The cost of shipping first and asking questions later
A fraudulent order that gets dispatched costs you the product, the shipping, the chargeback fee, and the time spent dealing with the dispute. Even a legitimate order that looked suspicious could have been handled better - a quick phone call to confirm the address, or an ID check on delivery for high-value items.
The problem isn't that merchants don't know which patterns are risky. Most experienced store owners can list them immediately. The problem is that WooCommerce doesn't surface those patterns automatically. Staff processing orders at speed have no visual cue that this particular order matches a known risk pattern.
Common patterns worth flagging
The most valuable review flags combine multiple signals. A high-value order alone isn't suspicious - but a high-value order from a guest customer, placed at midnight, requesting express delivery to a PO Box, is several signals stacked together.
Other common review triggers include cash on delivery payment (higher refusal-on-delivery risk), first-time customers spending well above the store average, orders where the billing country differs from the shipping country, and orders containing frequently-stolen product categories. Each store has its own risk profile - the rules that matter for a jewellery store are different from those for a food supplier.
Automatic review flags with OrderBadger
OrderBadger lets you describe review conditions in plain English. You write the rule once, and every matching order gets a badge automatically. The badge appears on the orders list before anyone picks, packs, or dispatches.
For example, you might create a red 'Manual Review' badge triggered by 'guest checkout with order total over £300 placed outside business hours'. Or an amber 'Verify Address' badge for 'billing country is different from shipping country'. Each badge is a separate rule with its own colour and label, so your team can instantly see why an order was flagged.
Review flags without disrupting your workflow
The critical difference between badges and custom statuses is that badges don't change the order's actual status. A flagged order stays 'Processing' - your payment gateway, shipping plugin, and customer email flow all continue normally. The badge is a visual signal for your team, not a workflow interrupt.
This means you can flag orders for review without blocking them. Your team sees the badge, does the check, and either proceeds with dispatch or escalates. The order isn't stuck in a holding status while someone remembers to change it back.
Try it: ready-made rule recipes
Each recipe below is a real rule template you can activate in OrderBadger. Click through for the full configuration, test fixtures, and customisation tips.