“E-warranty” services extend sales options

The after-sales pitch for an extended warranty -- the service agreement that covers goods after the manufacturers_ warranties have expired -- is a common, potentially lucrative episode in the world of brick-and-mortar retail. To date, however, it_s been the exception rather than the rule in e-tailing. Now several Web-based services are emerging that claim to make it easier for e-tailers -- and the IT staffs that serve them -- to peddle extended warranties for a wide variety of goods. They'll also help consumers buy, track, and take advantage of the agreements online. These up-and-coming electronic businesses -- including How2.com, in Dallas; RevBox and WarrantyNow, both in San Francisco; and, to an extent, WarrantyNet.com, in Ottawa and Boston -- all seek to become the "e-warranty" intermediary, although their approaches differ. On the surface, these sites act as middlemen between consumers, e-tailers, and established third-party, extended-warranty service providers who have traditionally served brick-and-mortar stores with legacy systems. And to varying degrees, the Web intermediaries also handle behind-the-scenes chores such as managing warranty data for thousands of items and providing access to it via a Web interface. For electronic merchants and their IT staffs, these fledgling services could provide an edge in the increasingly competitive electronic-commerce landscape and generate incremental revenues -- if they work as smoothly as promised. After initially focusing on driving customers to their sites, e-tailers are turning their attention to after-sales services, says Ron Goedendorp, CEO of WarrantyNow."The last Christmas season has demonstrated that customer support is the key differentiator," Goedendorp says.