Skip to main content

Cancellation Policy and Retention Management

🔧 Enabling Cancellation or Pause Options

To get started, navigate to your Customer Portal settings and then to Configuration. In the Subscription Management section, you'll find these options:

  • Allow customers to cancel subscriptions ❌

  • Allow customers to pause subscriptions ⏸️

Turning on Allow customers to cancel subscriptions gives your customers the ability to cancel their subscriptions, while turning on Allow customers to pause subscriptions allows them to pause their subscriptions. The same settings are also in More → Retention Management → Advanced Configuration.

📝 Cancellation Policy

The Cancellation Policy is available within each subscription plan and can be set differently for each subscription frequency, giving you full control over your customer's ability to cancel.

If you would like to modify the Cancellation Policy for your subscription plans, you can do so by following these steps:

  1. Navigate to Subscription Plan → Edit (next to the subscription plan)

  2. Then click Edit (next to the desired subscription frequency)

  3. Scroll down to the Policies section

By default, customers can cancel their subscriptions at any time after their first order. This means they can purchase once and cancel immediately.

If you want to change this, you can adjust the Cancellation Policy setting. The value you choose represents the minimum number of required orders before a customer can cancel their subscription.

For example, setting it to 4 orders means customers can only cancel their subscription after the fourth order has been processed.

⚙️ Minimum Order Settings

To further control your customers' subscriptions, you can use the Minimum Order Settings. These can be found under Customer Portal → Configuration, and also in Retention Management → Advanced Configuration:

  • Lock subscriptions until the minimum number of orders 🛑
    Turning this on prevents customers from changing their subscription until it has reached the minimum number of orders in its plan's Cancellation Policy.

  • Allow discount codes while locked
    Turning this on lets customers apply discount codes while their subscription is locked.

  • Allow product swaps while locked 🔄
    Turning this on lets customers swap products in their subscription while it is locked.

The two settings under the lock appear once the lock is turned on.

🛠️ Retention Management

For more control over your customers' ability to cancel their subscription, navigate to More → Retention Management and open the Cancellation tab. This will open the following screen:

🚫 Direct

If you select Direct as how customers cancel, customers can cancel their subscriptions easily by clicking Cancel Subscription in their customer portal. They will be prompted for a final confirmation to complete the cancellation, or they can click Keep my subscription. 🛑

💬 Retention offers (Recommended)

This is Appstle's recommended cancellation flow type. Enabling this option allows you to configure various messages and prompts to engage your customers before they cancel. The goal is to either capture their reason for cancellation or offer incentives, such as discounts, to keep the subscription active. 🎯

Here are the retention offers that you can provide to customers as part of the cancellation flow:

  1. ❌ No offer – Continue to cancel

    • Description: Customers can continue with the cancellation process without any additional retention offers.

  2. 💸 Offer Discount – Reduce price temporarily

    • Description: This option offers customers a temporary price reduction as an incentive to keep their subscription active. Discounts are a great way to retain customers.

  3. 🔄 Swap Products – Change subscription items

    • Description: Allows customers to change the items in their subscription, giving them the flexibility to customize their subscription.

  4. 🎁 Gift Subscription – Send it to a new recipient

    • Description: Let customers gift their subscription by changing the shipping address, enabling them to send the subscription to someone else.

  5. ⏳ Skip Next Order – Delay upcoming delivery

    • Description: Customers can delay the next delivery without canceling their subscription, providing them with more control over their delivery schedule.

  6. ⏸️ Pause Subscription – Temporarily stop deliveries

    • Description: This option allows customers to pause their subscription for a set period, stopping deliveries without ending the subscription entirely.

  7. 📅 Change Delivery Date – Reschedule next order

    • Description: Customers can reschedule their next delivery, allowing them to adjust the timing to better suit their needs.

  8. 🏠 Update Address – Modify shipping location

    • Description: Allows customers to update their shipping address, ensuring their subscription is delivered to the correct location.

  9. 🔁 Update Frequency – Change delivery schedule

    • Description: Lets customers change the frequency of their deliveries (e.g., from weekly to monthly), offering them more flexibility in their subscription.

📝 Custom instructions (Text or HTML)

With Custom instructions, you can customize the message that will be shown to customers when they attempt to cancel. For example:

"To cancel the subscription, please reach out to our support desk."
This message will guide customers through the cancellation process according to your preferences.

🤝 Need Help?

Have questions or need assistance with any subscription settings?

Our experts are available 24×7×365 to help you.

📧 Email: support@appstle.com

💬 Live Chat: Message us anytime through the chat widget in our app.
​

Did this answer your question?