Sift Case Studies How Chicago Music Exchange achieved 13.7x ROI with Sift

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	How Chicago Music Exchange achieved 13.7x ROI with Sift Sift

How Chicago Music Exchange achieved 13.7x ROI with Sift

Sift

Technology Category	Cybersecurity & Privacy - Application Security
Applicable Industries	Retail
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Sales & Marketing
Use Cases	Fraud Detection
Services	Cybersecurity Services
Challenge	Chicago Music Exchange (CME), a leading music equipment retailer, faced a significant challenge with fraudulent orders after switching their website platform provider. They encountered fraudsters placing small to medium-value orders to test the system before moving to higher-value items. Once a fraudulent order got through, it was easy for these cybercriminals to create fraudulent new accounts and multiply their gains. CME had particular difficulty with orders sent to freight forwarding companies, which required an added level of verification to authenticate the transactions and addresses. This meant that CME had to manually contact the customer or research the shipping address, which was time-consuming and not always effective. This was particularly true for more complicated overseas orders, and every time, CME was left to handle the loss. Read More
About Customer	Chicago Music Exchange is an industry leader in music equipment and expertise, striving to help musicians buy, sell, and trade gear at fair prices. The retailer is widely recognized as a go-to source for premiere vintage, new, and used music equipment, with some of the most knowledgeable vintage experts in the industry. For over 30 years, Chicago Music Exchange has been on a mission to provide the finest selection of guitars, amps, bass guitars, effects, and novelty musical instruments in the world, along with rockstar customer service. Read More
Solution	Chicago Music Exchange implemented the Sift Payment Protection product and Shopify integration to combat fraudulent orders. With Sift, CME is able to look at email address creation dates and send new account alerts to stay a step ahead of fraud. CME has found the data available with Sift to be crucial in fighting fraud, using IP addresses and billing/shipping address inconsistencies as key indicators of risk. This assists CME in their daily business processes of being able to hold orders, contact customers, and verify documentation. Sift gives CME an in-depth look at orders that are for a high dollar value and that come in with high scores, so the team is able to make quick and educated determinations. CME utilizes the Shopify integration to create a frictionless shopping experience for legitimate customers, helping to drive revenue while reducing risk. Within the Shopify and Sift solution, CME is able to compare customers’ transaction history from Shopify with data from Sift to get a full picture of who their customers are and which transactions might be fraudulent. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Application Security

Applicable Industries

Retail

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Fraud Detection

Services

Cybersecurity Services

Challenge

Chicago Music Exchange (CME), a leading music equipment retailer, faced a significant challenge with fraudulent orders after switching their website platform provider. They encountered fraudsters placing small to medium-value orders to test the system before moving to higher-value items. Once a fraudulent order got through, it was easy for these cybercriminals to create fraudulent new accounts and multiply their gains. CME had particular difficulty with orders sent to freight forwarding companies, which required an added level of verification to authenticate the transactions and addresses. This meant that CME had to manually contact the customer or research the shipping address, which was time-consuming and not always effective. This was particularly true for more complicated overseas orders, and every time, CME was left to handle the loss.

About Customer

Chicago Music Exchange is an industry leader in music equipment and expertise, striving to help musicians buy, sell, and trade gear at fair prices. The retailer is widely recognized as a go-to source for premiere vintage, new, and used music equipment, with some of the most knowledgeable vintage experts in the industry. For over 30 years, Chicago Music Exchange has been on a mission to provide the finest selection of guitars, amps, bass guitars, effects, and novelty musical instruments in the world, along with rockstar customer service.

Solution

Chicago Music Exchange implemented the Sift Payment Protection product and Shopify integration to combat fraudulent orders. With Sift, CME is able to look at email address creation dates and send new account alerts to stay a step ahead of fraud. CME has found the data available with Sift to be crucial in fighting fraud, using IP addresses and billing/shipping address inconsistencies as key indicators of risk. This assists CME in their daily business processes of being able to hold orders, contact customers, and verify documentation. Sift gives CME an in-depth look at orders that are for a high dollar value and that come in with high scores, so the team is able to make quick and educated determinations. CME utilizes the Shopify integration to create a frictionless shopping experience for legitimate customers, helping to drive revenue while reducing risk. Within the Shopify and Sift solution, CME is able to compare customers’ transaction history from Shopify with data from Sift to get a full picture of who their customers are and which transactions might be fraudulent.

Impact #1	Over the course of six months, Chicago Music Exchange saw a 13.7x return on their investment with Sift—reducing fraud on their platform, securing millions in transactions, and reducing manual review time to 30 minutes or 1 hour per day.
Impact #2	With the average blocked order value coming in at $1,300, shutting down these high-value orders saved CME tens of thousands in retained revenue in just half a year.
Impact #3	The retailer also gets access to invaluable insights into their trusted buyers’ patterns to better cater to their needs.

Impact #1

Over the course of six months, Chicago Music Exchange saw a 13.7x return on their investment with Sift—reducing fraud on their platform, securing millions in transactions, and reducing manual review time to 30 minutes or 1 hour per day.

Impact #2

With the average blocked order value coming in at $1,300, shutting down these high-value orders saved CME tens of thousands in retained revenue in just half a year.

Impact #3

The retailer also gets access to invaluable insights into their trusted buyers’ patterns to better cater to their needs.

Benefit #1	13.7x ROI in six months
Benefit #2	Securing millions in revenue
Benefit #3	Reduced manual review time to 30 min–1 hr per day

Benefit #1

13.7x ROI in six months

Benefit #2

Securing millions in revenue

Benefit #3

Reduced manual review time to 30 min–1 hr per day

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Overview

How Chicago Music Exchange achieved 13.7x ROI with Sift

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit