TryNow
TryNow is a Shopify-native Try Before You Buy platform that lets shoppers receive products at home for $0 upfront and pay only for what they keep. The company charges merchants a transaction fee on net sales and pairs its software with a done-for-you funnel-building service.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What TryNow does
TryNow is a privately held SaaS company headquartered in San Francisco that operates a Try Before You Buy (TBYB) platform purpose-built for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants. Founded in 2018 by Benjamin Davis, the platform enables shoppers to receive products at home for $0 upfront and pay only for what they keep, with automated payment capture through Shopify Payments. The core technology stack is built natively for the Shopify ecosystem and includes a product eligibility rules engine, multi-currency support, co-branded email and SMS communications, direct returns-platform API integrations, and a Marketing Funnel Generator that produces abandonment, cross-sell, and welcome sequences. An Analytics & Insights layer provides program performance economics, conversion funnel analytics, LTV and cohort modeling, and an ROI calculator.
The company sells on a transaction-fee basis, charging merchants a percentage of net sales generated through the TBYB program rather than upfront subscription fees, and pairs the software with a done-for-you service in which in-house teams build, execute, and optimize each merchant's TBYB funnel. Go-to-market combines enterprise direct sales (Book a Demo, Talk to a Human CTAs) targeting Shopify Plus merchants with a Shopify App Store listing and a merchant self-service portal at merchant.trynow.io. Customer segments span beauty and cosmetics, haircare, fine jewelry, apparel and fashion, footwear, kitchen, and wellness, with named customers including Laura Geller, R\u00f3z, Hairstory, Billy Reid, AS Beauty, Peter Manning New York, myGemma, Misen, and OOFOS.
TryNow has raised approximately $12M in a March 2021 Series A led by Shine Capital with Craft Ventures, Third Kind Venture Capital, and SciFi VC, supplemented by follow-on capital from Kli Capital and Perkins Cove Partner. The company reports customer outcomes including a 31%+ reduction in customer acquisition cost, a 22% improvement in Net LTV, a 26.3x ROI after return costs, and conversion rates of 6%+ in apparel and 13%+ in beauty. The team is led by Founder & CEO Benjamin Davis with VP-level leaders across Brand Strategy + Sales, Growth Strategy, Platform, and Engineering.
TryNow firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- TryNow
- Legal name
- TryNow
- Website
- https://trynow.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- TryNow is a Shopify-native Try Before You Buy platform that lets shoppers receive products at home for $0 upfront and pay only for what they keep. The company charges merchants a transaction fee on net sales and pairs its software with a done-for-you funnel-building service.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
TryNow industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Ecommerce Try Before You Buy Platform
- NAICS
- Sales Financing (52222)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- BNPL Merchant Enablement (Plugins, Gateways, Reconciliation) (FSAGAIAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Merchant-Integrated BNPL (Checkout POS Financing) (FSAGAIAA), Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Platforms (BPAMAFAG)
Keywords
Where TryNow is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
TryNow business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Transaction Fee on Net Sales: TryNow charges merchants only on net sales from the Try Before You Buy program. Customers pay nothing upfront to try products. The platform earns a percentage of successful transactions when customers keep and pay for items they tried.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Custom pricing based on net sales performance |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
TryNow product offering
Product offeringCore offering
TryNow provides a Try Before You Buy (TBYB) platform built natively for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants. It enables online shoppers to receive products at home for $0 upfront and pay only for what they keep, with automated payment authorization, capture, and returns processing. The company complements its software with done-for-you services where in-house teams build, execute, and optimize the entire TBYB funnel, including marketing automation, eligibility rules, multi-currency checkout, and conversion analytics.
Product overview
TryNow is a single, unified Try Before You Buy platform built specifically for Shopify merchants. The core TryNow Platform handles the complete TBYB experience including automated payment capture via Shopify Payments, product eligibility rules, and multi-currency support. This core platform is complemented by Analytics & Insights for performance tracking and LTV modeling, and a Marketing Funnel Generator for conversion optimization. TryNow also provides done-for-you Strategic Support Services and Engineering Support to assist with setup and ongoing optimization.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- TryNow Platform A unified Try Before You Buy platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants that enables shoppers to try products at home for $0 upfront and pay only for what they keep. It includes automated authorization and capture within Shopify Payments, a product eligibility rules engine, multi-currency checkout, and co-branded shopper email and SMS communications.
