Shipping Protection Glossary
Your complete reference guide to shipping protection, logistics, and insurance terminology.
A
Attach Rate
The percentage of customers who opt-in to shipping protection at checkout. Industry average is 30-50%.
Auto-Resolution
AI-powered automatic approval of shipping claims based on predefined criteria, reducing manual review time from hours to seconds.
C
Carrier Performance
Metrics tracking how well shipping carriers deliver packages, including on-time delivery rate, damage rate, and loss rate.
Claim Rate
The percentage of orders that result in a claim for loss, damage, or theft. Typical rates range from 0.8-2.5%.
High-Take-Rate Protection
Protection services where provider fees take a larger share of collected protection revenue, reducing merchant margin.
D
Dimensional Weight (DIM Weight)
Pricing method used by carriers based on package size rather than actual weight. Calculated as: (Length × Width × Height) ÷ DIM Factor.
F
Fraud Detection
Systems and review signals that help merchants identify suspicious claim patterns before issuing a resolution.
M
Merchant-Controlled Protection
Shipping protection where the merchant owns the program, controls pricing and policies, and keeps more protection revenue after platform fees.
P
Porch Piracy
Theft of delivered packages from doorsteps, mailrooms, lockers, or shared delivery areas.
Protection Fee
The amount charged to customers for shipping protection, typically 1.5-3% of order value or a flat rate of $1-3.
R
Resolution Time
Time from claim submission to final decision or customer update.
ROI (Return on Investment)
Net contribution from protection revenue, expected claim costs, platform costs, and operational savings.
S
Shipping Insurance
Traditional carrier-provided or third-party coverage for lost/damaged packages. Typically requires extensive documentation and has slow claim resolution.
Structured Data (Schema.org)
Standardized markup language that helps search engines understand content, enabling rich results like FAQs and Product snippets.
T
Third-Party Protection Network
Companies that provide protection as a service, often with higher take rates or more provider-owned customer experiences.
W
White-Label
Unbranded solution that merchants can customize with their own branding, maintaining brand consistency throughout the customer journey.
Z
Zone-Based Routing
Strategy of selecting carriers based on geographic performance data, reducing loss rates by routing packages through best-performing carriers for each destination.
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