How Poshmark reduced spam and created a secure online community
60–70% reduction in spam content
More frictionless environment for valued users
Fewer chargebacks
OVERVIEW
Largest fashion marketplace in the U.S.
Poshmark brings together fashion enthusiasts on a platform that allows them to express themselves and share their love of style by buying and selling clothing. Their massive and ever-growing catalog features 75 million items from 5,000 brands. The ease of selling on Poshmark has been integral in growing their community of Seller Stylists to over 4 million, but with an increase of legitimate users comes an increase in fraudsters as well. Poshmark turned to Sift to mitigate spam content and fraudulent transactions in order to foster a trusted environment.
CHALLENGE
Eliminating abusive content to maintain user trust
Community and trust are key to Poshmark, and are the foundation on which the platform is built. Phony listings, fraudulent buyers, and spam content erode user trust and discourage continued business on the app, while exposing users to dangerous actors. Poshmark needed a way to maintain a frictionless environment for trusted users, so they chose Sift’s Content Integrity product to get the job done.
“Trust is integral to building a strong community. We want to ensure people can express themselves in a trusted environment—whether that’s sharing personal style, liking listings, or buying. At the core, trust sets the foundation for a positive experience.” – Robbie Fritts, Director, Fraud and Payments at Poshmark
SOLUTION
Machine learning models that adapted quickly
The Content Integrity product allows Poshmark to take a forward-thinking approach to fraud management. Within a week, Poshmark trained Sift’s algorithms on live data and saw actionable results. Their fraud team became more agile, reacting faster to stop fraudulent activity, and if the team began to notice new trends they were able to leverage their decisioning and Workflow tools to make tweaks in real time.
RESULTS
Spam content greatly reduced, fostering a safe online community
Poshmark’s fraud team has a lot less work on their hands, thanks to their newly automated workflows, which has allowed the company to focus more on growth and less on fraud. They’ve seen a 60-70% reduction in spam content, which is crucial in maintaining the safe, trusted environment Poshmark buyers and sellers have come to expect from the platform. With Sift, Poshmark can put their efforts into supporting their community and feel good knowing their users—the core and heart of the company—are safer.
