Ask a manufacturer how many of their customers they can actually contact, and the honest answer is usually: very few. The reason sits in millions of drawers β€” unmailed paper warranty cards.

The paper card problem

Paper warranty cards have notoriously low return rates. Fewer than 10% ever make it back to the manufacturer, and only around 28% of consumers register their electronics at all. Every card that never comes back is a customer you can’t reach for service, recalls, or a follow-up sale.

It gets worse at claim time. When coverage depends on a receipt the customer has to keep, claims fall apart β€” by some estimates more than 40% of warranty claims fail simply because the buyer can’t produce valid proof of purchase.

A scenario brands know well

A customer buys an appliance, means to register, sets the card on the counter, and recycles it with the box a week later. Two years on, the unit fails inside its warranty window β€” but there’s no record, no proof, and a frustrating call to support. The brand pays in goodwill either way.

Make registration a few taps

Scan-to-register removes the friction that kills paper. The customer scans the code on the box, lands on your branded page, and registers in seconds β€” no app to download, no account to create, no card to post.

Because the code is tied to the specific unit, you don’t just collect an email address. You get a verified owner record linked to the exact serial number.

What you actually gain

  • A verified owner tied to the exact unit and serial β€” not a hand-typed guess.
  • Automatic activation and expiry reminders, with no manual work.
  • A direct channel for claims, service history, and ownership transfer on resale.
  • Clean data you can use for recalls and genuine follow-up β€” not a pile of unreadable cards.

Put the proof where the customer keeps things

Registration is only half the win. The other half is making sure the customer can find the warranty later. A confirmation email gets buried; a digital card added to the phone’s wallet doesn’t. Delivering coverage into Google Wallet (with Apple Wallet on the way) means the proof survives to the day it’s actually needed.

What to do this quarter

  1. Replace the paper card with a scan-to-register flow on the packaging.
  2. Make the reward instant β€” coverage confirmed on the spot, ideally as a wallet card.
  3. Tie every registration to the unit’s serial, not just an email.
  4. Automate expiry and service reminders from day one.

The takeaway

A paper card asks the customer to do your data collection for free, by mail, with no reward. Most won’t. A scan that registers coverage in seconds β€” and stores it where they’ll find it again β€” turns a lost moment into a direct relationship. Tools like Traciqo build that flow straight off the product’s QR code, so the warranty becomes a living link between you and the buyer instead of a slip of paper in a drawer.