- Amazon replaces ‘Try before you buy’ with a ‘Virtual try-on’.
- Swapping a physical sample for a digital one is becoming something of a theme in online retail.
- Virtual Try-On joins other features like AI-powered size recommendations.
Amazon would rather you try on clothes virtually than test their fit at home. The company is officially retiring its “Try Before You Buy” program at the end of January, and instead Amazon wants you to trust its AI tools to find your perfect fit.
Launched in 2017 as Prime Wardrobe, Try Before You Buy has let shoppers get up to six items, try them on at home and pay only for what they keep, while sending the rest back. There is no need for a changing room with bright fluorescent lighting. It is very popular, but Amazon has decided that the program is not good enough.
Amazon believes its AI tools are all you need to find your best look. One might surmise that this also has something to do with the company’s increasing investment in AI-powered shopping features. After all, why wait for a box of clothes when an algorithm can tell you which pair of jeans will love you back?
“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 sizing charts to ensure that they find the right fit, we’re phasing out the Try Before You Buy option,” Amazon said in a published statement.
AI e-commerce
The tools Amazon points to are a different way of thinking about clothes online. Virtual try-on is an augmented reality feature that lets you see how shoes, glasses or lipstick will look without leaving your sofa. 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 may sting. The idea of confidently trying on clothes before committing is hard to replace, and AI, however advanced, doesn’t have the tactile joy of slipping into something that just fits. Still, Amazon says its free returns policy will remain intact for most clothing purchases, so you can always fall back on the classic “order three sizes and hope for the best” strategy.
Amazon’s decision to swap physical trials for digital solutions isn’t just a corporate quirk; it is part of a more significant trend in retail. AI is becoming increasingly popular as an aid to Google and other retailers’ online shopping.
Whether shoppers will embrace this new era of virtual assistance or long for the days of box-packed at-home try-on sessions remains to be seen.
