French post offices are trialling changing rooms to let people try on their online purchases

• France's post office is trialing in-store changing rooms to make online shopping easier.
• The bright yellow booths are designed to look like French post boxes.

France likes to do some things differently – and its post office is no different. It's testing out an idea that could make buying clothes online a whole lot easier.

Shoppers who get their purchases sent to certain La Poste branches will have the option of opening their parcels and trying on their new clothes in a bright yellow changing room.

If some items aren't quite right, all they'll have to do is put them back in the parcel and take it to the counter, eliminating another trip to the post office to send the return.

Designed to look like French mailboxes, the changing rooms are being trialed in four post office branches: two in Paris, one in Lannion, and another in La Rochelle, French magazine Capital reported.

Inside the mirrored booth, customers can place their belongings and parcels on a chair or shelf while they try their purchases.

The company said they came up with the idea after seeing how many customers pick up packages only to return them a few days later.

According to Shopify, the average return rate for online purchases is between 20% and 30%. There's been an increase since the pandemic, when customers became more comfortable ordering items like clothing on the web.

"The idea is to simplify the lives of our clients," La Poste said, per The Guardian. "Check it out on the premises and, in the event of a poor fit or a change of mind, send it back."

"It helps people avoid making pointless trips back and forth and save time, it's practical," one customer said, adding that she still preferred buying clothes in shops.

La Poste also hopes the experiment will bring more people into its branches, which has dropped as sending letters becomes less common.

While many might relish the option, some retailers are concerned about the potential impact on sales.

The French Retailers Association, which represents around 450,000 small shops, said La Poste's changing rooms trial is "causing deep displeasure among small independent retailers and poses serious risks to the vibrancy of local economies if it is rolled out nationally," The Local reported.

But Chloe Thomas, an ecommerce analyst, said the change could actually benefit retailers by returning stock to them more quickly and limiting damage to goods.

"The sooner you get the product back, the sooner it can be back on sale which means you're more likely to sell it as full price than at discount," Thomas wrote on LinkedIn.

For every $1 billion in sales, the average retailer incurs $165 million in merchandise returns and loses about 10% of returned items' value to return fraud, according to the US National Retail Federation.

La Poste did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Business Insider.