Extended warranties, also known as product protection plans, provide a lot of value for retailers looking to boost order value.
Different from standard manufacturer warranties, product protection policies are an add-on that customers can select for their purchase. With a plan, customers can extend the length of the manufacturer warranty coverage, or get additional coverage, such as from accidents or general wear and tear.
What Customers Want
In Mulberry's consumer research survey from February 2021, we found that 47% of customers are more likely to have a greater desire to shop with a brand that offers product protection plans. That’s serious trust. A segment of customers won’t even go through with a purchase if there aren’t product protection options available—they look for these plans not only as a benefit but as a sign they’re shopping in the right place.
Amazon has helped shape this perception. Consumers have become accustomed to seeing product protection plans offered at all phases of their purchase.
How Product Protection Can Help Your AOV Goals
Product protection plans can boost your AOV by 10% or more when the average cost of a plan is added into the total cart value. Product protection plans are high-margin add-ons because they come without additional costs like fulfillment or marketing spend.
There are several points in the conversion funnel where product protection plans may be offered to customers. Try surfacing the extended product protection option:
- On the product detail page via both inline and modal
- Inline in the cart page
- Inline in the checkout page
- On the order confirmation page
Merchants can even send a post-purchase email that allows customers to add product coverage, or upgrade to a longer plan term, usually within a period of 30 days after they make the purchase. This is an opportunity for relevant cross-sell!
Depending on the type of product, customers can choose from several plan options that include different coverage lengths. Longer plans generally provide a better value, in terms of the cost per year over the length of the plan. When shoppers select longer term plans, they get great value and the assurance that their product will last while retailers maximize AOV.
Protection Plans: A Competitive Product Add-On
Product protection plans are a great and competitive option for retailers to offer as a cross-sell. One of our retail partners, the leading mattress brand Helix, found that creating new physical add-on items required a lot of time investment and risk. They chose to offer 10-year plans that protected against accidental damage. Helix was able to increase their AOV by 10% on each order where customers purchased protection plans.
Algorithms that make product add-on recommendations don’t always suggest relevant items to customers because of insufficient co-browse or co-purchase data. This makes product protection plans one of the most relevant cart add-ons to any product sold. Additionally, creating new physical products or partnering with manufacturers to offer new products meant a big investment in time and money (with the risk of low pay-off)!
When offering product protection as an add-on, Helix was able to integrate the option easily and see an immediate revenue impact through a higher AOV. Their monthly product protection revenue increased by 9x between 2019 and 2021.
Increase Your AOV with Product Protection
With revenue benefits across multiple customer segments, product protection plans are a key AOV-boosting strategy. Working with a qualified provider who can consult with industry research guarantees the best rates and revenue cut.
Offering product protection plans provides all-around value that is a win for both retailer and customer. Customers get the coverage they want at a low cost, which increases their satisfaction. And when it’s a win for customers, they continue to purchase more, resulting in higher AOV.
This is an excerpt from “Increasing your AOV through product protection plans” in the ebook Your AOV-Boosting Playbook. To read the full chapter, download the ebook from Carthook.
