identity, store location, in-store location, article description or product ID, class of article and the like. A user points the color sampling device at an article to be sampled, and a color definition data file is generated for transmission to a database of articles. The database returns to the sampling device a list of merchandise that matches the sampled color or colors and any other matching criteria such as class of article, product code, and geographic proximity.