Colour Accuracy in Fashion E-tail

Clothing possesses characteristics that are considered non-digital in the sense that they are difficult to be communicated over the Internet. Consumers feel the need for multisensorial contact with these products before purchasing them to carry out a thorough inspection. Attributes such as fabric texture and fit, are poorly communicated through text or photos as are the colours of objects. This paper aims to raise some issues related to the colours of clothing products when viewed on e-commerce websites, frequently, photographs do not represent accurately the colour of clothing items. The existing literature mostly addresses the use of colour psychology and the colour of web design elements, there is little work discussing the importance of colour accuracy in product representation in e-commerce. Through a narrative literature review and a preliminary systematic literature review, we will discuss the importance of colour accuracy to the user experience when buying clothes online. To conclude, we consider that the lighting; the texture of the materials; the skin colour of the models, and the backgrounds used to photograph products should be selected carefully so that consumers have a more reliable perception of the colours.