You added a subscribe-and-save button, set up the retention emails, picked a platform with good reviews. And your eCommerce subscription programme is still haemorrhaging customers, with no one entirely sure why.
Watch and listen to the episode
Matthew Holman is the founder of The Subscription Doc, a consultancy he built after years as a marketing co-founder at Autoship Cloud, a subscription app.
He’s worked with hundreds of brands on exactly this problem with eCommerce subscriptions, runs a weekly newsletter on subscription strategy, and has seen enough failing programmes to know where the mess usually hides.
eCommerce subscriptions aren’t a retention play. They’re a customer acquisition play.
The default framing is that subscriptions drive retention. Matthew’s framing is sharper: eCommerce subscriptions bake LTV into the acquisition equation before a customer even places their first order.
If a non-subscription customer costs £60 to acquire on a £50 order, you’re losing money upfront and hoping your retention marketing will make up for it. A subscriber, buying at a higher average order value and staying longer, changes the maths before you’ve sent a single win-back email.
That also matters when it comes to exits and investment. Buyers and investors want to see a strong LTV. Subscriptions are one of the clearest ways to demonstrate it.
The conversation about subscriptions usually starts with retention. It should start much earlier than that.
Your subscription offer strategy is doing more damage than your churn rate
Most brands offer a subscription option and keep the discount flat. 10% off, subscribe to save. Simple enough. Also wrong.
The issue isn’t the discount. It’s who it attracts: customers seeking savings will jump to any better offer. You’ve gained a subscriber, but not loyalty.
Matthew’s alternative: build subscription offers around value, not price. Create bundles with complementary products, bulk options with progressive savings, and gift-with-purchase offers.
“If you offer 30%, 40%, or 50% off to subscribe, those who find it compelling are just as likely to be drawn to any other enticing deal. They’ll leave.”
Offers don’t just get you more subscribers. The right offers get you better ones.
Your billing reminder is actively working against your subscription retention
Billing reminders are one of the most under-optimised touchpoints in any subscription programme, which is remarkable given how much work brands put into everything else.
A typical reminder reads like a bank statement: card charged, click for changes, box ticked. Legally, it’s complete, but commercially, it misses an opportunity to remind customers why they subscribed.
Matthew’s version leads with the customer’s reason for buying, their identity as someone who cares about this product, and what they’re getting as a subscriber. The transactional information is still in there, but it’s not the headline.
Reframe the reminder as a brand touchpoint, and you’ve turned an obligatory email into a retention tool.
Your subscription cancellation flow is probably your biggest missed opportunity
Most cancellation flows amount to a form, a guilt-trip dropdown, and a reluctant goodbye. A few brands have realised there’s a better approach: the founder.
If the founder already appears in ads and on the homepage, they should also appear at the cancellation moment. A short, authentic video that reminds the customer what the brand is about and how easy it is to pause or adjust rather than cancel outright. No heavy sales pitch. Just a human face at a high-stakes moment.
The numbers are significant. Matthew has seen save rates move from 6% to 8% up to 16% to 20% from this single addition to eCommerce subscription programmes.
That’s not a small CRO win. That’s a fundamental improvement to the programme’s economics, achievable with a phone, minimal editing, and a couple of hours.
Don’t let a bad platform experience send you platform shopping for subscription tools
The subscription tech landscape is crowded, and brands frequently assume a newer or shinier platform is the answer when the existing one isn’t performing.
Matthew’s advice is deliberately deflating: you’re probably not using what you have well enough to justify a migration. Subscription migrations are painful, time-consuming, and often trade one set of problems for another.
Before evaluating platforms, clarify your programme’s needs. A single-SKU store has different requirements than a catalogue brand, where customers often switch flavours and variants.
Tools like Zaymo (which enable interactive actions within Klaviyo emails) can add capabilities without touching your core platform. The question isn’t which platform is best, but what your programme needs that it currently lacks.
What to do right now
Go to thesubscriptiondoc.com and download the free cancellation video template. Upload it to ChatGPT with your brand information, get a one-minute script, and shoot it on your phone. Authentic beats polished here.
If your save rate is currently sitting at 5% to 8%, this one change could take it to 15% to 20%. It will take a couple of hours and cost nothing.
Next, review your billing reminder email immediately. Ask yourself honestly: Would this email convince you to stay subscribed? If not, update it now while your momentum is high.
Blatant plugs
Connect with Matthew Holman on LinkedIn.
The Subscription Doc — subscription strategy consultancy, weekly newsletter, and free resources, including the cancellation video template.
The gist
- Subscriptions are primarily about customer acquisition, not just retention, enhancing lifetime value (LTV) from the start.
- Your subscription offers should focus on value rather than discounts, attracting loyal customers instead of deal-seekers.
- Billing reminders should emphasize the customer’s reasons for subscribing, turning them into retention tools rather than mere notifications.
- Improve cancellation flows by featuring authentic founder videos, significantly increasing save rates and improving the program’s economics.
- Before switching platforms, assess your current subscription program’s needs and optimize usage to avoid painful migrations.
