Try before you buy? Questions retailers should ask themselves before they invest

The ‘try before you buy’ trend will have a major impact on both shopper purchase behaviour and retail returns. With 17.5% of etailers already having adopted the new model, and 22% to adopt try before you buy by 2019, we recommend fashion brands ask themselves before investing – ‘is this right for my business?’

For those who are unaware of the try before you buy concept, it basically does exactly what it says on the tin. Retailers partner with companies such as Klarna, who offer a buy now, pay later scheme. Customers can buy whatever they want from a website and only pay for the things they decide to keep, essentially encouraging shoppers to purchase a large number of items and send back anything they don’t want (within 30 days). A good way of tempting shoppers to click ‘complete purchase’ but will it have any negative repercussions for retailers?

Photo credit: Topshop.com

Here are just a few questions retailers need to ask themselves if considering implementing try before you buy on their eCommerce site:

DO YOU ALREADY HAVE A HIGH RETURNS RATE?

Fashion apparel retailers are already facing the challenge of high returns, with returns costing retailers ￡20 billion a year. ‘Try before you buy’ will consequently increase returns even more. With BrightPearl reporting that ‘try before you buy’ will result in shoppers returning on average 3.95 more items in the US and 3.08 items in the UK. If you do currently find yourself with a high return rate you also need to consider why this is, the majority of apparel returns are due to fit related issues, therefore is there anything you can do to fix this issue before increasing your returns even more.

Retailers need to invest in the right logistical framework and technology to handle this increase or else suffer a knock-on effect which could be detrimental to their business. Without this, retailers could potentially be overwhelmed and not be able to cope with the level of returns.

Image taken from BrightPearl report 

WILL THIS IMPROVE CUSTOMER LOYALTY?

Although there will be an increase in returns, there’s no doubt that ‘try before you buy’ removes a barrier to purchase. Is this something that your specific customer base is demanding? The needs of the online customer are ever increasing, but is this the innovation that they require most? Be sure you know how your customers feel about ‘try before you buy’ before investing. Focus groups and online surveys are a good way of capturing data which can help you decide if this would increase customer loyalty, or if the resources could in fact be spent elsewhere.

ASOS customers tweet about the ‘try before you buy’ implementation. Images taken from Twitter.

HAVE YOU DONE YOUR RESEARCH?

Would the potential benefits outweigh the time and effort of processing the increase in returns? The cost of customer acquisition is much higher than retaining customers. What else could you be doing to give customers confidence they will like the garment before they purchase? Which leads nicely onto our last, and probably most important question…

HOW ELSE CAN YOU SOLVE THE ISSUE OF FIT WITHOUT INCREASING RETURNS?

Retailers should try and offer more support to help customers find their fit at the beginning of the journey, not just as an afterthought. This way you can give customers the confidence to purchase and peace of mind that something will fit them, without increasing your returns rate. A Rakuten Fits Me survey of over 1,400 shoppers revealed that 67% believe retailers should be providing more support online to help them find their fit. So how exactly can retailers do this?

Fit recommendations on the product page of a website give shoppers an insight into which size would fit them best, without them having to physically try anything on. It works by taking garment data and shopper body shape data to provide the perfect fit recommendation, which will fit the shopper exactly how they want to wear it. The technology is proven to increase online conversions and reduce fit-related returns for retailers. Not only that, but 72% of shoppersstated they would be more likely to purchase is retailers offered and online size recommendation tool on their site.

Another option is to feature reviews of items showing customers wearing the garment accompanied by their measurements. This way potential shoppers can relate their own size and fit to the customer’s. Retailers can also display more photos per garment or include catwalk videos.

Peak Performance have added fit recommendations to their eCommerce store.

We believe ‘try before you buy’ will continue to grow and be adopted by more online brands. But we suggest retailers allow their customers to try before they buy digitally, before investing in a solution which increases returns, not reduces them.

To see first-hand how fit recommendation technology can reduce fit-related returns and increase online conversions, book a demo with the Rakuten Fits Me team here.

For more articles, check out the Rakuten Fits Me blog here.