Curiosity killed the cat. Amazon‘s artificial intelligence tools killed Try Before You Buy.
Amazon’s Try Before You Buy program, which the company launched for all Prime members in 2018, will cease operations on Jan. 31. The offering, formerly known as Amazon Wardrobe, enabled consumers to test out certain apparel, fashion and footwear items from the company’s assortment at home for seven days before deciding whether to keep the piece.
If a consumer elected to keep the item, they were charged for it; if they chose to return it, they weren’t charged. Though the service allowed users to try items out before adding them to their wardrobes, it wasn’t meant to function as a rental service like Nuuly or Rent the Runway; users were instructed to try the items in the comfort of their homes, rather than wearing them out for events or to the office, as a rental service customer might do.
But AI has, in some ways, eliminated consumers’ need for such a service. Instead, the company said, shoppers seem to be turning to AI-based experiences on Amazon’s site or app. Those systems include its product recommendations—powered by data about a customer’s shopping history, interests and similar consumers— and the company’s proprietary chatbot, Rufus.
Amazon has also put an emphasis on its sizing functions to reduce returns and increase customer satisfaction; it uses virtual try-on to help users visualize how an item might fit their body or complement other items they own. Similarly, it offers size recommendations on products to help consumers understand what comparable shoppers have purchased.
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An Amazon spokesperson said the decision comes as the company continues to evaluate which of its technology-enabled offerings resonate most with consumers.
“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,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Customers looking to get a real-world look at variations of a product—whether because they’re struggling to choose between two sizes, not sure which color will best suit them or otherwise—will still be able to fall back on Amazon’s return program. That in mind, users can still try items on at home with little risk; the only difference is that they’ll need to pay for the item at the time of placing their order, rather than testing out the product and paying for it later.
That Amazon has effectively made its own product obsolete by going full speed ahead on AI could be indicative of a broader industry trend to come; the e-commerce giant has some of the most robust AI features in the industry, both when it comes to customer-facing offerings and internal capabilities. As other retailers continue their implementation journeys with the technology, the industry may have to shift to keep up with consumers’ evolving priorities and e-commerce interactions.