Dose #190: The First Subscription Fixes I’d Make If I Only Had a Few Days

Matt here with your weekly Subscription Prescription 💊

There are a million things you could work on in any business, let alone an ecommerce one. With growth goals and retention needs, subscriptions can feel like something you set and forget. In this week’s dose, we dive into what I’d do with only a little time to work on and improve things: point of purchase, billing reminder, and cancel flows.

This week’s dose is also a full podcast episode where I run down in more detail what you should be focusing on in your subscription program. Take a watch or listen on your favorite program:

There’s Only So Much Time

When I audit subscription brands, I often see two things. One is that teams know there are opportunities everywhere but do not know where to start. The other is that they go after the hardest problems first and waste time when simple changes could have moved the needle faster.

If I only had a couple of days to improve a subscription program, here is what I would tackle first. These are the things that are relatively easy to implement and provide fast feedback so you know whether your changes are working.

1. Stop losing subscribers at the point of sale

Far too many subscription programs leak opportunity right where the customer makes their decision. The product page and cart are high-leverage, but brands treat subscriptions as a secondary choice.

The underlying problem is that most subscription experiences make the one-time option more appealing by default or hide the subscription option. This means subscribers never see the value you are offering or they miss the chance to subscribe entirely.

What I focus on first is making sure the subscription option is defaulted and visually prominent. If you are not defaulting to subscribe and save on your product pages, you are leaving easy revenue on the table. Even small design improvements like color changes or clearer copy can increase opt-in because customers understand that subscription is the primary way you want them to engage.

Then I move into the cart and checkout. If someone adds a one-time purchase, your cart should upsell the subscription option. Many subscription platforms have one-click upsell tools that allow you to show the subscriber benefits before they complete the order. This is low-hanging fruit that often produces a lift in opt-in immediately.

2. Turn billing reminders into engagement opportunities

Most brands send billing reminders as transactional notifications. Essentially, they say this is about to charge. Transactional emails are fine for confirmations, but when you are reminding someone about a renewal, there is a deeper opportunity.

The problem here is that subscribers often forget why they bought in the first place or lose sight of the value during the subscription lifecycle. If the only message they see before a renewal is that they are being charged, that contributes to churn rather than retention.

Instead, I recommend rewriting your billing reminder to reinforce value. Talk about what the subscriber signed up for. Remind them of the benefits they are getting. If your product helps with a specific outcome, tap into that narrative. Consider including a delay option in the email so subscribers can manage their next delivery without canceling outright. This reduces churn and keeps them on the program.

One approach I use often is to borrow a little lifestyle branding in these emails. If your product supports a goal, weave in that theme. You can do this with words alone or with a simple asset you create on a design platform. The result is an email that feels like support rather than a charge notice.

3. Fix your cancellation flow so you learn and retain more

Cancellation flows are one of the richest sources of insights in a subscription program. Yet many brands treat it as just a form with a drop-down of reasons. This misses two things. One is the feedback loop that tells you why people leave. The other is the opportunity to save the subscription.

People cancel for different reasons. Sometimes they have too much product, sometimes it is a pricing issue, and sometimes they are unsure they are getting the results they hoped for. If you treat all cancellations the same, you miss the chance to respond with the right retention action.

The first step is to analyze the reasons people give. Then I respond in a targeted way. If someone has too much product, offer a skip or delay option. If someone questions value, provide a more aggressive discount. You can test different save offers and learn which ones work most often.

Another tactic I use is a splash screen before the cancel button. This can include a short video or quick message from the founder reminding the subscriber why they joined and the impact the product can have. This personal touch can have a surprisingly strong effect on save rates.

Bottom line

If you only have a short time to improve your subscription experience, start where you can get fast feedback and clear wins. Make subscription the obvious choice at checkout. Turn billing reminders into value reminders. And rework your cancellation flow so it teaches you and gives you a chance to save subscribers.

These are the fixes I start with in an audit because they are actionable, measurable, and often move renewal rates quickly.

Until next Tuesday, that’s your Subscription Prescription. 💊

 - Matt Holman 🩺

The Subscription Doc