Zalando got famous for its free returns, turning shopping for clothes online into something that makes sense for customers. Over the last year, Zalando has, in partnership with logistics company Liefery, begun picking up returns from customers’ home doors in first, select locations.

The easier returns are for customers, the more likely they are to try clothes out from Zalando, the more likely they are to buy and, even more importantly, to come back in the future. (Zalando ran A/B tests a few years ago confirming this common sense sentiment.)

In France, people only know buying online with paying in advance, not buying on account. Making it a hassle to order the same piece of clothes in different sizes to find out which fits best. So, Zalando just introduced ordering for trying out first in France (French, Google Translate):

Complementing its range of services designed to facilitate the purchasing experience, Zalando is testing a new and exclusive payment option in France. Unlike current practices, payment is not made at the time of order, but after a period of 14 days. During these two weeks, customers can try their clothes, shoes or accessories and return those that do not suit them. Their credit card will then be debited only from the amount of the items they have kept.

In theory, this should worsen the cash flow but increase the customer lifetime value far more.

Zalando has been piloting the service since September of last year and announced it to the public this week.

Zalando is heavily investing in logistics and plans to offer next-day delivery to 75% of all Europeans by 2020.

More on this topic:

• Zalando Breaks €1 Billion Bar in Q4, Grows to €3.6 billion (+23%) in 2016
• Zalando Research Is Shaping the Future of Online Fashion
• By 2020, Zalando Wants to Offer Next-Day Delivery to 75% of All Europeans
• Fulfillment by Zalando Goes Live With First Customer
• Zalando Founds Payment Subsidary And Zalando Adtech Lab