Offer retention discounts

Retention discounts are discount offers sent via email to members that cancel their subscription. Using retention discounts to re-engage churning members is a strategic approach that offers a compelling reason for members to renew while acknowledging their previous support.

Operator covers how retention discounts can keep members engaged with your membership by offering incentives to stay when they might otherwise cancel. These targeted discounts help reduce churn and extend the lifetime value of your customers. Check out our guide for best practices, including discounts and types of incentives!

In this help doc:

• Learn how Memberful retention discounts work.
• Enable retention discounts.
• Set up a retention discount.
• Edit a retention discount.
• How does a member receive a retention discount?
• How does a member apply a retention discount?
• Track retention discount usage.
• What happens to a retention discount if a member cancels?
• Can members apply a coupon and a retention discount to the same subscription?

Learn how Memberful retention discounts work

Memberful allows you to send out win-back offers to members who canceled their subscriptions. These offers come in the form of a discount that they can apply to their member subscription before it expires. This discount operates almost exactly like a coupon, except that it will be applied automatically, so no coupon code is needed.

You have full freedom to choose the discount amount and the rules required to be eligible for the discount.

Enable retention discounts

Retention discounts are off by default. Navigate to Revenue → Retention. Click Enable retention discounts and save the settings.

Click the custom retention discount email link to edit the email template we deliver with your offer.

If you send yourself a test email, we use a 10% retention discount and 0 months as test data. Real emails will use real numbers for your members.

Set up a retention discount

To qualify for a retention discount, a member needs to have met the rules you've set in your discount settings.

To create a discount, navigate to Revenue → Retention, and click Add discount settings.

1. Select the eligible plans that will unlock this reward.
2. Enter a value for the minimum active time in months.
3. Enter a discount amount and select % or $ discount.
4. Select the discount type and click Create discount.

• One-time: Applied once, then removed (the member will pay full price for future renewals).
• Recurring: Applied to a subscription indefinitely (unless removed by staff).
• Limited: Applied to a subscription a limited number of times, then removed. (If applied at checkout, includes initial purchase and renewals.)

You can then view all your rules in your Retention discounts table:

Edit a retention discount

To edit a retention discount, click the Edit button.

When editing an existing discount, you will also be able to disable or delete it.

How does a member receive a retention discount

Our retention discount email will be sent to members who are eligible for these discounts one hour after they cancel a subscription.

If a member cancels and is not eligible for a discount, they will receive the subscription canceled email template 2 days later.

How does a member apply a retention discount

The email your member receives will include a link to redeem the discount. If they click and accept the offer, their subscription will resume with that discount applied.

Track retention discount usage

The statistics button for each discount displays a counter of how many members have applied the discount.

Click the button to see a report of all the members who have had your retention discount applied to their subscriptions.

What happens to a retention discount if a member cancels?

The retention discount will only apply the rules while the current subscription is active. If the member lets their current subscription expire before applying the discount, the offer expires with it.

If a member reaches out to request a replacement retention discount to renew their subscription, you can create a coupon and apply the code.

Can members apply a coupon and a retention discount to the same subscription?

Yes! Members can simultaneously apply their retention discount along with any existing coupons or referral discounts.

Related help docs:

• Learn how to create a coupon to discount subscriptions.
• Grow your community with member referrals.