Offer retention discounts

Retention discounts are automatic offers presented to members who cancel their subscription. These can appear in-app during the cancellation flow or be sent via email shortly after. These discounts provide an incentive to renew while acknowledging the member’s prior support. This article covers how to enable, customize, and manage retention discounts, as well as how members receive and apply them.

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Learn how Memberful retention discounts work

Memberful allows you to send out win-back offers to members who cancel their subscriptions. These offers can be delivered in two ways:

• In-app: shown directly in the cancellation confirmation step.
• Email: sent automatically after cancellation.

You can use either channel on its own, or enable both for the best chance to re-engage a member. If both are enabled, the in-app offer is shown first, and members who decline it will still receive the email one hour later. Retention discounts work like coupons, except they apply automatically—no code needed. You have full freedom to choose the discount amount and the eligibility rules.

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Enable retention discounts

Retention discounts are off by default. Go to Revenue → Retention. You’ll see options to enable Email, In-app, or Both. New accounts start with both channels off. Existing accounts that already use retention discounts will have the email channel active and in-app turned off until you enable it. If you enable the email option, click the Customize the retention discount email link to edit the email template that accompanies your offer. If you send yourself a test email, we use a 10% retention discount and 0 months as test data. In live emails, your members will see the real discount amount and duration.

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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, go to Revenue → Retention, then 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 the retention discounts table:

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Edit a retention discount

To edit a retention discount, click Edit next to the discount you want to change in the retention discounts table. When editing an existing discount, you will also be able to disable or delete it.

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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, assuming it’s enabled.

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How does a member apply a retention discount?

• In-app: If enabled, eligible members will see the discount during the cancellation confirmation screen. They can accept the offer instantly before finalizing cancellation.
• Email: If enabled, the retention discount email will be sent to eligible members one hour after cancellation.

If both channels are enabled and the member ignores the in-app offer, they’ll still receive the email version later. If a member cancels and is not eligible for a discount, they will instead receive the subscription canceled email template two days later, assuming it’s enabled.

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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. Reports also include a Channel column so you can see whether redemptions came via in-app or email, and you can filter results by channel.

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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.

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

Members can simultaneously apply their retention discount along with any existing coupons or referral discounts. Related help docs:

• Create a coupon to discount subscriptions.
• Grow your community with member referrals.