The 8 Signals Shopify Uses to Flag Your Store for Suspension

Shopify's Trust & Safety team does not operate on gut feel. They use a combination of automated monitoring and human review triggered by specific data thresholds. Understanding the 8 primary signals they track gives you a clear picture of where your risk is concentrated, and what to fix first.

This is the most heavily weighted signal. Shopify's internal threshold is approximately 1% of total orders over a rolling window. If you're above 0.6%, you are in the warning zone. Above 1%, you face an immediate risk of payment restrictions or account suspension.

It's measured by dividing chargebacks filed by total orders processed. Note that this is calculated on order count, not revenue.

A refund rate above 10% signals potential issues with product quality, misleading listings, or fulfillment. While refunds themselves don't count as chargebacks, a high refund rate is a leading indicator. It means customers are unhappy enough to ask for their money back, and a percentage of them will likely escalate to chargebacks if the refund process is difficult.

Sudden spikes in your refund rate, even from a low baseline, can trigger a review because they often indicate a fulfillment problem affecting a specific batch of orders.

Shopify monitors the average time between order placement and tracking number upload. Consistently exceeding 5 business days without tracking information is a risk signal. This is particularly relevant for dropshippers using overseas suppliers.

The issue isn't just policy; slow fulfillment with no tracking is the primary driver of 'item not received' chargebacks, which in turn drives up your chargeback rate.

Shopify looks at the percentage of your fulfilled orders that have a valid tracking number uploaded. They expect near-100% tracking coverage for physical goods. Orders fulfilled without tracking numbers are nearly impossible to defend in chargeback disputes; you will often lose automatically.

Even if your carrier provides tracking, if you aren't uploading that number to the Shopify order, it counts as untracked from Shopify's perspective.

A sudden spike in order volume, even from legitimate marketing, can trigger Shopify's fraud detection systems. If your store goes from 20 orders per day to 500 orders per day over a weekend, the automated system flags it for human review.

This catches actual fraud rings, but also legitimate viral moments. If you expect a significant volume spike (a product going viral, a major sale, a press mention), proactively contacting Shopify Support beforehand can prevent an automated hold.

Shopify scans active product listings for language that violates their Acceptable Use Policy, primarily medical claims, prohibited product categories, and trademark infringement. A single listing containing flagged language can trigger a review of your entire account.

This scan runs continuously, so a product description you update today could be flagged tomorrow. Descriptions imported directly from suppliers are the most common source of these unintentional violations.

The name, address, and banking information on your Shopify account should match your payment processor records. Mismatches, even innocent ones from a business restructuring or legal name change, are a significant risk signal because they're also indicators of fraud.

If you've changed your business entity, moved, or updated banking information recently, verify that all of your account details are consistent across Shopify, your payment processor, and your bank.

Operating multiple Shopify stores under the same owner, payment method, or device fingerprint is allowed, but if one store has elevated risk metrics, that risk is factored into the evaluation of your other stores. A suspension on one store can trigger a review of all associated stores.

This is particularly relevant for agencies managing multiple client stores or entrepreneurs with several Shopify businesses. Keep risk metrics clean across all stores because a problem on one reflects on all of them.

Shopify doesn't evaluate these signals in isolation; they are combined into a holistic picture of account health. A store with a 0.8% chargeback rate and excellent fulfillment metrics is lower risk than a store with a 0.5% chargeback rate, poor fulfillment, and keyword violations.

Reinstate calculates a 0 to 100 Health Score using all 8 signals, weighted by the same risk factors Shopify uses internally. When any signal enters a danger zone, you get an instant alert with a specific recommended action rather than a generic warning.