About

Hampden Clothing, a luxury designer boutique founded by Stacy Smallwood, has curated its high-end reputation in the fashion industry for nearly 17 years. With a curated eCommerce business and a flagship storefront in Charleston, South Carolina, Hampden is a global destination for fashion-forward clientele. 

Challenge

Bringing the luxury of in-store shopping to eCommerce

Hampden has long prioritized its clientele above all. The brand’s brick-and-mortar storefront offers a version of Try Before You Buy (TBYB) that entails shipping products to customers on approval — allowing them to bring home the items they love or quickly return what they don’t. 

This approach has been successful for years. Yet, it never translated to their eCommerce offering. 

So, when Stacy decided to invest in bringing TBYB to Hampden’s website, she set three strict criteria. The ideal solution would: 

1. Capture shoppers’ attention with a seamless customer experience
2. Make it easy to choose between “try now” vs. “buy now”
3. Offer sound infrastructure from end-to-end: order to return

With a high standard for customer-centricity,  Hampden turned to TryNow. 

Solution

Try Before You Buy is the perfect extension of Hampden’s customer-first ethos

According to Stacy, every facet of the TryNow solution feels streamlined — starting with the onboarding and implementation. TryNow’s team fully supported Hampden during the installation and offered truly consultative advice throughout the expansion of their TryNow strategy.

With a smooth ramp to get started, Hampden didn’t waste time advertising its new TBYB program and adding “Try Before You Buy” buttons on every product page. When customers opt in, the TryNow journey feels as simple as a standard checkout process, Stacy highlights, including: 

1. Selecting 3+ items to try before you buy
2. Receiving the shipment to try at home for 7 days
3. Returning what doesn’t work and only paying for what does

Hampden built a dedicated TryNow landing page — complete with a step-by-step explainer and top collections for try before you buy shoppers. The process is designed to be seamless for customers, bridging the divide between in-store and offline experiences.

Since the page went live, it has consistently been the top performer for the brand: capturing leads from paid ads, emails, and Google searches by prospective customers.

Results

With TryNow, Hampden pushes the envelope in luxury fashion eCommerce

Hampden shoppers love TryNow

Since it began offering its online TBYB program, Hampden has seen tremendous success among its customers for three crucial reasons: 

1. Price: “I love that I could try items without having to pay and then wait a month for a credit if I return it.” – Jennifer S., Houston, TX
2. Size: “I really like that you could try on at home before buying just to make sure it fits and looks good.” – Jacki W, Charlotte, NC
3. Style: “I enjoy being able to try pieces on with my existing wardrobe.” – Logan P., Savannah, GA

Among the Hampden shoppers who used TryNow, 92% say they would be disappointed if the Try Before You Buy option went away – proof that the in-store experience translates to online buyers. 

How TryNow helps Hampden drive incremental profit

The high-level results Hampden has seen since partnering with TryNow speaks for themselves:

• $1.1 million in incremental sales
• 16% decrease in cart abandonment rate
• 29.6x ROI on TryNow

As the Hampden team plans for future quarters, TryNow is at the core of their growth strategy. Stacy emphasizes that the partnership’s success is a unique selling point for her brand. With a truly seamless Try Before You Buy offering, Hampden Clothing stands out to new customers in a crowded eCommerce landscape.