Route Acquires Frate Returns, Revolutionizes Post-Purchase Experience

Route acquired Frate Returns, a returns and exchanges platform designed for modern e-commerce brands. This strategic acquisition gives Route’s customers a comprehensive solution that combines Route’s package protection and tracking suite with Frate’s intelligent exchange-first returns technology.

"Acquiring Frate Returns builds on Route’s position at the center of the post-purchase experience to create shopper confidence that fuels merchant growth," says Eric Kobe, CEO of Route. "The Frate team has built an exceptional product that turns a traditionally complex process into a seamless experience for shoppers and a growth engine for brands. By integrating their technology with Route’s industry-leading package protection and visual order tracking, we are not just expanding our capabilities, we are redefining the standard for how merchants engage with and retain shoppers long after the sale."

"Merchants today are looking to consolidate their tech stacks to reduce costs without sacrificing the customer experience," says Bailey Newton, co-founder and CEO of Frate Returns. "There is a critical market need to optimize the entire post-purchase journey, not just fragmented parts of it, and joining forces with Route allows us to amplify our impact by solving those challenges in one unified platform. I’m incredibly excited to combine our returns and exchanges capabilities with Route to drive massive value for merchants and shoppers.”

Key takeaways:

·        By integrating Frate’s AI-driven returns and exchanges software, Route now offers merchants a single, vertically integrated platform to manage the entire customer journey after checkout.

·        Frate’s capabilities, including exchange-first optimization, AI image verification, and flexible shipping, refund, and payment options, allows brands to reduce refund rates and operational costs while retaining revenue and increasing loyalty.