The gift that keeps on giving

Retailers have a secret weapon in their holiday gift bag this year that can help increase sales, improve profitability, promote loyalty and drive repeat purchase. If that sounds too good to be true you haven’t heard about the Solution Hub from Asurion Retail Solutions.



The Solution Hub is a new concept from Asurion that gives consumers who buy product protection plans from retailers increased flexibility in how they initiative contact to make a claim and greater control over the service delivery process. An interesting new capability has also been added that gives consumers the option to upgrade to a new product should they prefer that over repair or replacement of an existing item.



Walmart and Target have already signed on to Asurion’s Solution Hub and the company’s other clients are expected to migrate over in the coming months. Asurion is the nation’s leading protection plan provider and partners with 65 of the country’s largest retailers.



The appeal of Solution Hub is that it gives consumers unprecedented transparency and control of the post-purchase service experience. It is customizable so that a retailer can offer consumers an end-to-end solution for filing claims, scheduling in-home repairs, and choosing the best fulfillment option for certain product categories.



For example, the new capability addresses one of the key pain points of the service experience which is scheduling. Customers are able to manage in-home repair service, accessing real-time servicer availability from a network of over 29,000 screened and certified service providers and choose the in-home repair time that best suits their needs.



Another feature includes real-time claim status. According to Asurion, the Solution Hub is the industry’s only platform which provides customers with complete, real-time visibility on the status of their in-home or service center repair. The system automatically triggers an update each step through the process, alerting customers about the status of their claim within Solution Hub and via email.



Flexible fulfillment choice is also an enhanced capability. For select product categories, if a product is beyond repair, consumers can compare the features and specifications of replacement device choices for immediate shipment, or elect reimbursement.



“Asurion Retail Solutions is focused on driving brand loyalty and value for our retail clients,” said Chuck Stewart, SVP of Asurion Retail Solutions. “In-market utilization of Solution Hub service shows a 15% increase in overall satisfaction which leads to repeat store visits and higher spending.”



The improvement results from a simplified registration process, a single point of access and easy claim filing for product categories such as laptops, e-readers, televisions, home theaters, printers, gaming systems and cameras.



“Our goal with Solution Hub is to continue to lead the consumer protection plan experience,” said Tim Stadthaus, Asurion’s VP of marketing. “We invested in this transformation to support retailers in today’s highly-competitive marketplace and to enhance the end-to-end protection plan experience for consumers.”