Grupo David Securely Launches Its Retail Ecommerce Operation, With ClearSale

Grupo David brings global brands to consumers in Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. Among the brands in Grupo David’s retail roster are Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret, along with American Eagle, Reebok, and Aerie. The conglomerate has more than 40 years of experience and aims to be the leader in Latin American brand development and management. Based in Panama City, Grupo David operates 150 stores across nine countries and employs more than 1,500 people.

Like many established retail players, Grupo David faced a huge challenge in early 2020. As lockdowns and health concerns kept shoppers out of stores, the company needed to grow its ecommerce capabilities quickly — and it needed to do so without becoming a target for fast-growing ecommerce fraud groups. “In early 2020, we had no knowledge of the digital world,” said Valeria Barahona, Regional Marketing Specialist and E-com Project leader for Grupo David. “Two of our business partners for building our ecommerce platform recommended that we use ClearSale as our fraud prevention provider.”

99.4%

The Challenge: Launch a Secure Ecommerce Channel that Delivers Great Customer Experience

Grupo David needed to add ecommerce capacity for its retail stores in early 2020, as the first wave of the pandemic kept consumers at home. In particular, the company wanted to add ecommerce for its Victoria’s Secret operations in Colombia and Paraguay and its Bath & Body Works operations in Paraguay and Panama.

On top of the logistical and technical challenges of building and localizing ecommerce platforms, Grupo David needed to protect itself and its customers from the surge of fraud that accompanied the 2020 digital shift. Fraud prevention was complicated by the fact that many consumers were shopping online for the first time. Without an online buying history, basic fraud-prevention solutions would likely flag their orders as potential fraud. That could result in false positives that would frustrate new online consumers, cost Grupo David revenue, and cause brand damage.

Grupo David knew they needed a fraud solution that would recognize good customers, prevent false declines, and approve as many orders as possible without allowing fraud

The Solution: ClearSale Total Guaranteed Protection

Because Grupo David needed a fraud prevention solution that could adapt to the changing behavior of consumers (and fraudsters) in multiple markets, the company’s ecommerce partners recommended ClearSale. “ClearSale was our first fraud prevention provider,” said Barahona. The company deployed ClearSale’s Total Guaranteed Protection solution for its Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works sites in Panama, Colombia, and Paraguay.

ClearSale brought more than 20 years of experience in global CNP fraud prevention to Grupo David’s ecommerce sites. With the world’s largest team of fraud analysts and advanced, AI-powered statistical technology, and a chargeback guarantee option so that customers never pay fraudulent chargeback costs, ClearSale has earned a 99% retention rate from its 5,000+ clients operating in more than 160 countries.

ClearSale’s existing datasets and expertise provided a strong foundation for Grupo David’s fraud prevention program, and ClearSale’s machine-learning tools quickly learned how the company’s good customers behave in each market. This ability allows ClearSale to continuously refine its ability to separate good orders from attempted fraud, so that fewer orders require manual review. That results in more orders getting approved and faster order approvals, so customers get their products faster, have a satisfying online shopping experience, and strengthen their loyalty to Grupo David’s brands.

ClearSale provides Grupo David:

• Fast order decisioning, so Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works can ship products to customers faster.

• Virtually no false chargebacks, so Grupo David doesn’t lose revenue or bank fees to fraud.

• Precisely tuned fraud controls aligned with Grupo David brands’ risk profiles and customer behavior by market, device (mobile versus desktop), and customer profile.

• A streamlined dashboard display of real-time metrics and customer reports.

• Confidence to continue their ecommerce growth programs.

The Results: 99.4% Approval Rate, Virtually Zero Chargebacks, Confidence for Growth

With ClearSale protecting Grupo David’s Bath & Body Works Paraguay and Panama sites and it’s Victoria’s Secret sites in Panama and Colombia, order approvals have been consistently high – on average, 99.4% from July to December 2021, consistent with overall results.

ClearSale was able to maintain high approval rates even during times when fraud attempts spiked. For example, fraud attempts in October 2021 increased by 12X over the previous month, but the order approval rate for that month was 98.96%.

During the same time, the average monthly chargeback rate for these Grupo David ecommerce sites was 0.08%, with only one chargeback instance during the entire six-month tracking period. Costs related to that incident were guaranteed by ClearSale, so Grupo David faced no losses.

• 99.4% Average Monthly Approval Rate (July 2021 – Dec. 2021)

• 0.08% Average Monthly Chargeback Rate (July 2021 – Dec. 2021)

• High approval rates even during fraud spikes

See how ClearSale helps other businesses win the fight against fraud.

More than 5,000+ clients trust ClearSale to outsource their online fraud protection.