Order Pattern Analysis

The Order Pattern Analysis module is TrustLens’s positive-signal workhorse. While most modules look for abuse, the Orders module’s primary job is to recognize loyal repeat customers and reward them with score lifts. It also catches the smaller class of order-side abuse: serial cancellations, order manipulation, and unusual ordering velocity.

Module ID: orders. Default: enabled. Free tier (complete).

---

What It Observes #

The module hooks into WooCommerce order lifecycle events — order created, order status changed, order completed, order cancelled. For each event the module:

1. Updates the customer’s total_orders, cancelled_orders, and total_order_value aggregates
2. Updates first_order_date (on first ever order) and last_order_date
3. Logs an event to the timeline (order_placed, order_completed, order_cancelled)
4. Queues a score recalculation

Order data is the foundational layer most other modules build on. Return rate is meaningless without order count; coupon abuse signals need order context; chargeback ratios need an order denominator. So the Orders module’s observation work is always on, even if the Orders module’s scoring contribution is disabled.

---

What It Signals #

The module emits both positive and negative signals, but skews positive.

Loyalty Bonuses (Positive) #

The Orders module uses clean orders — completed orders minus refunds — as the basis for loyalty bonuses. This naturally discounts customers whose order count is inflated by orders they later refunded.

Mutually exclusive tiers:

Clean Orders (total − refunds)	Score	Reason Shown on Profile
10+	+15	“10 orders without issues”
5+	+10	“5 orders without issues”
3+	+5	(no reason text)
< 3	0	(no signal)

A separate +5 fires when net customer value (total order value minus refund value) is ≥ $1,000, reflected as “High customer value: $X”.

These bonuses stack with the Account Age bonus from the scoring engine. A customer with 10+ clean orders, $1,000+ net value, and 1+ year tenure gets +15 (Orders loyalty) + +5 (Orders value) + +15 (Age) = +35 cumulative positive contribution before any other signals.

Cancellation Penalties (Negative) #

Gated by an absolute count of 3+ cancelled orders, then thresholded on cancellation rate.

Trigger	Score	Reason Shown on Profile
3+ cancellations and rate ≥ 50%	-15	“High cancellation rate: 60%”
3+ cancellations and rate ≥ 30%	-10	“Elevated cancellation rate: 35%”
fewer cancellations or lower rate	0	(no signal)

The absolute-count gate suppresses false positives — one cancellation on three orders is a 33% rate but isn’t a pattern. Cancellation patterns are subtler than refund patterns. A customer placing many orders and cancelling some is sometimes shopping (placing to lock pricing, cancelling after comparison); sometimes manipulating (cancelling after a coupon has been applied to test it, then re-ordering); occasionally abusive (creating cancelled “test” orders to game inventory or loyalty programs).

---

What Counts as a Completed Order #

The Orders module counts orders with the WooCommerce completed status toward total_orders. Orders in processing, on-hold, pending, or cancelled states are tracked separately and do not count toward the loyalty bonus.

This means:

• A customer with 10 processing orders and 0 completed orders gets no loyalty bonus — they haven’t actually transacted with you yet
• A customer’s loyalty bonus can grow over time as processing orders move to completed
• Cancelled orders do not subtract from the loyalty count, but they do contribute to the cancellation rate

---

Settings #

Setting	Default	Description
Module enabled	On	Master toggle

The Orders module has no tunable thresholds — the loyalty tiers and cancellation rates are calibrated against typical e-commerce data and not exposed as settings. Customization is via the trustlens/score_signals filter for sites that need different behavior.

---

Common Patterns #

The Loyal Customer #

Signature: 10+ completed orders, near-zero cancellations, low refund rate.

Signals: Orders +15 (10+ clean orders), often + Orders +5 (high net value), Returns “Excellent return history” +10, Account Age +5 to +15.

Profile: Trusted to VIP segment. These are the customers you want to allowlist proactively.

The High-Volume B2B Customer #

Signature: 30+ orders, large order values, occasional cancellations from order edits.

Signals: Orders +15, possibly mild cancellation signal.

Profile: Usually Trusted. If cancellation rate edges over 20%, consider allowlisting to suppress the false positive.

The Order Manipulator #

Signature: Many orders, high cancellation rate, often correlated with coupon usage.

Signals: Orders cancellation signal -10 or -15, Coupons signals -10 to -25, sometimes Linked Accounts.

Profile: Caution to Risk. Pattern: place order with coupon, cancel, place again to test different coupons, etc.

The Slow-Burner #

Signature: 3–4 clean orders, no cancellations, low refund rate.

Signals: Orders +5 (3+ clean orders tier).

Profile: Normal to Trusted depending on Returns and Age. The 3-order tier exists so customers don’t need 5 clean orders to start accumulating recognition.

---

Interaction with Other Modules #

The Orders module is the denominator for many other module calculations:

• Returns module uses total_orders to compute return rate
• Coupons module uses order count to detect first-order coupon patterns
• Chargebacks module uses order count for per-customer ratio (disputes / orders)
• Linked Accounts module uses order count to weight which accounts in a link matter most

This is why even if you disabled the Orders module’s scoring, the underlying observation work continues — the data is foundational.

---

False-Positive Watch List #

• Restocking B2B customers. A wholesale buyer placing then cancelling orders to update quantities can trip the cancellation signal. Allowlist them — their behavior is operational, not abusive.
• Customers who use cart-saver tools. Some external apps create then immediately cancel orders. If your store integrates such tools, suppress the cancellation signal on those orders via a custom filter.
• Recent migrators. A customer migrated from another platform with 10 historical orders may not be marked complete in WooCommerce — they look like 0-order customers until Historical Sync correctly maps statuses.

---

Disabling the Module #

Disabling Orders is unusual but valid for stores that:

• Use the loyalty bonus from an external loyalty program and want to avoid double-counting
• Want only abuse-side signals contributing to scores, with no positive lift from order count

When disabled, no Orders signals fire, but order events are still observed — total_orders, last_order_date, etc. continue to update because other modules depend on them.

---

Reading the Orders Section of a Profile #

On the Customer Detail page:

• Signal breakdown shows one Orders signal (loyalty tier) and optionally a cancellation signal
• Stats panel shows total_orders, cancelled_orders, total_order_value, first/last order dates
• Event timeline shows each order_placed, order_completed, and order_cancelled event with the order ID and amount

The event timeline is the easiest way to spot patterns — clusters of cancellations, sudden spikes in order velocity, or long quiet periods between orders all show up visually.