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.