Product Registration Online

You recently purchased a new product, have completed assembly, and are sorting through the packaging to toss out what you don’t need. Within the product packaging is some product registration information. In the past, this process has been cumbersome and you were unsure what the benefits were to you for completing and submitting this information.

The question that arises is: Should you register a new product? There are numerous benefits to both the consumer and the manufacturer by completing the product registration. Let’s dive into this further in the following sections.

Product Registration Meaning

Have you ever found yourself wondering what is product registration? Chances are you have seen the term product registration or warranty registration in a store when choosing a new product, or even more likely within the product packaging.

The types of products that include a product registration form can vary greatly and depend on the manufacturer and their requirements. Some of the most common types of products that may include a product registration form are:

Home Appliances
Furniture
Power Tools
Hair Appliances
Lawn Care Equipment and Outdoor Tools
Consumer Electronics

Product registration involves filling out a registration form and submitting this information to the manufacturer. In short, product registration means that you are providing your contact information to the manufacturer. This likely leads you to the next question, should you register a new product? The answer is yes, as it can be extremely important if there is a recall or safety notice that the manufacturer needs to alert you about regarding the new product you purchased.

By completing a product registration form you are providing the manufacturer with a direct connection to their customers. Oftentimes when you purchase new products, this is done through a retail channel or a dealer/distributor network, which means that you are not familiar with the product's manufacturer. With numerous brands and variations of products on the market today, brands, more than ever, want to connect with their customers.

What Does Registering a Product Do?

By registering your product you are essentially sharing with the manufacturer that you have purchased a specific product. As discussed above, this information is generally your contact information, so the manufacturer has a way to contact you in case of a recall or safety notice.

During the registration process, you may have also shared additional details about your purchase, including the purchase date and location with the manufacturer. You may have also chosen to opt-in to receive marketing messages from the manufacturer as well. This information provides additional benefits to the manufacturer that we will discuss in detail in the upcoming sections.

Is it Necessary to Register Products?

You may have found yourself wondering if registering products is a necessary step when purchasing a new product. You likely wonder about the benefits too. To make sure we are all on the same page, let’s first start with what a warranty actually is.

What Is a Warranty?

According to Dictionary.com, a warranty is “a written guarantee given to the purchaser of a new appliance, automobile, or other item by the manufacturer or dealer, usually specifying that the manufacturer will make any repairs or replace defective parts free of charge for a stated period of time.” In short, it is a specific guarantee on a specific product for a given period of time. The details associated with the warranty will vary depending on the product and the manufacturer.

With that in mind, what is warranty registration? A warranty registration means that you are completing some form of documentation and sending this to the manufacturer. Once this information is provided to the manufacturer, your warranty is essentially registered with them and is active and valid.

To make things even easier, if you utilize a platform like Lumavate, you can take advantage of one of their 40 best in class templates. In this case, the Warranty Registration Template would be a great starting point. This template will help simplify the registration process and can be set up in less than 10 minutes. This template can ultimately help your brand capture more warranty registrations, decrease costs, increase revenue, and capture zero-party data.

Some of the key features that are included with this template are:

Capture Zero-party Data - Collect valuable consumer information which enables your brand to communicate with your customers and provide a customized experience for them to interact with.
Customize the Data Captured - Customize the fields on your form to capture the information that is most relevant to your brand.
Integrate to Your Tech Stack - Have the product data you capture sent directly to your system of record. If you do not have one, this data can be stored in Lumavate.
Collect Email and Mobile Opt-ins - Allow your customer to decide if they would like to receive emails or text messages for your company.
Warranty Information - Provide additional information about your product's warranty coverage.

Is Product Registration Necessary for Warranty?

Depending on the manufacturer’s requirements, product registration is not necessarily required but it might be tied to the product's warranty. Some products may require you to complete a product registration form in order to take advantage of the warranty, but others may not have this requirement.

In order to ensure that your product is covered, it is best to complete the product registration each time you buy an applicable product. This will ensure there are no issues with your warranty and the product is fully covered if needed.

Why Would You Register a Product?

