How many accessories or services per unit sold?
№ 128 · Attach rate
Definition
MetricAccessory or service attach per device unit
Unit% of device units sold with at least one accessory or service attached, and attached items per unit
Percent of base-unit purchases that include an accessory. Mature attach rates drive margin. Build by counting transactions containing both base unit and accessory SKU. Rising attach = bundling and merchandising working. Example: 32% of console buyers also bought controller accessory.
- SKU
- Stock keeping unit. One distinct sellable variant. Counted at the variant level, not the product level.
Benchmarks
| Bottom 30% | Median | Top 30% |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5% of units | 10% to 15% of units, about 1.1 attached items per unit | 25% or higher of eligible units, above 1.3 attached items per unit |
Consumer hardware, 2024 to 2026. Protection plan and service attach measured as plans sold over eligible units. Ranges span channels: unassisted ecommerce sits at the bottom, staffed retail in the middle, dealer and specialist channels at the top. · Almost all located data comes from protection plan vendors and dealer networks reporting their own programme performance, which is Tier 3 and self-selecting, so confidence is low. Published figures range from 4% to over 60% and the spread is mostly channel, not performance: unassisted online checkout is reported at 4% to 6%, major retailers at 10% to 20%, and staffed dealer channels at 25% to 50%. Accessory attach and service attach are frequently blended in reporting even though they respond to different levers, and 'attach rate' is sometimes computed over all orders rather than over eligible units, which understates it. Fix the denominator before comparing to anything here.
Category split omitted: Attach splits by channel are published only by protection plan vendors and dealer networks reporting their own programme performance, so no two independent Tier 1 or Tier 2 datasets cover the same split.
When it looks bad
The blended attach bar looks acceptable, but broken out by channel the entire number comes from one route or one bundled SKU while every other channel sits near zero.
19% blended attach on 24,000 units, where the direct store runs 31% and retail runs 3%, so 88% of attached revenue comes from 22% of units.
What to do about it
- Move the offer to immediately after product selection and before payment, and script it against repair cost rather than risk. Protection plan operators report acceptance improving 18% to 32% from timing and presentation changes alone (Consumer Priority Service dealer data).
- Add a post-purchase attach sequence at 30 and 90 days to buyers who declined at checkout. CPS reports recovering up to 15% of missed warranty sales this way, and it costs an email sequence rather than a change to the checkout flow.
- Price the plan inside the band the category expects. Consumer electronics plans typically sit at 15% to 20% of product price (All Shield), and pricing materially outside that band suppresses take-up without improving programme margin.
- Report accessory attach and service attach as separate lines with separate owners. They respond to different levers, merchandising and bundling for one, staff scripting and post-sale marketing for the other, and blending them hides which is broken.
Sources
- Extend Reports a 15% attach rate on extended warranty and protection plan offers across its platform, against a stated industry average of 5% to 6% for online protection plan sales. Note the age of this figure relative to a 2026 reference. extend.com ↗
- Clyde A typical ecommerce attach rate for consumer brands is 4% of orders, varying by vertical. Flagged as a dated figure in a 2026 reference. joinclyde.com ↗
- All Shield Public attach data is thin, with estimates landing at 10% to 20% at major retailers when protection is offered. Plan price averages $30 to $150, typically 15% to 20% of product price, with consumer electronics plans at roughly 20% of product price and 40% to 60% gross margin. allshield.co ↗
- All Shield US retailers saw attach rates of approximately 4.9% in Q2 2024, attributed to Warranty Week, with the industry range spanning 4.9% to 50% depending on category. 60% of consumers prefer warranty offers at checkout, attributed to Cover Genius. allshield.co ↗
- Consumer Priority Service A strong attachment rate for a commercial appliance and equipment dealer is 35% to 50%, with top performers above 60% on high-ticket categories. Protection plan revenue can represent 15% to 35% of total gross profit. cpscentral.com ↗
- Consumer Priority Service Presenting coverage immediately after the product decision but before payment improves acceptance by 18% to 32%. Post-sale marketing to customers who declined at point of sale recovers up to 15% of missed warranty sales. cpscentral.com ↗
- US SEC (Best Buy Co Inc) Services comparable sales grew 5.3% in fiscal 2025, driven primarily by growth in warranty services and membership programmes, while consumer electronics comparable sales fell 3.3%. sec.gov ↗
- US SEC (GoPro, Inc.) Subscriber count ended Q4 2025 at 2.36 million against 1.8 million camera units sold in the year, generating $106m of subscription and service revenue, so the service base exceeds annual unit volume and is sustained by the installed base rather than by new attach alone. sec.gov ↗