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Delivery & Returns

Fraud decisioning

Risk check on order placement

Standard

In one sentence

What it is

An automatic risk check run on every order at the point it's placed, catching the fraudulent minority without adding friction for the legitimate majority.

How it works

What it does

As part of order placement, each order is screened against risk signals to assess the likelihood it's fraudulent — factors like payment and delivery mismatch, order pattern and account signals feed into a decision to accept, hold for review, or decline. This runs automatically and near-instantly as a standard part of the checkout and order flow, so it doesn't add a visible step or delay for the overwhelming majority of legitimate shoppers, while flagging the smaller number of orders that warrant a closer look or an outright decline before goods and money are lost.

The problem it solves

Why it matters

For the brand

Fraudulent orders cost twice — the value of the goods shipped and never paid for, plus the chargeback and dispute costs that follow. Doing this manually or not at all means either absorbing losses at scale or being too slow to catch fraud before goods have already shipped.

For their customers

Legitimate shoppers don't want to feel like they're going through airport-style security to buy something online — clunky manual verification steps aimed at catching fraud often punish the honest majority for the actions of a small minority.

For shoppers

How it benefits shoppers

  • Genuine orders complete without extra verification steps or delays.
  • Lower risk that their payment details are being used against a retailer with weak fraud controls.
  • Faster dispatch for legitimate orders, since risk decisions happen instantly rather than through manual review queues.
  • Reduced likelihood of account takeover-driven orders going unnoticed, protecting their own account activity.

For the brand

How it benefits the brand

  • Reduces losses from fraudulent orders before goods are shipped

    Fraud loss rate, chargeback rate

  • Automatic screening avoids a costly and slow manual review process at scale

    Cost per order screened, review team workload

  • Runs as standard within checkout, adding no visible friction for legitimate orders

    Checkout conversion rate

  • Consistent risk decisioning reduces variance in what gets caught versus missed

    Fraud detection consistency

In practice

What it looks like

  1. 1

    A shopper places an order using a payment method and delivery address that don't match typical patterns.

  2. 2

    The order is automatically screened against risk signals as part of order placement.

  3. 3

    The system flags it for review rather than letting it dispatch immediately.

  4. 4

    A legitimate order, by contrast, passes the same check instantly and proceeds to fulfilment without the shopper noticing anything happened.

Where it lands hardest

Strong use cases by industry vertical

  • Health & nutrition

    Relevant given high-value bulk orders are an attractive target for resale fraud, particularly around premium supplement ranges.

  • Beauty & personal care

    High resale value on premium fragrance and skincare makes this category a common fraud target worth screening carefully.

  • Food, drink & FMCG

    Generally lower fraud exposure given lower average order values, though still relevant for high-value gifting or alcohol orders.

  • Pet care

    Lower relative fraud exposure, though bulk high-value orders of premium formulas still warrant the same standard screening.

  • Fashion & apparel

    A significant fraud target given resale value of branded goods, making automatic screening particularly valuable at scale.

  • Luxury & premium

    One of the highest-value fraud targets of any vertical, where a single fraudulent order can represent a significant loss — screening matters more here than almost anywhere else.

Common questions & objections

What clients usually ask

Why the platform version wins

Fraud decisioning runs as a standard, always-on part of order placement rather than a bolt-on review tool applied after the fact — catching risk before goods and margin are already gone, not after.