Try Before You Buy Programs: How To Create One (2024)

When a consumer visits a brick-and-mortar store, they have the option to touch and see a product in real time. They can try it on, assess if the fit is right, and decide whether they should shell out to make the purchase.

Online shopping has undoubtedly changed the way sophisticated consumers shop—but it often means asking them to take a chance with their hard-earned money.

Today, Shopify is improving the consumer experience for our merchants by offering try before you buy (TBYB), a purchase option that gives consumers a flexible shopping experience and more confidence in their buying decisions—with the goal of increasing sales for your Shopify store. Here’s how it works and how it can level up your business.

What is try before you buy?

Try before you buy is a new purchase option that allows you to ship orders to customers before you collect payment. You simply set up a trial period for customers to try your product before you charge them. The trial period is usually between three to seven days, but it can be longer—whatever is optimal for your business.

Customers provide their payment information up front, allowing you to create the authorization before fulfilling the order and ensuring you receive payment at a future date. We securely store each customer’s payment information in the platform to safeguard the data throughout the purchase experience.

TBYB creates invaluable trust between customers and your brand, with safeguards in place that make it a smart decision for your business.

What are the benefits of offering try before you buy?

Launching a TBYB program can benefit your business in three main ways: It can boost convenience for customers, increase conversions, and drive growth for your business.

Drive greater customer convenience

Naturally, consumers are hesitant to purchase a product online that they’ve never seen, touched, or tried on in person—especially with higher-consideration products or higher price points. Offering try before you buy can address this barrier.

Research shows that the TBYB strategy directly addresses product fit uncertainty (PFU), a major issue for online retailers, especially for products like apparel and shoes. By allowing customers to try products at home, retailers reduce the likelihood of misfits and returns.

With TBYB and flexible shipping and return policies, your customers can browse a product online, then try it on or experience it at home—bringing your merchandise closer to them while building their trust, loyalty, and satisfaction with your business.

Increase conversions

Studies show the hassle-free nature of TBYB encourages customers to order more items to try, potentially increasing sales, as customers are more likely to find and keep products that fit.

Try before you buy can also help your business stand out from the competition by giving customers an easy way to compare your product to others in the market—or by giving them such a great initial experience with your product that they decide not to look elsewhere.

For some brands, TBYB customers typically have an average order value three times higher than customers who don’t participate in a try-on experience. Offering TBYB can help you increase near-term sales, as well as customer lifetime value.

Grow your customer base

Though it’s a bit of a catch-22, customers can be hesitant to purchase from a new business if they’ve never tried their product before or had it recommended to them. TBYB addresses these concerns by giving customers the opportunity to engage with your product and form their own opinions about it. There’s no commitment or financial risk involved, because they only pay for what they decide to keep.

Try before you buy also addresses another issue: cart abandonment. When consumers are ambivalent about a purchase, they often don’t complete it, or get distracted before they commit. Cart-abandonment rates range from about 70% of desktop shopping experiences to nearly 86% for mobile. This can potentially lead to thousands of dollars in lost revenue for smaller merchants. With the ease of TBYB, you can take some of the uncertainty away and help customers make more informed buying decisions.

Companies are already taking advantage of TBYB on Shopify to attract more customers. High-end menswear brand GoodLife wanted to reduce its customer acquisition costs and its reliance on discounts, and used the TryNow app to launch a try-before-you-buy program that enabled shoppers to try its premium-priced products.

After launching and advertising the TBYB program, GoodLife saw a 15% increase in email click-throughs, a 47% lift in return on ad spend (ROAS) for its TryNow ads compared to standard ads, and higher average order values ​​for TryNow customers. The company also saw a $10 decrease in customer-acquisition costs with its TryNow campaigns, and a lift in both customer retention and customer lifetime value.

How does try before you buy work?

Try before you buy is a way for customers to test out products before paying for them. Here’s how it typically works:

1. The customer orders an item they’re interested in.
2. The seller ships the item to the customer without charging them up front.
3. The customer gets to use and test the product for a set period, usually a few days to a week.
4. If the customer likes the product, they keep it and the seller charges them when the trial period ends.
5. Customers who don’t want the item can return it within the trial period without being charged.

This system lets shoppers try things at home before committing to a purchase. It’s useful for products that are hard to judge just by looking at pictures online, like clothes or shoes.

The most popular example of TBYB is Amazon Prime Wardrobe. With it, Amazon Prime members can add up to six eligible items to their Prime Try Before You Buy cart without being charged for seven days, and then return any unwanted items.

But any ecommerce brand can start a try-before-you-buy program. For example, menswear brand Billy Reid offers a collection dedicated to TBYB customers.

Because implementing a TBYB program means dealing with more return shipments and delayed payments, sellers often use special apps or software to manage the process. They must also set clear rules about the trial-period length, as well as return conditions.

How to get started with try before you buy on Shopify

Download a try-before-you-buy app

To get started, simply install a TBYB app from the Shopify App Store, such as TryNow.

Once you’ve completed this setup process in the Shopify admin, you’ll be able to see the trial details in the “Purchase options” section of the product page for any products or associated SKUs that have the TBYB purchase option applied to them. From there, you can add details about how long you want the trial to last.

Customers will see this information in the order summary when they check out.

Build your own custom try-before-you-buy solution

We’ve introduced TBYB APIs and tooling to make it easy for partners and developers to build new experiences directly within Shopify Checkout. Learn more here.

How to make an Amazon try-before-you-buy program with Shopify

1. Install the TBYB app

Find and install a try-before-you-buy app from the Shopify App Store that works with Amazon.

2. Set up your Amazon account

Make sure your Amazon seller account is connected to your Shopify store through the Marketplace Connect app.

3. Configure default settings

Go to your Shopify admin and open the Marketplace Connect app. Click on “Settings” and select your Amazon marketplace account. Set up your default Amazon listing settings, including the default price rule, quantity rule, and fulfillment method (merchant fulfilled or Fulfilled by Amazon).

4. Create Amazon listings

In the Marketplace Connect app, go to “Listings” and select Amazon. Choose the products you want to offer for TBYB. Set up the listing details, including category and product type.

5. Enable TBYB for specific products

In your Shopify admin, go to the product page and enable the TBYB purchase option for the desired products.

6. Set TBYB terms

Define the trial-period length and specify when customers will be charged if they don’t return the item.

7. Manage payment settings

Ensure you’re using Shopify Payments as your payment gateway for TBYB orders. Set up how you’ll handle payment authorization and capture.

8. Update your store policies

Clearly communicate TBYB terms to customers and update your return policy to account for TBYB items.

Remember, TBYB orders on Amazon can only accept credit or debit cards processed through Shopify Payments. You’ll have to manage these orders carefully, including handling returns and delayed payments.

Launch try before you buy for your business

If you want to engage customers and turn them into repeat buyers, offering more flexibility is key. Using try before you buy in your online store is one way to give your customers more options and move them from the “just looking” stage to the ready-to-buy stage.