Subscription retention and dunning
Recover failed Shopify subscription payments and reduce avoidable cancellations
Protect recurring revenue by responding to payment failures and changing customer needs. Anchor Subscriptions brings failed-payment review and flexible subscription actions into your daily work.
Built for
- Failed recurring payments
- Customers with excess product
- Delivery timing changes
- Reviewing prepaid renewals
01Failed renewals
Understand the failure before retrying.
A declined payment does not always mean a customer wants to leave. Review the failure details and payment status to decide whether a retry or a customer update is the useful next step.
- Review failure details, retry counts, and next retry times.
- Retry billing from the admin when appropriate.
- Track the recovery status for the subscription.
02Customer choice
Offer a useful alternative when plans change.
Too much product or an inconvenient delivery date can lead to cancellation. A skip, pause, or reschedule option may better match what the customer needs.
- Offer a skip when the next delivery is too soon.
- Use a pause when the customer needs a longer break.
- Keep cancellation available and review configured save options.
03Recovery review
Check whether the payment problem is resolved.
Treat a recovery attempt as work to verify. A retry can still fail, and prepaid renewals need to be distinguished from deliveries that have already been paid for.
- Review the result after a retry.
- Help customers update payment details when needed.
- Check subscription status and billing history together.
Questions
Payment recovery and retention: common questions
How do I recover failed recurring subscription payments on Shopify?
Review the failed billing attempt in Anchor Subscriptions to understand the problem. Use the available retry controls or help the customer update payment details when needed, then check the result. A retry does not guarantee payment and should not be confused with an already-paid prepaid delivery.
What is subscription dunning?
Dunning is the process of following up on failed subscription payments. It can include reviewing the failure, retrying payment, contacting the customer, and helping them update payment details.
Does payment recovery guarantee a successful charge?
No. A retry can still fail. Recovery depends on the payment method and the reason for the failure. Review the result of each attempt and help the customer when an update is needed.
Anchor for Shopify