Route doubles down on post purchase innovation with the acquisition of Frate Returns, aiming to give ecommerce brands a single, integrated platform for tracking, protection, returns, and exchanges while cutting refunds and protecting profits.
Route bets big on unified post purchase
Route, a post purchase platform based in Lehi, Utah, announced it has acquired Frate Returns, a returns and exchanges platform built for modern ecommerce brands. The deal is positioned as a way to merge Route’s package protection and visual order tracking with Frate’s exchange first, AI driven returns engine into one unified solution for brands.
The company says this combined stack is designed to save merchants millions in lost profit by reducing refunds and keeping shoppers in the purchase loop rather than losing them at the returns stage. For ecommerce retailers under pressure to cut tech costs and boost loyalty, the move signals a push toward consolidation rather than stitching together multiple post purchase tools.
What the acquisition brings to merchants
With Frate’s technology folded in, Route now offers a vertically integrated platform that covers the entire journey after checkout, from shipping protection to returns and exchanges. Frate’s features include exchange‑first optimization, AI image verification, and flexible shipping, refund, and payment options that help brands like Caraway Home, Honeylove, and Monos lower refund rates and operational costs while retaining more revenue.
Frate Returns Co Founder and CEO Bailey Newton said, “Merchants today are looking to consolidate their tech stacks to reduce costs without sacrificing the customer experience,” adding that unifying the post‑purchase journey in one platform will drive “massive value for merchants and shoppers.” That focus on consolidation is timely as brands reassess overlapping tools and look for platforms that can own more of the customer lifecycle with fewer integrations.
Strengthening Route’s post purchase experience
Founded in 2019 by Evan Walker and Mike Moreno, Route quickly grew into one of the fastest growing technology companies by focusing specifically on the post purchase experience and even creating the shipping protection category. The company is now trusted by over 13,000 brands and has protected more than $20 billion in gross merchandise value to date, signaling deep penetration with ecommerce players that rely on post purchase differentiation.
Founder and Executive Chairman Evan Walker said, “Bringing Frate’s technology into our family is a powerful catalyst forward in that evolution” for Route’s evolution as enterprise adoption accelerates “faster than ever.” By tying together protection, tracking, cash back, issue resolution, and now returns and exchanges, Route is positioning itself as a one stop post purchase partner rather than a single feature plug in.
Why this matters for e commerce brands
For fashion and retail brands, returns are often one of the most expensive line items in the P&L, with rising shipping costs and reverse logistics complexity eating into margins. A platform that prioritizes exchanges over refunds and uses AI to verify return claims can help brands keep more sales on the books while still delivering a smooth experience for shoppers.
As shoppers expect transparency from checkout to doorstep and beyond, pairing visual tracking with a streamlined, exchange friendly returns flow can become a competitive advantage, particularly for DTC brands in apparel, beauty, and home goods. Route’s latest move signals that the real battleground for loyalty may be less about acquisition and more about what happens after the buy button.
