David's Bridal Taps Forter to Evolve its Enterprise Fraud Platform, Completing an Unprecedented Six-Day Implementation Together

Accelerating its digital transformation and AI-powered commerce, David's Bridal increases approval rate to 99.78% in first two weeks

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Forter, the AI decisioning Platform for the future of commerce, and David's Bridal, Inc. ("David's"), North America's largest bridal and occasion retailer and Pearl, its AI-powered wedding planning and marketplace platform, connecting couples with everything they need for life's magical moments, today announced the successful deployment of Forter's fraud prevention platform in just six days.

The deployment is the latest step in David's "Aisle to Algorithm" transformation, which is expanding the company beyond traditional retail through Pearl, its digital wedding ecosystem spanning AI-powered planning, inspiration, vendor discovery, content and commerce. This milestone reflects David's continued technology transformation and commitment to delivering a faster, more seamless guest experience. Within the first two weeks of launch, David's achieved a 99.78% approval rate, improving authorization performance while reducing unnecessary friction for legitimate guests.

Implementation speed was made possible by Forter's seamless integrations––which make it easy for merchants to onboard quickly––the expertise of David's IT team, and the strategic partnership of Chief Digital Agency (CDA). CDA helped David's through vendor selection and served as a trusted partner to keep the implementation on track from day one. Forter also offers an AI Integration Agent and an AI coding kit that turn manual implementation into a streamlined workflow. Together, they accelerate speed-to-value and deliver three-times faster integrations, on average.

The deployment reflects David's broader strategy of modernizing its commerce infrastructure, enabling the company to rapidly adopt best-in-class technologies that improve David's guest experience while accelerating business performance. David's operates in one of commerce's most nuanced fraud environments. Bridal purchasing behavior, including guests who are one-time or infrequent purchasers, multiple shipping addresses tied to a single billing address and freight forwarders, can look like fraud to systems trained on conventional retail signals.

As part of its ongoing "Aisle to Algorithm" digital transformation, David's Bridal is building a more seamless and intelligent digital ecosystem that helps guests move confidently from discovery and planning to shopping and purchase. At the center of that evolution is Pearl by David's, its growing digital planning and commerce ecosystem designed to connect couples with the tools, inspiration, vendors and products they need throughout their wedding journey. Investments in the underlying commerce infrastructure, including Forter, help David's create a more seamless experience as guests move across that ecosystem—from planning and discovery to checkout—while increasing approval rates and reducing unnecessary friction along the way.

Forter was selected for its accuracy in distinguishing fraud from the legitimate edge cases that define complex commerce categories like bridal. Its AI draws on a network of two billion shoppers and nearly one million merchants to make confident decisions on limited-history, high-value transactions. On average, merchants that switch to Forter see a 46% reduction in false declines, with 99% of decisions delivered within one second.

"Every technology investment we make starts with one objective: creating a better experience for our guests while building a more agile business," said Scott Saeger, Chief Technology Officer at David's Bridal. "As we continue transforming our technology ecosystem, we are grateful for partners like Forter and CDA, who can move at the speed our "Aisle to Algorithm" strategy demands. Our teams worked together to execute this implementation in days, not months –– the immediate improvement in approval rates demonstrates what's possible when modern technology is paired with strong, collaborative execution."

"We work with retailers every day that are ready to make a change but held back by the assumption that switching vendors means months of disruption," said Jenna Flateman Posner, CEO, Chief Digital Agency. "David's Bridal immediately proved that assumption wrong. With the right technology partners, such as Forter, David's has shown that impact on the top and bottom line can be almost immediate."

"Retailers often assume that replacing vendors means months of roadmap disruption and revenue risk," said Jennifer Howard, Chief Merchant, Forter. "David's Bridal rewrote that playbook, and the results are proof for every retailer still on the sidelines: going live in six days and seeing results in weeks is possible when you have the right team and tech in place. We're thrilled about what's next for this partnership."

For more information about Forter's work with other market-leading companies, visit: www.forter.com/customers.

About Forter

Forter delivers AI decisions built for the commerce moments that matter. Powered by a network of 2 billion shoppers, our AI makes instant trust decisions from sign-up to checkout to returns — so every good customer always gets the experience they deserve. Nordstrom, Instacart, Priceline, and nearly 1 million businesses trust Forter to keep the right customers coming back. Zero friction for the customers who matter. No revenue left behind. Learn more at Forter.com.

About David's Bridal

With over 75 years of experience dressing people for all of life's special occasions, David's Bridal exists for magical moments. Since its "Aisle to Algorithm" strategic pivot, David's has evolved from iconic bridal retailer to wedding technology company, media powerhouse, and marketplace platform transforming how people plan, shop, and celebrate life's biggest moments. From assuming full production of Vera Wang Bride to launching Diamonds & Pearls, a curated couture boutique experience, David's entrance into this new era marks a pivotal moment for retailers going beyond traditional scopes and expanding into new categories.

At the center of David's technological and retail evolution is Pearl by David's, Pearl Planner and Pearl Media Network - the all-in-one digital wedding destination connecting consumers with everything from AI-powered planning tools, inspiration and vendor directories, expanded retail categories and leading content, while enabling brands to tap into David's unmatched market reach to authentically connect with consumers through media across the web, social, podcast, streaming, video, in-store and more.

Under the Pearl Media umbrella is Love Stories by David's, the top wedding media brand taking a digital-first approach to wedding content and inspiration with over 20M viewers per month across content platforms, including the wedding industry's sole podcast network, streaming TV and Snap Discover channels, and largest YouTube and TikTok channels, and a library of over 30,000 real wedding videos. Each video comes equipped with wedding data and details, contributing to a marketplace of over 60,000 wedding professionals to help couples better dream about, research, and plan their big day.

With more than 190 stores across the US, Canada, and franchise locations in Mexico, David's Bridal offers the convenience of one-stop shopping for every magical event in her life, including weddings, Quinceañera, graduations, proms, communions, or simply making the world her runway and beyond. To learn more about David's, sign up for Pearl Planner, and connect on social media through Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, X, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

About CDA

Chief Digital Agency (CDA) is a retail-focused digital consultancy that helps brands turn complex technology investments into measurable business outcomes. Working at the intersection of retailers and technology providers, CDA brings executive leadership and hands-on expertise across digital strategy, platform selection, transformation roadmaps, implementation oversight, and AI readiness. From defining the right strategy to ensuring successful execution, CDA serves as an extension of its clients' teams, aligning stakeholders, managing partners, reducing risk, and accelerating growth.

SOURCE Forter, Inc.