January 17, 2025
Why Is Amazon Ending Its ‘Try Before You Buy’ Program?
Amazon is ending its “Try Before You Buy” service in part because artificial intelligence is helping solve size and fit issues for online shoppers.
Officially launched in 2018 as Prime Wardrobe, “Try Before You Buy” allows Prime members to order up to six select apparel, footwear, jewelry, or accessories items on a trial basis. They then have seven days after receiving the merchandise to return any unwanted items without being charged. Users choose the items they want to keep.
Amazon initially offered an additional personal styling service, Personal Shopper, for $4.99 per month, but that option was phased out in the following years.
The Try Before You Buy service was seen as a way for Amazon to help overcome its struggles in selling fashion, including securing top brands.
In a media statement attained by the Associated Press on the closure, Amazon said, “Given the combination of Try Before You Buy only scaling to a limited number of items and customers increasingly using our new AI-powered features like virtual try-on, personalized size recommendations, review highlights, and improved size charts to make sure they find the right fit, we’re phasing out the Try Before You Buy option.”
Amazon, according to USA Today, has rolled out four AI-powered innovations addressing size and fit challenges.
Feedback from users of the Try Before You Buy service also showed that the top complaints around it included its limited selection, allowing only up to six items to be ordered at a time, as well as long delivery times. Amazon’s statement indicated that phasing out the purchasing option will provide customers with “a single, simplified experience with wider selection and faster delivery speeds.”
Amazon also noted that the retailer offers “convenient, hassle-free returns,” which can be done at Amazon stores, including Whole Foods, as well as local stores like Staples, Kohl’s, and The UPS Store.
The service will be discontinued on Jan. 31, according to a notice on Amazon’s website. The notice then directs users to browse Amazon’s fashion homepage.
Try Before You Buy operates similarly to wardrobe subscription services like Stitch Fix, Rent the Runway, and Urban Outfitters’ Nuuly, although all those services charge monthly styling fees.
Styling subscription services have faced challenges in recent years, with Nordstrom closing its Trunk Club subscription business in 2022 after ThredUp and Frank and Oak ended similar services in 2021.
Stitch Fix, the leader in the space, saw sales slump 16% to $1.3 billion in the fiscal year that ended Aug. 3, 2024, and 12.4% in the quarter that ended Nov. 2. With moves including a focus on adding newness to assortments, increasing the visibility of its stylists, and allowing customers to choose up to eight items at a time in their monthly box, up from five historically, Stitch Fix is aiming for a return to growth by the end of fiscal 2026.
Amazon’s move also comes amid CEO Andy Jassy’s ongoing efforts to rein in costs across the company and as many retailers have also been adopting stricter return policies to mitigate the high costs of returns.
BrainTrust
David Spear
President, Retail, OrderlyMeds
Frank Margolis
Executive Director, Growth Marketing & Business Development, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions
Mark Self
President and CEO, Vector Textiles
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Do you think the phasing out of Amazon’s Try Before You Buy offering was due to improving online fit technologies, limited consumer demand for the offering, or for some other reason?
Does the closure likely reflect underlying challenges in the wardrobe subscription model?
Poll
Loading …
Try Before You Buy worked well in the days when Amazon was trying to build its customer base in apparel. However, the program adds operational complexity, and it almost encourages consumers to make returns. Now Amazon is a more significant player in apparel with much higher volumes, it likely wants to simplify and streamline things. Amazon has also introduced more tools and information around sizing, including virtual try on, so it probably sees Try Before You Buy as increasingly redundant.
To build on Neil’s great points, for a majority of apparel on Amazon TBYB is probably no longer relevant. But for new brands, or higher price point items where customers may be more hesitant, this program still has merit.
Another option is for Amazon to feature the program but only allow the clothing to be returned at Kohls (one of its key return partners), who can then resell the clothing in-store.
Thanks, David. People can still return apparel, so I think this is more about changing when people pay for it. Paying up front and then getting a refund when returning is very standard practice. So Amazon is just coming into line with other retailers. With hindsight, TBYB program was quite generous!
As Amazon’s “Try Before You Buy” program scaled back to only a limited number of products, customers became confused and frustrated when they couldn’t purchase more than one or two items that way.
Many Amazon customers actually believe that whatever they purchase on Amazon is always an Amazon product and that Amazon has complete control over all aspects of every purchase they make. There is a lack of awareness among consumers that most items are sold by third parties.
Amazon’s new AI-powered features, such as virtual try-ons, personalized size recommendations, review highlights, and improved size charts, are evolving to replace TBYB anyway.
People who believe this discontinuance has anything to do with the wonders of AI, as opposed to the cold reality of “limited selection, allowing only up to six items to be ordered at a time, as well as long delivery times” will still be looking on Amazon ..for a bridge to buy.
