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Customer Service

How Brooks Running overcame fraud and boosted customer experience

Rich Stuppy, chief customer experience officer at Kount, shares how running sneaker retailer Brooks Running dealt with fraud and improved the customer experience at the same time.

Photo by istock.com

October 27, 2020 by Rich Stuppy, Rich Stuppy

What began in a small factory in 1914 in Philadelphia, Brooks Running has grown to be a global enterprise. Now with customers in more than 50 countries, the running shoe innovator has evolved from a company specializing in ballet and bath shoes, at its inception, to a business with the prime focus is making the perfect running shoe — featuring options that are wildly popular among both elite and casual runners.

As Brooks puts it, running is its thing. Fraud, on the other hand, is not.

E-commerce growth brings chargebacks and fraud

As Brooks' popularity grew, so did revenue channels, which included e-commerce.

With a rise in digital transactions came challenges the retailer was not prepared for — overwhelming fraud. In 2017, fraudulent websites were stealing credit card information from unsuspecting customers and using the Brooks website as part of a drop-shipping scheme.

The number of chargebacks Brooks began to experience became overwhelming. It eventually got so bad credit card companies were threatening to prohibit Brooks from accepting their credit cards. Brooks' top priority went from perfecting the running shoe to reducing its chargeback rate to protecting its payment processing capabilities.

Hunting for proactive protection without customer friction

While the fraud prevention team reacted quickly to new evidence of fraud, "we just didn't know how to deal with it," said Chad Funk, Brooks' fraud specialist. Like many other merchants, Brooks' first defense against chargebacks was a "manual review" of transactions — a slow process with high operational costs.

Brooks knew it needed technology to detect and stop fraud and reduce manual reviews without sacrificing good orders. After a careful search, Brooks selected Kount's platform given its AI-driven, all-in-one fraud detection built on a network of trust and risk data called the Identity Trust Global Network.

Linked by Kount's adaptive AI, the Identity Trust Global Network analyzes trust and risk signals from 32 billion annual interactions to stop chargebacks and fraud in real time.

Relying on Kount's data and automation, Brooks quickly slashed its chargeback rate by 92%, eliminating the threat of fraud monitoring programs while accepting more good orders.

Brooks is not only reducing false positives, but improving the customer experience by providing a seamless journey for VIP customers, like those involved in a special "Pro" program.

"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," said Funk.

From fighting fraud to enhancing the customer experience

Using Kount's networked data, from over 250 countries across the globe, Brooks' next step in the fraud journey was to expand sales into new regions. This opened up a major new opportunity, as Brooks began to accept international credit cards which they had previously declined.

The results didn't disappoint. Simply opening up the international revenue stream contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the bottom line.

With growing revenue streams, and a manual review rate below 2%, Brooks again shifted focus, fine-tuning policies to improve the customer experience in order to build long-term revenue.

Much like its running shoes, the Brooks' fraud prevention strategy is focused on perfection: both in protection and in exceptional customer experiences.

Rich Stuppy is chief customer experience officer at Kount.

About Rich Stuppy

In his role as Chief Customer Experience Officer, Rich is responsible for client success, data analytics, and ensuring Kount’s users have the best customer experience. Collaborating directly with customers, he works to inform Kount’s product roadmap, identify new and emerging threats, and drive innovation for ultimate customer satisfaction.

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