Sure Launches Embedded Insurance Tech and Return Shipping Protection

Sure has launched an embedded return shipping protection solution for eCommerce merchants.

The new Retrace Return Shipping Protection is enabled by two new offerings: the protection product itself and a new technology called Retrace that lets online merchants offer embedded insurance and protection at any point in the purchase flow, the insurance technology firm said in a Thursday (March 9) press release.

“We’re starting with the first-of-its-kind, one-click return shipping protection, but the sky’s the limit, and we have set our sights on a variety of other products spanning travel insurance to warranty protection and beyond,” Sure Co-founder and CEO Wayne Slavin said in the release.

A seller’s return policy can have a significant impact on consumers’ willingness to buy. For example, in the hospitality services sector, 70% of customers said they will conduct a careful review of a merchant’s cancellation policy before booking a room or purchasing a ticket, according to “Merchant Refund Policies: Keeping Travel and Entertainment on Track,” a PYMNTS and Fortis collaboration.

Sure’s new return shipping protection covers the cost of returning goods, which gives potential customers the confidence to complete the purchase and gives merchants a way to reduce the cost of returns, according to the press release.

The company’s second new offering, Retrace, is powered by a suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) and enables merchants to offer embedded one-click insurance and protection, the release said.

While return shipping protection is the first product to be offered through this new technology, Retrace will soon serve other use cases as well, per the release.

“Additional Retrace solutions coming soon include travel insurance and warranty protection, both of which will unlock new revenue embedded insurance and protection opportunities for online merchants while giving customers peace of mind to confidently make purchases online,” Sure said in the release.

PYMNTS research has found that embedded insurance offerings meet consumers’ desire for more direct and seamless ways of obtaining insurance coverage.

For example, 45% of consumers would be “very” or “extremely” interested in offers from their banks for specific types of coverage based on their bank transaction data, according to the “Embedded Insurance Report: Leveraging Transaction Data to Expand Coverage in a Digital-First Market,” a PYMNTS and Cover Genius collaboration.

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