- Strategic Support Services Done-for-you service offering that assigns a dedicated Product Success Lead, a Customer Support Team, and a 1-1 Slack channel to stand up, execute, and continuously optimize the merchant's Try Before You Buy funnel.
- Engineering Support
Quantifiable outcome
- 31% or more reduction in customer acquisition cost
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use TryNow
Customer profileNamed customers21 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
TryNow technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
TryNow partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- ShopifycoreTryNow is built natively for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants. The platform includes full compatibility with Shopify, automated authorization guarantee within Shopify Payments, and direct integration capabilities. TryNow is positioned as 'Built for Shopify Plus' with prominent Shopify Plus branding on the homepage.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
TryNow competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Klarna: Global BNPL giant offering pay-in-later and pay-in-4 solutions with Pay-in-30 and Try Before You Buy-style experiences directly to merchants at checkout. Competes with TryNow for Shopify merchant mindshare but operates at vastly greater scale with its own balance sheet.
- Afterpay: BNPL provider owned by Block, offering pay-in-4 at checkout for online merchants. Overlaps with TryNow in providing risk-reversal checkout financing, particularly across fashion and beauty verticals, and is embedded into major commerce platforms.
- Affirm: BNPL platform offering pay-later and pay-over-time financing at checkout, including flexible 'try before you buy' experiences. Operates as a Shopify partner and competes head-to-head with TryNow for merchant integrations on Shopify and Shopify Plus.
- Splitit: Merchant-integrated installment BNPL that uses existing card networks and is offered as a Shopify-friendly checkout financing option. Competes with TryNow for merchants seeking embedded BNPL/TBYB at checkout.
- Sezzle: BNPL provider offering pay-in-4 and longer-term installment plans at checkout, with merchant integrations including Shopify. Overlaps with TryNow in providing risk-reversal checkout financing for DTC and mid-market merchants.
- Perpay: BNPL platform integrating with merchant checkouts to offer pay-over-time options for online shoppers. Competes with TryNow in the merchant-integrated BNPL category, particularly for mid-market Shopify merchants.
- Loop Returns: Shopify-native returns and exchanges platform with intelligent routing and exchanges-first workflows. Adjacent competitor to TryNow because returns economics are central to TBYB; Loop sits on the reverse-logistics side of the same workflow.
- Happy Returns: Returns management platform (acquired by Affirm) that provides box-free returns and reverse logistics to merchants. Directly affects the cost side of TBYB unit economics that TryNow depends on, making it an adjacent competitor and ecosystem partner.
Broad incumbents
- Shop Pay Installments: Shopify's first-party BNPL offering powered by Affirm, embedded directly into the Shopify checkout. As a first-party Shopify product, it represents the most direct platform-level competitive threat to TryNow's Shopify-native TBYB offering.
- Bread Financial: Large incumbent consumer lender offering BNPL, pay-over-time, and private-label credit at checkout for retailers. Competes with TryNow at the broad checkout-financing layer but lacks TryNow's Shopify-native, vertical-specific TBYB funnel tooling.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
TryNow social profiles
Digital presenceTryNow financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
TryNow leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
TryNow funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
TryNow M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about TryNow
What does TryNow do?
TryNow provides a Try Before You Buy (TBYB) platform built natively for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants. It enables online shoppers to receive products at home for $0 upfront and pay only for what they keep, with automated payment authorization, capture, and returns processing. The company complements its software with done-for-you services where in-house teams build, execute, and optimize the entire TBYB funnel, including marketing automation, eligibility rules, multi-currency checkout, and conversion analytics.
Is TryNow a public or private company?
TryNow is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was TryNow founded?
TryNow was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is TryNow based?
TryNow is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does TryNow make money?
One revenue line is on record: transaction Fee on Net Sales.
Who are TryNow's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, Splitit, Sezzle, Perpay, Loop Returns and Happy Returns. Broad incumbents are Shop Pay Installments and Bread Financial.
Does TryNow have an API?
No public API is recorded for TryNow.
What industry is TryNow in?
TryNow's product category is Ecommerce Try Before You Buy Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGAIAF, BNPL Merchant Enablement (Plugins, Gateways, Reconciliation), with a secondary code of FSAGAIAA, Merchant-Integrated BNPL (Checkout POS Financing). Its NAICS code is 52222 and its SIC code is 7372.