- Amazon replaces “Try Before You Buy” with “Virtual Try-On.”
- Replacing a physical trial with a digital trial is becoming something of a theme in online retail.
- Virtual try-on joins other features like AI-based size recommendations.
Amazon prefers that you try on clothes virtually instead of testing their fits at home. The company is officially retiring its “Try Before You Buy” program at the end of January, and in its place, Amazon wants you to trust its AI tools to find the perfect fit.
Try Before You Buy was launched in 2017 as Prime Wardrobe and allows shoppers to get up to six items, try them on at home, and only pay for what they keep while returning the rest. No dressing room with bright fluorescent lighting is necessary. It’s very popular, but Amazon decided the program wasn’t good enough.
Amazon believes its AI tools are all you need to find your best look. One might suspect that this also has something to do with the company’s growing investments in AI-driven shopping features. After all, why wait for a box of clothes when an algorithm can tell you which pair of jeans you’ll love in return?
“Given the combination of Try Before You Buy only fits a limited number of items and customers increasingly using our new AI-powered features like virtual try-on, personalized size recommendations, review highlights, and enhanced size charts to ensure they find the right “Fit, we’re phasing out the Try Before You Buy option,” Amazon said in a press release published.
AI e-commerce
The tools mentioned by Amazon represent a different way of looking at online clothing purchases. Virtual Try-On is an augmented reality feature that lets you see how shoes, glasses, or lipstick will look without leaving your couch. Meanwhile, the personalized size recommendation system uses your purchase history, return patterns and feedback from other customers to predict your ideal size.
For a more conversational approach, there’s the Rufus AI chatbot, ready to answer all your questions and suggest products based on your shopping habits.
For fans of Try Before You Buy, this news might sting. The idea of confidently trying on clothes before committing is hard to replace, and AI, no matter how advanced, lacks the tactile joy of slipping into something that fits perfectly. Still, Amazon says its free returns policy will remain intact for most clothing purchases, so you can still fall back on the classic “order three sizes and hope for the best” strategy.
Amazon’s decision to swap physical testing for digital solutions isn’t just a corporate quirk; it’s part of a larger trend in retail. AI is becoming increasingly popular as an online shopping aid for Google and other retailers.
It remains to be seen whether buyers will embrace this new era of virtual assistance or whether they will miss the days of at-home test-drive sessions with filled boxes.
