"The clearest impact for us has been on average order value and incremental revenue per sale... we saw a lift."
In the words of Adam Schneider, Victrola’s VP of Enterprise System, the 120-year-old legendary audio brand is on its journey to make some very modern ecommerce moves.
Victrola has been in the music business since 1906, which means the brand was around before radio became mainstream or before television ever existed. It has survived world wars, the rise of radio, the television boom, the cassette era, CDs, MP3s, streaming, and even the years when people declared vinyl dead. Few brands have watched the music industry reinvent itself as many times, and fewer still have managed to reinvent themselves with it.
Today, the company sells everything audio-related, curating more than 2,000 records on its website. It has partnered with brands like Netflix's Stranger Things and Third Man Records. As Mr Schneider put it: "We're a music brand, not just a hardware brand. We live and breathe music."
Curious how the brand thinks, we sat down with Adam and talked about how they grew their AOV without launching new bundles, cross-sells, or newer products. We explored how the brand realized the genius behind selling something you never have to ship.
Here’s the whole story and a few lessons that stood out.
Time after time, Victrola encountered solutions that treated checkout protection as a one-size-fits-all experience. Given their business ethos, it was the last thing their business needed.
When every customer touchpoint has been carefully designed around music and nostalgia, dropping in a generic protection widget never seemed tasteful. Plus, it would have interrupted the story the brand has spent decades telling.
On a premium product, customers notice that disconnect. So, the team waited for the right fit and that’s where SureBright entered the picture.
"What ultimately won me over was the technology," Schneider shared. "SureBright had a good UI, and crucially they weren't just an app plugin. That meant we could customize and partner on the implementation rather than accept a one-size-fits-all install."
Convinced by SureBright’s expertise and the proper alignment with their existing customer journeys, Victrola placed protection plans across three key touchpoints: on the product page, in a pop-up if the customer skipped it, and once more at checkout. Three touchpoints, all designed to match the rest of their brand and customer journey promise.
"We've seen a clear lift in average order value since activation," Schneider said, "We're also seeing record D2C sales overall right now, driven by a number of factors. With record volume comes more opportunities to attach the warranty, so AOV growth and revenue from SureBright have moved together."
The logic working behind that growth is simple. An audiophile spending $1,499.99 on a Stream Sapphire turntable sub-consciously has a little hesitation about the purchase. They are thinking ‘what if it accidentally breaks?’ or ‘what if my cat knocks it off the stand?’
Giving that customer a way to protect that investment helps with two things- reduces the risk perception in the customer’s mind and delivers a stronger brand experience.
SureBright’s customized integration allowed the protection plan offering to smoothly mix with their brand language. It only took them minutes to integrate and even lesser time to activate.
“For me it's the technology and the willingness to partner. SureBright has a strong technical team - I've been in tech for nearly 20 years and I'd recommend them to any tech leader." Schneider said, "Turnaround on requests has been excellent. The decision came down to technology, ease of use, the case studies they shared, and the AOV lift - that's what made it the right partnership for us.”
Victrola's team didn't rush this decision- even if it meant being patient to find the right fit. Given their high focus on customer experience, compromising on brand persona was never an option. If a protection plan provider won't let your team control how something looks and where it sits, it's going to read as foreign to your site- no matter how good the backend is.
Every ecommerce brand agrees with this. But very few get it without operational chaos attached.
And Victrola is a textbook example of how to do it right.
If you too are considering a premium protection experience for your customers while delivering a stronger brand promise, just say Hi and we’d be happy to help you get started.
.jpg)
M Khizar is a writer enjoys making complicated things feel simple. He writes about warranties, ecommerce, and the small details people usually overlook, until they matter. His work focuses on clarity and helping readers make smarter decisions without overthinking it. Outside of work, he enjoys reading, writing personal blogs, and binge eating with friends.