There are numerous reasons why a consumer should register a new product that they purchased. Some of the key benefits for consumers include:

Ability to receive communications from the manufacturer, which can include recalls and safety notices. This can be extremely important especially if this is a serious recall regarding a product.
Access to product onboarding information, such as how-to videos, owner's manual, and troubleshooting guides. If a company chooses to associate a digital experience with its product registration, then all of this information would be easily accessible.
Streamlined access to customer support. Since the manufacturer already has your contact information and product information, this will result in reduced support call times.
Provides the option to opt-in to receive special promotional offers from the manufacturer. This could be helpful if there are upcoming sales on accessories for the product you purchased.

Why Do We Need Product Registration?

Companies put a lot of time and energy into programs and campaigns that aim to get consumers to complete product registrations. Accessing consumer data is important to any brand, with zero-party data being the most valuable. Data is becoming harder to collect and brands are eager to have you provide useful information to them.

With all of this in mind, here are some of the key benefits to manufacturers regarding product registration data:

It develops direct relationships between the manufacturer and the consumer. This is important especially if the product is purchased through channel partners, such as retailers, dealers, and distributors, as consumers are not always familiar with the manufacturer.
Ability to communicate with consumers about safety recalls and product notices.
Provides a channel for driving marketing opt-ins for promotions. Once the opt-in is received, this opens up an opportunity for additional communications.
Provides access to demographic information about your buyers.
Decreased support call times. This is the case as the customer contact information and product information is already available. Staff will no longer have to spend extra time collecting this information.
Increased customer satisfaction during initial onboarding. This is the case as the company can provide helpful content, videos, and manuals via an interactive digital experience.

What Is a Registration Example?

Typically, companies provide three ways for consumers to register their new products. Let’s discuss some registration examples below.

The first method is through the completion of a printed product registration form that is typically included in the product packaging. This was the standard way this information was collected for many years. Once filled out, the product registration card can be mailed to the company, to the product registration department, and it generally does not require any postage. While this was the standard way, many consumers are used to digital ways and are looking for easier options.
The second method is from the company’s website. With this method, there is typically one primary product registration form that you use to submit your product registration online. Some companies include a printed document that is included within the product packing. This document then directs you to the company's website to complete the online product registration. This method can be frustrating for consumers, as it requires numerous steps to complete and often requires you to search for the specific product on the website. This can be one of the more time-consuming methods.
The third method is an online product registration experience that is tied to a QR code. This QR code is typically included within the product packaging. This experience is the best product registration method because it allows consumers to scan the QR code with their phone and immediately register the product. There are no multiple steps like requiring consumers to find the page on the website or mail in the printed card.

By using a platform like Lumavate, you can also embed the product type and serial number in the QR code and have that information automatically populate the registration form. This ultimately leads to a seamless process and will likely leave a positive impression on your customers.

Lumavate also has a Product Registration Template that will help you get started with creating this type of experience and start collecting product registration data. Some of the key features included with this template are:

Capture Zero-party Data - Collect valuable consumer information which enables your brand to communicate with your customers and provide customized experiences.
Ability to customize the Data Captured - Personalize the fields on your form to capture the information that is most relevant to your brand.
Integrate to Your Tech Stack - Send the collected data directly to your system or record, or store that data within Lumavate.
Collect Email and Mobile Opt-ins - Allow your customer to select if they would like to receive email or text messages from your company.
Customer Support - Provide easy access to your support team by including a phone number, email address, or chat option all within the experience.

This template can be set up and used in less than 10 minutes! All of this will ultimately lead to increased registration rates, access to more consumer data, decreased costs, and increased revenue.

Want to see all of the templates Lumavate has to offer? Take a tour of all of our best-in-class templates.

What Is the Purpose of Product Registration?

As we discussed above, completing product registration can provide numerous benefits to both the consumer and the manufacturer. With this in mind, the purpose of product registration is to provide both the consumer and the manufacturer with the important information they are seeking.

To make product registration even easier, it is recommended to connect this to a digital experience. There are numerous platforms on the market that can assist with creating a digital experience, but one of the best options available is Lumavate. Lumavate is a digital experience platform (DXP) that enables you to quickly and easily create product registration forms and have the collected data sent directly into your system of record. Lumavate also has the ability to store the data within their platform.

By using Lumavate you can incorporate the product registration form into your product onboarding experience or product information experience. This means that when consumers scan the QR code to submit their product registration, they can also access step-by-step installation instructions, how-to videos, the ability to connect with your support team, and more. All of this contributes to a seamless experience and assists your customers with ensuring their product registration is completed.

Ready to see all that Lumavate has to offer? Schedule a demo with one of our product experts who will walk you through the platform.