As an indecisive shopper that refuses to purchase from stores without a refund policy, I was delighted to learn that Uniqlo’s sister brand, GU, has launched a new offering allowing shoppers to try before they buy by taking the items outside of the store for a ‘test drive’.

Fast Retailing’s newly opened GU store at Shibuya in Tokyo is currently the only store operating the GU Fitting service. Shoppers select and try on three items that can be worn for one day without payment. At the end of the day, wearers must return to the store to either pay for, or give back the items. At this stage, the service caters for 30 consumers a day only, with those items worn and not selected used for display instead of being returned to the rack for subsequent sale.

We know from previous work with consumers that for many categories touch & feel is a stronger driver of purchase than brands and the inability to try before purchase is a major barrier in making a decision.

Brands like Nespresso have harnessed the power of allowing customers to try before buying, a technique that allows them to help their consumers make a decision and give them the confidence to consider more expensive alternatives. While some categories may not be suited for test drives (shoes come to mind), it would be great to see more retailers incorporating the try before you buy strategy into the store experience as a means of engaging consumers’ senses in an often monotonous retail environment.