Delivery systems and e-commerce sites drive forward on demand operations. Services such as Uber and Deliveroo are becoming increasingly popular. People who use these service expect speed and convenience. However, with the fashion industry more consideration has to be made before a customer makes a purchase. Many factors come into play: will the clothes fit? Will the customer like the clothes as much as they did when they made the purchase online?

Often, if the option to return an item is not there it can lead to a basket being abandoned. In toll, this will begin to impact sales and revenue. One way to combat this is to test the new model called “you try, we wait”.  This involves the courier waiting whilst the customer tries out any of the items they have purchased. The courier then takes away any of the items that the customer does not want so that they do not need to be returned at a later date.

Amazon has announced that they are trying out a form of this service in the United States. This service will allow Amazon Prime customers to order from 3 to 15 items and keep those items for 7 days.

Prime members have seven days to try on items. Before the end of the seven-day try-on period, they can go to a section called “your orders” to check out and indicate whether they are keeping the products or not. Prime Wardrobe shipments come in a resealable box with an included prepaid label. The unwanted items can then be returned to the seller and the customer will only pay for the items that they have kept.

Whilst this sounds like a beneficial move, a system like this would leave the seller in an uncertain situation if it does not work. They will have to tie up stock that will not have been bought yet.

What do you think about the “you try, we wait” system? Would you like to see it implemented?