Service engagement

Subscription program overhaul

An 8–12 week focused engagement that lifts active subscription % from a stalled 8–14% to a healthy 18–24% — without switching apps.

Talk to a specialist

The subscription program overhaul is the engagement we run most often. It’s designed for $5M–$25M Shopify Plus brands whose subscription program is technically live but flatlining on active sub %, with a clear structural cause (over-discount, weak cancel flow, sub-silo, missing onboarding).

The engagement is intentionally narrow: a single named outcome (lift active sub % by 4–8 points in two quarters), a fixed scope (audit + restructure + rebuild), and a defined exit point. It is not "ongoing subscription operations" — that’s an in-house function. This is the focused rebuild that creates the foundation for that ongoing function to compound.

What it includes

  • Week 1–2 audit: cohort retention curves, active-sub % decomposition, cancel-flow walkthrough, save-the-cancel sequence review, customer-portal review, Klaviyo onboarding-flow review, sub-silo check, app-pricing review.
  • Week 2 diagnosis: named binding constraints (typically 2 of the 5 structural causes), measurement plan, success criteria, exit plan.
  • Weeks 3–8 build: tightened discount band rolled out for new customers, customer-portal restructure (skip-first, save-the-cancel sequence), 3-email first-90-day onboarding flow in Klaviyo, sub-silo elimination on PDPs, save sequence with branch flows for skip / swap / pause / credit.
  • Weeks 9–10 launch + monitor: new customer cohort on the rebuilt flow, soft re-engage campaign to existing subscribers with the new onboarding nurture (where relevant).
  • Weeks 11–12 measurement + handoff: first-90-day churn cohort comparison, active-sub % trajectory model, written runbook for in-house team to continue iterating.

Who it fits

  • Brands at $5M–$25M GMV with a subscription program live for 12+ months.
  • Active sub % stuck under 15% for two-plus quarters.
  • At least 0.5 FTE in-house on retention to own the handoff.
  • Sub-revenue is meaningful enough that a 4–8 point lift is worth a six-figure engagement.
  • Not the right fit for brands without a live subscription program (the launch is a different engagement) or for brands at $50M+ where the in-house team should own this directly.

Cost

$45K–$95K fixed-fee, depending on team size and complexity

Timeline

8–12 weeks end-to-end, with the in-house team taking over operations at week 11

Frequently asked questions

What if the audit finds the binding constraint is the app, not the structure?
It happens in ~15% of audits — usually when the brand is on Bold or a very early-version Recharge install and the platform genuinely can’t express the needed flow. In that case the engagement scope changes (or the engagement ends) and we recommend a separate app-migration engagement before the structural rebuild.
Can you guarantee the 4–8 point lift in active sub %?
No, but the engagement is structured so that the measurement is honest. The success criteria are first-90-day churn improvement in the new-customer cohort (lands in 60 days) and active sub % trajectory (lands in 9–12 months). If first-90-day churn doesn’t improve in the new-customer cohort, the engagement is treated as a partial result and we name what to do next.
How is this different from hiring a Klaviyo agency?
Klaviyo agencies build the flows; this engagement diagnoses and restructures the full subscription program (portal, discount, save-the-cancel, sub-silo) and then ships the Klaviyo flows as one piece of the rebuild. Klaviyo-only agencies typically can’t move active sub % by themselves because the binding constraint is rarely the Klaviyo flows.
What does the engagement leave behind?
A written runbook documenting the structural decisions made (discount band, cancel-flow architecture, onboarding sequence), the measurement plan with KPIs and cohort definitions, the Klaviyo flow library, and a 90-day post-launch iteration plan. The in-house team owns operations from week 11 onward.