3. Four subscription expectations ecommerce merchants must get right

Ecommerce subscription businesses are constantly adapting to evolving consumer demands. The prompts are almost always flexibility, personalization, and seamless experiences. Recurly's analysis reveals four critical expectations merchants must fulfill to drive retention and profitability.

01.

Diversified plan structures

Flexibility has emerged as a cornerstone of subscription success. For consumer goods and retail specifically, 54% of merchants offer both monthly and annual options, reflecting the sector's work to dovetail customer preferences with inventory and fulfillment logistics.

"Offering monthly and annual plans is a critical strategy for aligning with subscribers' need for flexibility and helps drive increased acquisition for subscription businesses," says Priya Lakshminarayanan, Chief Product Officer at Recurly.

The data supports this approach, with a 25.7% increase in ramp pricing adoption year over year as merchants experiment with creative pricing strategies.

"Offering monthly and annual plans is a critical strategy for aligning with subscribers' need for flexibility and helps drive increased acquisition for subscription businesses."

— Priya Lakshminarayanan, Chief Product Officer at Recurly

Year-over-year increase in subscription pause usage in consumer goods and retail, generating over $200 million from returning subscribers — 2025 State of Subscriptions, Recurly

"Flexibility in plan structures is just the beginning of personalization," explains Rachel Sheriff, Chief Customer Officer at Recurly. "The most successful subscription merchants extend personalization across the entire customer journey — from tailored product recommendations based on behavior to exclusive early-access content that makes

subscribers feel valued, to customized communications that anticipate needs. When combined with loyalty rewards that acknowledge tenure, this comprehensive approach to personalization transforms transactions into relationships."

02.

Payment and pricing optimization

Traditional payment methods can create significant barriers to subscription success. According to Recurly's research, debit cards show a troubling 48.2% sign-up decline rate and 15% fraud-based declines. Credit cards perform only marginally better, with 16.7% fraud-based declines.

Alternative payment methods (APMs) like e-wallets, bank transfers, local payment cards, and buy-now-pay-later services demonstrate significantly lower fraud rates, at just 1.4%. In tandem, the growing adoption of digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay has increased usage from 0.6% to 2.2% year over year. These secure, tokenized payment solutions reduce fraud and streamline the checkout experience, both of which are critical factors in subscription conversion and retention.

03.

Subscription pausing

Offering pause options has become an essential retention strategy, with consumer goods and retail seeing a 54% year-over-year increase in subscription pause usage. Recurly’s recent report shows more than $200 million was generated from subscribers who re-subscribed after pausing across industries.

"Offering the option to pause subscriptions enables merchants to maintain the customer relationship, providing opportunities to fine-tune messaging, rebuild loyalty, and offer tailored promotions during the pause period," notes Mary Rosberg, VP Growth Evangelist at Recurly. "This strategy mitigates immediate revenue loss and enhances long-term customer satisfaction and retention."

According to a BizBot report, offering a subscription pause retains 51.7% of customers who might otherwise cancel permanently. Bottom line: Customer needs fluctuate. In response, providing a temporary off-ramp preserves the relationship's long-term value.

04.

Loyalty programs

Loyalty initiatives have become essential subscription components. Nearly 60% of consumers value rewards and loyalty points. Moreover, more than 70% actively recommend brands with strong loyalty programs.

Recurly's data reveals that 70% of subscribers would reconsider canceling if loyalty incentives such as discounts or rewards were offered. The impact of well-designed loyalty programs is clear.

Tactical takeaways: Plans, payments, pausing, programs

Ecommerce subscription merchants can implement several tactical approaches as follows:

Create flexible subscription controls with seamless plan-switching capabilities. Introduce prominent pause options with varying durations (one to three months), seasonal skip options aligned with product usage patterns, and just-this-once delivery-skipping.
Strengthen loyalty programs through tiered membership levels (bronze to platinum, for example) based on tenure or spending. Escalate benefits across tiers, offer exclusive subscriber-only products, and create achievable short-term rewards—i.e., Free Gift with Your 10th Box activations. And don’t forget referral rewards.
Diversify payment options by implementing Apple Pay, PayPal, and buy-now-pay-later options, segmenting offerings by region, prominently featuring alternatives during checkout, and creating campaigns to update outdated payment information.
Experiment with dynamic pricing by testing introductory 25–40% discounts for the first three months. Offer product bundles and create hybrid models, including one-time add-ons to base subscriptions. Anniversary pricing also rewards longevity.

By mastering these four expectations, ecommerce subscription merchants can significantly improve retention metrics and drive sustainable growth in 2025 and beyond.

Percentage of consumers who value rewards and loyalty points as part of their shopping experience

— FinancesOnline, 2025

Percentage who will actively recommend brands with strong loyalty programs

— FinancesOnline, 2025

sales@recurly.com

+1.844.732.8759

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