Case Study: Removing Friction & Fraud to Protect the Customer Journey

Brooks Seeks Frictionless Protection Against Chargebacks and Fraud

Brooks has roots in athletic footwear that stretch back over a century, but their approach has always focused on the future. With keen attention to “specialised gear for a specialised activity,” they’ve worked to perfect only running shoes for the last twenty years, and with incredible results: Brooks Running has become a global brand, popular with both elite and casual runners. Founded in 1914, Brooks Running designs and markets high-performance running shoes, clothing, and accessories. Brooks products are available in 60 countries through their retail and global eCommerce operations.

As Brooks’ eCommerce platform grew, so did fraud. Fraudulent websites were stealing credit card information from unsuspecting customers and using the Brooks website as part of a drop-shipping scheme. Their fraud challenges increased with growth: fraud brought chargebacks, eventually threatening Brooks’ ability to process cards from key issuers. Brooks knew it needed a solution to stop fraud, reign in chargebacks, improve customer experiences, and open revenue channels in international markets.

Challenges

• Drop-shipping schemes hurting customer experiences
• High chargeback rate threatened card processing capabilities
• Fraud from international cards limited revenue
• Lack of access to decision data limited the ability to fine-tune protection

Brooks Selects Kount for All-in-One Protection Through the Identity Trust Global Network

After a careful search, Brooks selected Kount’s Fraud Protection Platform for its AI-driven, all-in-one protection powered by the largest network of trust and risk data — the Identity Trust Global Network. Linked by Kount’s adaptive AI, the Identity Trust Global Network analyses trust and risk signals from 32 billion annual interactions to stop chargebacks and fraud in real time. And with that data, Brooks was able to fine-tune policies for precision protection while accepting more good orders.

Chad Funk, Brooks’ Fraud Specialist, said, “Kount gives me everything I need in order to fulfill my job to a high standard.”

With Kount in place, the first priority was to reduce chargebacks. Kount’s adaptive AI, using supervised and unsupervised machine learning models, accesses a vast dataset to quickly and accurately uncover the true trust level behind interactions. By automating decisions through Kount, Brooks quickly slashed its chargeback rate by 92%, eliminating the threat of card processing fraud monitoring programs.

Networked Data Unlocks Access to Global Revenue

With chargebacks under control, Brooks relied on Kount’s networked data from over 250 countries and territories to access new revenue from international markets. After implementation, “Kount allowed us to start accepting international credit cards versus flat-out declining them,” said Funk. That change alone generated hundreds of thousands in
new revenue.

Funk also noted that, “Kount is really good at giving you a lot of information at a glance. You don't have to really dig into a lot of different things. It's just right there at your fingertips.” And for Brooks, those insights lead to actionable results: “You’re able to form a picture from looking at the data, finding the connections between the confirmed cases of fraud that you have.”

At Brooks, one of those results was a drastic reduction in manual review hours. “We were able to decrease the amount of time we spent reviewing significantly,” said Funk. “Our manual review rate is below 2%. It’s kind of hard to ask for more than that.”

Real-Time Identity Trust Decisions Deliver a Seamless Customer Experience

For Brooks, one of the greatest benefits of Kount’s real-time fraud protection is how it enables best-in-class customer experiences. Kount allows Brooks to strike the right balance between automation and customisation, efficiently stopping fraud without creating friction for good customers.

Kount’s Customer Experience Engine provides the flexibility and control to fine-tune customer experiences through customisable policies and rules. Said Funk, “When somebody's in our Pro program and I can see the amount that the cart is worth and the amount that was paid, I know this person is part of a discount program — I know this
order is just fine. 

Access to this data is crucial for Brooks. For example, some Brooks stores process phone orders through their eCommerce site. Rigid, black-box solutions would identify those high-volume orders as fraud. But with Kount, Brooks created custom policies for this unique use case.

For Brooks, Kount offers more than a path to revenue and chargeback protection. Kount allows Brooks to provide experiences that create lifelong customers.

“Kount allows us to continue to serve the customer to the best of our ability without having to slow things down, without having to say no to the customer.”
Chad Funk, Fraud Specialist, Brooks Running

Results

• Automated protection against fraudulent orders
• Chargeback rate dropped 92%
• Boosted revenue by accepting international cards
• Reduced manual review rate to 2%
• Customised protection with access to networked data

Open new digital channels, accept more orders, and stop chargebacks.

Contact us to speak to an expert and take action against fraud.