Given AI’s pervasiveness in nearly all aspects of company’s businesses, especially, Amazon’s, I’d say this was a pretty easy call for Mr. Jassy to make. I’m sure there are a hundred other services just like TBYB that he has on the cutting table.
This feature sounds good on paper however was probably very expensive to support and implement. Drop it, and watch the margins on clothing improve…
While a great idea, returning an entire order of six items is costly. In a retail era where hassle-free returns are important to customers, Amazon is one of the top, if not the top, contenders for “Easiest Returns.” And while they may be able to afford to do so, it is extremely expensive to offer and suggest items be returned. I continue to enjoy the Amazon story, which teaches us how to continue to innovate, keep what works, and eliminate or modify what doesn’t work.
A complex program that was hard to manage and still required shoppers to return stuff. Not surprised. Simple is better and AI tech enables different solutions.
Amazon ended “Try Before You Buy” more to cut costs than because of better fit technologies or low demand. AI tools like virtual try-on are still a work in progress, and plenty of shoppers still struggle with size and fit. The real issue was the high cost of managing returns and inventory for a service that wasn’t scaling fast enough. As for wardrobe subscriptions, they’re facing the same problem i.e. they’re expensive to run, and consumer interest is limited unless the value is clear. Unless retailers innovate beyond the basics and make these models truly appealing, we’ll keep seeing closures like this. AI alone isn’t the magic fix here.
More Discussions
How Important Is ‘Vibe’ in Physical Retail?
Not attempting to be too playfully groovy about this question: According to a recent report from…Will Pinterest Translate to Shoppable TV?
Will Pinterest lead the way in shoppable TV?How Can Retailers Improve Shoppers’ Sense of Closure When Concerns Emerge?
How can retailers better provide closure and proper resolution to today’s shoppers?
Try Before You Buy worked well in the days when Amazon was trying to build its customer base in apparel. However, the program adds operational complexity, and it almost encourages consumers to make returns. Now Amazon is a more significant player in apparel with much higher volumes, it likely wants to simplify and streamline things. Amazon has also introduced more tools and information around sizing, including virtual try on, so it probably sees Try Before You Buy as increasingly redundant.
To build on Neil’s great points, for a majority of apparel on Amazon TBYB is probably no longer relevant. But for new brands, or higher price point items where customers may be more hesitant, this program still has merit.
Another option is for Amazon to feature the program but only allow the clothing to be returned at Kohls (one of its key return partners), who can then resell the clothing in-store.
Thanks, David. People can still return apparel, so I think this is more about changing when people pay for it. Paying up front and then getting a refund when returning is very standard practice. So Amazon is just coming into line with other retailers. With hindsight, TBYB program was quite generous!
As Amazon’s “Try Before You Buy” program scaled back to only a limited number of products, customers became confused and frustrated when they couldn’t purchase more than one or two items that way.
Many Amazon customers actually believe that whatever they purchase on Amazon is always an Amazon product and that Amazon has complete control over all aspects of every purchase they make. There is a lack of awareness among consumers that most items are sold by third parties.
Amazon’s new AI-powered features, such as virtual try-ons, personalized size recommendations, review highlights, and improved size charts, are evolving to replace TBYB anyway.
People who believe this discontinuance has anything to do with the wonders of AI, as opposed to the cold reality of “limited selection, allowing only up to six items to be ordered at a time, as well as long delivery times” will still be looking on Amazon ..for a bridge to buy.
Given AI’s pervasiveness in nearly all aspects of company’s businesses, especially, Amazon’s, I’d say this was a pretty easy call for Mr. Jassy to make. I’m sure there are a hundred other services just like TBYB that he has on the cutting table.
This feature sounds good on paper however was probably very expensive to support and implement. Drop it, and watch the margins on clothing improve…
While a great idea, returning an entire order of six items is costly. In a retail era where hassle-free returns are important to customers, Amazon is one of the top, if not the top, contenders for “Easiest Returns.” And while they may be able to afford to do so, it is extremely expensive to offer and suggest items be returned. I continue to enjoy the Amazon story, which teaches us how to continue to innovate, keep what works, and eliminate or modify what doesn’t work.
A complex program that was hard to manage and still required shoppers to return stuff. Not surprised. Simple is better and AI tech enables different solutions.
Amazon ended “Try Before You Buy” more to cut costs than because of better fit technologies or low demand. AI tools like virtual try-on are still a work in progress, and plenty of shoppers still struggle with size and fit. The real issue was the high cost of managing returns and inventory for a service that wasn’t scaling fast enough. As for wardrobe subscriptions, they’re facing the same problem i.e. they’re expensive to run, and consumer interest is limited unless the value is clear. Unless retailers innovate beyond the basics and make these models truly appealing, we’ll keep seeing closures like this. AI alone isn’t the magic fix here.