Route Acquires Frate Returns to Bolster Package Protection

Post-purchase eCommerce platform Route says it has acquired returns and exchanges platform Frate Returns.

The company says the deal is designed to give its customers a solution that combines its package protection and tracking suite with Frate’s “intelligent exchange-first” returns technology, according to a Monday (Jan. 12) news release.

“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,” Eric Kobe, CEO of Route, said in the release.

“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.”

According to the release, Frate’s capabilities include “exchange-first optimization,” AI image verification and flexible shipping, refund and payment options, which let brands reduce refund rates and operational costs while retaining revenue and boosting loyalty.

“Merchants today are looking to consolidate their tech stacks to reduce costs without sacrificing the customer experience,” Frate Returns Co-founder and CEO Bailey Newton said in the announcement.

“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.”

PYMNTS wrote late last month about the challenges retailers would face during the heavy returns season that comes each January.

The National Retail Federation, in conjunction with Happy Returns, has forecast that retail returns in the United States for 2025 would reach $849.9 billion, a figure that equals around 15.8% of total retail sales. Online purchases fuel a disproportionate amount of that volume, with the federation estimating that nearly 20% of eCommerce sales will be returned.

“For the merchants, steering returns to the lowest-cost channels, such as buy online, return in store, staffed drop-offs and label-free returns, can help with margins, as can return flows to prioritize exchanges or store credit, meeting consumer expectations for instant resolution while protecting cash flow,” that report said.

This period of the year, dubbed here as “Returnaggedon,” is not a one-month inconvenience, but a structural operating reality with a January stress test.

“In 2026, the retailers that succeed will be those that treat returns as a cross-functional discipline spanning logistics, payments, fraud and merchandising rather than a customer service afterthought,” PYMNTS wrote.