8 Advanced Rules Every Shopify Merchant Should Set Up Today

Running a successful Shopify store isn’t just about having great products. It’s also about ensuring a seamless experience, from risk management to operational efficiency. For merchants using Shopify, Advanced Rules can be the secret weapon to optimize operations, prevent fraud, and boost efficiency.

This article outlines the top Advanced Rules every Shopify merchant should consider, offering practical applications and examples to safeguard your store and streamline processes. Advanced Rules is a powerful NoFraud feature that helps you customize fraud prevention strategies to fit your specific needs. NoFraud seamlessly integrates with your Shopify store, making it quick and easy to implement these rules and enhance your store’s security without disrupting operations.

Fraudulent transactions not only hurt your bottom line but also erode customer trust, which can take years to rebuild. Advanced Rules enable you to identify and mitigate fraud risks automatically, saving time and reducing potential losses — all while ensuring genuine customers have a seamless experience.

For instance, you can create rules to flag orders where the billing and shipping addresses don’t match. You can also set rules to detect risks based on the IP address, such as when it originates from a high-risk country or doesn’t align with the customer’s stated location. Additionally, Advanced Rules allow you to analyze transaction patterns, such as unusually high order values or multiple transactions from the same IP within a short timeframe (velocity checks). 

When these conditions are met, you can configure actions to automatically decline suspicious orders, send them for manual review, or even request additional verification from the customer.

In eCommerce, every second counts. Automated fulfillment for trusted or repeat customers — especially loyal brand fans and influencers — is a powerful way to ensure their orders are processed immediately, creating a smoother and more satisfying shopping experience. This not only builds trust and loyalty but also helps your business stand out in a competitive market. 

Here’s an example of a rule you can set up: 

• Condition: Customer has placed more than 5 orders in the past 6 months. 
• Action: Automatically approve and fulfill the order without delay. 

By implementing this strategy, you reward loyal customers and influencers with faster service while significantly reducing the manual workload for your team. It’s a win-win approach that keeps your most valuable customers happy, ensures influencers can promote your products efficiently, and improves operational efficiency at the same time.

Risk scoring assigns a probability value to how “risky” an order is. By combining basic Shopify fraud analysis with Advanced Rules, you can take immediate action on orders deemed high-risk. 

Example:

• Condition: Order has a high-risk flag and is over $500. 
• Action: Automatically cancel the order and notify the customer support team. 

Pro Tip: Always ensure there’s a process for escalating questionable transactions for manual review when necessary.  A balanced approach between automation and human oversight can make your fraud prevention strategy more effective.

Free shipping is a powerful tool to boost sales and attract more customers, but it’s important to ensure it doesn’t negatively affect your profit margins. Advanced Rules helps you set specific eligibility criteria for when free shipping applies, ensuring it remains sustainable for your business. By using these rules, you can strike a balance between offering attractive perks to customers and protecting your bottom line.

For example, you could set up the following rule: 

• Condition: The cart total is less than $50 but includes a discount code. 
• Action: Remove the free shipping tier from this order. 

This approach ensures that free shipping and discounts are only combined when they meet the profitability thresholds you’ve carefully set. With Advanced Rules, you can customize your shipping policies to align with your business goals while still providing value to your customers.

Bulk orders from new or unverified customers can be a red flag, often signaling attempts by unauthorized resellers to stock up on products for resale at a markup. Reseller fraud can harm your brand reputation and disrupt inventory management. Monitor these patterns to protect your business and ensure your products reach real, loyal customers who value your brand.

With Advanced Rules, you can secure your inventory by automatically flagging suspicious bulk orders for review. For instance: 

• Condition 1: Cart contains more than 10 units of a single SKU. 
• Condition 2: Customer account has no prior purchase history or is newly created. 
• Action: Send the order to manual review for further verification. 

This process ensures that bulk orders don’t go through unchecked, leaving your stock available for your intended customers while preventing misuse by unauthorized resellers.

Unverified email addresses are often a common entry point for fraudulent activity, which can result in costly chargebacks. Implementing proactive measures, like creating specific rules to identify and mitigate risks, can help protect your operations.

Create a rule with these steps:

• Condition 1: Customer has no prior account activity. 
• Condition 2: Email address is flagged as disposable or suspicious. 
• Action: Require payment verification or notify the fraud team. 

Pro Tip: To make this process even more robust, pair this rule with an email verification tool. These tools not only help block fraudulent email addresses but also improve the quality of your marketing campaigns by ensuring your efforts are reaching valid, legitimate customers. It’s a win-win for security and engagement!

Protect your discounts by stopping shoppers from exploiting promo codes, stacking discounts, or using unauthorized coupon hacks. Advanced Rules makes it easy to set precise conditions and restrictions that ensure promo codes aren’t abused. These tools give you full control over how discounts are applied, helping you maintain profitability while still offering value to your customers.

Examples of Advanced Rules

• Scenario 1: A customer uses a discount code that gives a 100% discount, with the total price only covering shipping.
  • Action: Block the transaction and flag it for review. 
• Scenario 2: Specific discount codes are used with restricted products or SKUs.
  • Action: Disable the discount code and notify the marketing team to adjust campaigns accordingly. 
• Scenario 3: A customer uses the same promo code on more than three orders in a single month.
  • Action: Temporarily disable the discount code for that customer and notify the team to reengage with a personalized offer. 

These measures help protect your business from promo abuse while maintaining fair usage.

Prevent subscription abuse and uphold the integrity of your subscription revenue. By setting customizable parameters, Advanced Rules allows you to detect and block fraudulent activities like account sharing, fake sign-ups, and trial offer exploitation. Set customizable parameters to monitor suspicious behavior, protect your inventory, and ensure fair access for loyal customers.

Examples of Advanced Rules 

• Scenario 1: A user creates multiple accounts using slight variations of the same email address (e.g., mini.me+1@dr.evil.com).
  • Action: Detect and block duplicate accounts to prevent fraudulent activity. 
• Scenario 2: A customer repeatedly signs up for free trials using slightly altered yet deliverable addresses.
  • Action: Flag the activity and restrict additional sign-ups from the same individual. 
• Scenario 3: Multiple users share a single subscription account beyond authorized limits.
  • Action: Monitor login activity, restrict access, and notify the account holder to upgrade or comply with terms.

The right tools can make all the difference in creating a thriving, stress-free online store that’s set up for long-term success. By leveraging Advanced Rules, Shopify merchants gain better control over their operations, minimize the risks of fraud, and create a seamless shopping experience for their customers. These rules empower you to tailor your store’s processes to meet specific needs, ensuring that your business runs efficiently and effectively. 

Think of these rules as your foundation. You can customize and refine them as your business grows, helping you adapt to new challenges and opportunities with ease. With Advanced Rules, tasks like order verification, fraud detection, and workflow automation become easier to manage, leaving you more time to focus on scaling your business and delighting your customers.