When Fraud Screening Pulls Teams Away from Growth Activities
Brondell is a small company with a significant direct-to-consumer presence. This part of the business grew so rapidly that fraud screening became an increasingly important part of daily operations.
What started as a manageable internal job that could be handled by a few employees became unsustainable and overwhelming as e-commerce volume increased and more transactions required review before approval.
Brondell's challenges as the organization expanded included:
- Transactions flagged as suspicious required manual review by internal staff before approval.
- Rising order volume made manual fraud checks increasingly difficult to manage.
- Employees were spending more time evaluating purchases instead of focusing on other business priorities.
- Manual review was diverting teams from their product and marketing responsibilities.
The internal team at Brondell was under extreme pressure during high-volume periods. At the same time, the company wanted to avoid fraud losses and chargeback exposure without creating unnecessary issues for legitimate customers. For any fraud protection mitigation to work, it had to make the shopping experience safer without slowing customers down during checkout.
“As our order quantity and value started to increase, the fraud cases started to increase as well — up in to the thousands of dollars. We realized we needed to do something about it. We tried different fraud management apps through our e-commerce platform, but they just didn’t have the capabilities we were looking for. And where we’re not well-versed in fraud management, we needed more assistance and support, but weren’t getting it.”
ClearSale's Fraud Protection Solution for Brondell
ClearSale provided Brondell with Complete Decision with Chargeback Guarantee, an automated fraud prevention solution that was both accurate and flexible. This technology helped the company manage its growing order volume without increasing the internal workload for employees.
The main features of this solution included:
- Proprietary AI that screened transactions as they happened
- Manual review by fraud specialists for higher-risk orders
- Guaranteed chargeback protection
- Fast approval decisions to support a smoother customer experience
The solution also addressed more common, day-to-day issues by giving Brondell predictable fraud prevention operations, including:
- Dashboard reporting for transaction monitoring and fraud insights
- Improved decision accuracy over time through ongoing optimization
- Compliance support for GDPR and CCPA requirements
ClearSale's strategy was customized to match Brondell's customer behavior and order patterns, reducing false declines and keeping orders on track.
More Approvals and Zero Chargeback Costs
With ClearSale in place, Brondell improved its fraud-reduction performance while giving internal teams more time to focus on growth.
Measured business outcomes included:
- 99.5% approval rate, helping reduce false declines
- Zero fraud-related chargeback costs
- Faster order decisions without added internal review
The impact became especially clear during the 2020 bidet demand surge, when order volume increased, and fraud screening demand rose just as quickly.
During peak demand, ClearSale helped Brondell:
- Absorb a 10x increase in order volume without internal intervention
- Maintain consistent approval performance during rapid sales growth
- Keep staff focused on marketing and customer experience
- Improve order flow by increasing automation and reducing manual reviews
"During what I would call the Toilet Paper Wars of 2020, we saw a very strong surge in bidet sales. With ClearSale screening those automatically, we were able to scale and handle that unexpected peak surge in orders."
Steve Scheer, President, Brondell, Inc.
This fraud-prevention strategy protected Brondell's finances, but it also had a massive impact on operations. The company didn't have to rely on internal teams to handle fraud review, freeing up employees to focus on other tasks. Brondell leadership had the peace of mind knowing the company was poised for future seasonal spikes and unexpected demand without disrupting the customer experience.
What Other Growing E-commerce Brands Can Learn from Brondell
Brondell's experience shows that effective fraud prevention should reduce operational effort rather than add to it. As e-commerce volume increases, systems that depend heavily on internal review can quickly become a drain on smaller teams, especially when those same employees are responsible for product marketing and fulfillment.
ClearSale has the opposite effect by minimizing the need for internal review. Its scalable fraud model removes routine decision-making from internal workflows, allowing teams to stay focused on growth
Growing e-commerce brands need fraud prevention that doesn't strain operations. Learn how ClearSale helps businesses stay safe and scale with greater confidence.
