What is Try Before You Buy (TBYB)?
Try before you buy is briefly giving potential buyers a chance to learn about the product before they buy it. Although it may sound like a new method, it is actually one of the most used marketing methods traditionally. When you go to a market, you approach the seller to buy the cheese you need and the seller told you that you can taste the cheese he produces. You will be much more likely to prefer cheese you probably know, rather than other cheeses whose tastes you do not know. “Try Before You Buy” is a much older and more reliable method than we think of as a marketing strategy. E-commerce has grown tremendously in recent years. According to the report of the US Department of Commerce, US e-commerce sales increased by 15.6% in 2016 and reached 394.9 billion dollars (1). Today, this rate is known to be much larger. The increase in e-commerce in recent years and the orientation of consumers to online shopping have brought a new dimension to the “Try Before You Buy” application. Now, when we want to buy a product, we need to be able to try those products digitally. With the developing technology, it is possible to experience this field and products digitally. Methods such as Augmented Reality (AR), 3D displays and Virtual Reality allow you to try that product before purchasing.
So why is TBYB so important? It is useful to examine them separately for both customers and producers. While customers get more information about the products they want to buy, manufacturers can increase their profits by using this advantage.
Learn More About Products
Nobody wants to waste their money. Therefore, before we buy something, we need to obtain the maximum information we can about it. Detailed information about the products, photos, user comments… we use all the information we can get to buy the right product. Reaching the right product in online shopping is now much easier with Augmented Reality (AR) and 3D displays. Before purchasing a product, it is possible to view the product with its real dimensions, to obtain more realistic information about its color and texture, and even to place that product in an area. For example, you can view a refrigerator you will buy with AR and easily find out if it is suitable for the space in your kitchen.
Or you are going on a vacation and you are looking for a hotel that can meet your wishes. With the Digital Space Experience, you have the opportunity to go on a virtual trip and experience the hotel in advance. You can visit all the rooms of a hotel that offers a Virtual Tour, take a look at the pool and take a short break in its cafe. You will not encounter any nasty surprises in your real experience for the room you have chosen with the virtual tour that offers the closest experience to reality. You can get all the information about the room you have chosen by visiting that room and you can decide on the right room to meet your needs.
Offer More Information About Your Products
The “try before you buy” method offers manufacturers and suppliers the opportunity to properly introduce their products and provide more information about them to their potential buyers. Additionally, the National Retail Federation reported that the online product return rate ranged from 15% to 30%, compared to 8% for all US merchandise sales(2). In other words, consumers do not find the product suitable for their demand and prefer to return the product when they encounter the product, not because the products are faulty, but because they do not have enough information about the product they bought.
Product Suitability Uncertainty (PFU), a consumer’s inability to assess whether a product’s attributes fit their preferences, is a serious barrier to online shopping. In online shopping, consumers’ physical examination of the products they buy is delayed until the products are purchased and tried by the consumer. Therefore, PFU is particularly important for experience goods such as clothing and shoes, where consumers need touch-and-feel information to reduce fit uncertainty. For example . Only 28% of global shoppers prefer to buy clothing and shoes online.(3) This poses two main risks for those who place their products online. Consumers may refuse to purchase the products you offer or return bad or unsuitable products later. This results in significant return processing cost and lower profits or even losses for online sellers.
With digital experience tools, it offers the most effective solution for those who want to experience the products before purchasing, make more profit from the online market and get rid of the costs of the return process. According to the data of e-commerce sites that can display AR and 3D, it is possible to reduce the return rate by 40% with AR product visualization. According to data shared by build.com, shoppers using AR product visualization features have a 22 percent lower return rate than non-AR benchmarks. (4)
Let Your Customers Experience Your Products Before They Buy
Let your customers experience your products digitally with VISETRA’s AR product (AR Now) to increase your visibility in e-commerce, enable your potential buyers to interact with your products and minimize the losses of the return process. Visetra offers its users modeling, integration and placement in any desired browser.
(Try the Digital Product Experience Now)
