One essential task of post-production when retouching assets is to adjust and fine-tune color as a final step before publication, profiled specifically for online, digital, or print use. Consistent color isn’t a given. Variables and shifts occur throughout production in a multitude of ways. If a system isn’t implemented, color management can be all over the place. As experts, the relentless approach through our abilities, knowledge, and industry standard processes is to deliver accurate, consistent color. However, the direct effect this effort has on the company is often overlooked.

I once had a Creative Director tell me, when asked about color accuracy, "I'm not concerned. The end user rarely views a calibrated monitor, so we can’t control what they see.” Her statement may have been true. Photo production teams cannot control the end user’s monitor, yet we can deliver proper color in final imagery through consistent processes and partnerships with DAM and web teams. In addition, as consumer-grade monitors improve, inaccurate color becomes increasingly evident. Yet my response tackled another aspect of the topic. “Well, if one of our merchants purchases twenty grey suits in a mix of tones and hues, I’m sure they’ll want each suit to match in color and differentiate online. Accurate color is how we make that happen”.

In another meeting with a new VP over digital production of two major billion-dollar brands, I was overseeing post-production, my department fairly new as an internal part of the team, as all previous retouching was external. There was a learning curve regarding our objectives, and my job was to educate and define the importance of our processes. Teams hadn’t established a clear concise color process and the results were non-matching assets across the product line. Most were ambivalent to the effects of this nonconforming method. When introduced in the meeting, my first words were, “I understand our team is not in the business of retouching, yet more so maintaining and improving customer experience.” 

I wanted to make the clear statement I understood the goal. There is a direct correlation between product color and company performance as color is often one of the main components affecting revenue. Execution of this necessity has become vital as eCommerce sales soared during and after the pandemic. Online purchases became as important as brick-and-mortar sales. Therefore, the higher quality and more exact your assets are regarding lighting, realism, and especially color, the better chance there is of product success. 

How so? How does precise product color directly affect company revenue? 

• Increased sales

  • True to life color can improve customer experience online through consistent imagery, a uniformity of the site, creating easier navigation with less ambiguity. This is especially true as recent trends have companies moving away from moody stylized editorial looks, choosing more neutrally lit scenes to have their products match across assets, allowing them to utilize imagery in a variety of channels.

• Reduced returns

  • One of the highest percentages of eCommerce customer returns comes from color complaints. “It didn’t look that way on your site!” Lowering return rates can prevent loss of sales, also cutting customer service, shipping, and inventory/storage efforts, and overhead.

• Customer confidence

  • Your customer’s trust in your products can also be impacted. Deliver misleading images for your web team and you end up turning off shoppers, affecting future sales. 

Just look at a myriad of companies. If you’re in the furniture business, the color of your wood bed is important to a customer who wishes to match a specific hue with their bedroom decor. If you’re a cosmetic company, the hue of your lipstick is equally significant to a customer who wishes to match their makeup. If you are in the clothing business, the shade of your suit is just as valuable to a person who wants to coordinate their ensemble. If color defines any part of your products, color can affect any part of its success.