CHAPTER 03

Frictionless experiences – Remove barriers to retention

Even the most engaged subscribers will churn if they hit roadblocks. A seamless journey — from sign-up to payment to subscription management — is essential for keeping customers around. Today’s consumers expect effortless interactions, and, per PwC, 73% say experience is a key factor in purchasing decisions, second only to price and product quality.

Loyalty isn’t just about having the best product — it’s about making life easier for your customers. According to Gartner, customer experience influences over two-thirds of customer loyalty, outweighing even brand reputation and cost. If a sign-up process is clunky, managing a subscription is a hassle, or payments aren’t intuitive, subscribers won’t stick around.

The solution? Remove friction at every touchpoint. From offering flexible payment options to ensuring self-service account management, businesses that prioritize ease and convenience create stronger, longer-lasting relationships. When the experience is smooth, subscribers stay — it’s that simple.

Strategies to create frictionless experiences

1. Build trust with smart fraud prevention

Friction doesn’t just come from clunky user experiences — it can also stem from security concerns. Customers expect seamless yet secure transactions, so businesses need to strike the right balance between fraud prevention and user convenience.

In fact, fraudulent transactions increased by 29% in 2024, mainly targeting the sign-up flow and credit/debit cards. As fraud risks grow, businesses are turning to alternative payment methods (APMs) to help mitigate this threat while also catering to consumer preferences — evidenced by a 19% year-over-year increase in APM usage.

When fraud goes unchecked, it can lead to increased chargebacks, higher operational costs, and damaged brand reputation — all of which contribute to subscriber churn. But overly rigid fraud prevention measures can frustrate legitimate customers, causing unnecessary friction in the signup and payment process. Thus, businesses need a dynamic fraud strategy that minimizes risk while keeping the subscriber experience smooth and uninterrupted.

RECURLY IN ACTION

With Recurly’s fraud management capabilities, powered by our trusted partner Kount, you can leverage AI-driven risk assessments and machine learning to detect suspicious activity while minimizing false declines. Every new card transaction undergoes real-time fraud screening before reaching the payment gateway, helping you prevent chargebacks and unauthorized payments. Customizable fraud rules and automated decision-making ensure businesses can fine-tune their protection without introducing unnecessary friction for legitimate subscribers. The result? Higher retention, lower churn, and a seamless, secure subscriber experience.

2. Minimize churn with proactive dunning

Nothing makes subscribers hit the "cancel" button faster than failed payments or rigid subscription controls. When payments don’t go through or subscriptions unexpectedly end, businesses lose more than just revenue — they lose trust. But here’s the thing: It doesn’t have to be this way. A smooth, proactive dunning strategy can keep those customers happy, loyal, and paying.

Churn happens when businesses don't stay ahead of payment issues. To keep subscribers on board, you need to be one step ahead — automatically recovering payments and keeping the lines of communication open. And the impact is massive: according to our State of Subscriptions, software subscription businesses pulled in over $141 million in recovered revenue through dunning, while digital media and entertainment reclaimed $79 million. Even consumer goods and publishing saw big wins, recovering $36 million and $10 million, respectively.

With self-service options, personalized payment retries, and the flexibility to handle different payment methods, you’ll make the process feel effortless. Subscribers expect that level of ease, and when you deliver, churn drops, and revenue climbs.

RECURLY IN ACTION

With Recurly’s dunning and churn management tools, you’ll recover failed payments like a pro. Our intelligent retry logic, custom dunning strategies, and automated reminders work tirelessly in the background to make sure you’re always one step ahead. Plus, with support for a variety of payment methods and currencies, your subscribers can pay the way that works best for them — no friction, no hassle, just seamless transactions. The result? Less churn, more retention, and a steady stream of revenue rolling in.

3. Effortless integrations for a unified experience

Subscribers don’t think about the backend systems powering their experience — they just expect everything to work. And when it doesn’t? Friction creeps in, frustration spikes, and retention takes a hit.

Seamless integrations are the secret weapon of a smooth subscription experience. Whether it's billing, customer support, analytics, or engagement tools, everything needs to sync effortlessly. If a subscriber reaches out with a billing issue, your support team should have real-time access to their account details — without switching between multiple systems or keeping the customer waiting. The faster and smoother the resolution, the better the experience.

A prime example of this is Paramount+'s record-breaking Super Bowl streaming success. With meticulous planning and integration across tech, data, and marketing, Paramount+ delivered a seamless experience for millions of new sign-ups. By personalizing the post-Super Bowl experience, guiding users to targeted content like “Halo” and “Tracker,” they were able to convert temporary free trials into long-term subscribers. The key to their success? An integrated system that not only delivered on the live event but also made it easy for new subscribers to continue engaging, creating a frictionless transition from one experience to the next.

But this isn’t just about speed — this is about creating a unified, personalized experience that keeps subscribers happy and engaged. A fully connected tech stack means:

Faster issue resolution: No more bouncing between platforms; support teams get the full picture in one place.
Personalized engagement: Targeted, data-driven interactions that feel natural and relevant.
Frictionless renewals and upgrades: With real-time insights, you can proactively offer better plans, incentives, or payment options before churn becomes a risk.

The bottom line? Businesses that integrate their subscription data across platforms like Zendesk, Salesforce, and custom APIs can resolve customer issues faster, reduce frustration, and improve satisfaction. When every touchpoint is connected, every interaction feels effortless.

RECURLY IN ACTION

Recurly’s powerful API and pre-built integrations make it easy to connect subscription data across your entire ecosystem. From customer support and analytics to engagement and retention strategies, Recurly keeps everything in sync — so subscribers can enjoy a seamless, hassle-free experience. Whether resolving billing inquiries, tracking subscription trends, or driving personalized engagement, Recurly helps businesses turn every interaction into a retention opportunity.

Merchant spotlight: Paramount+

When the Super Bowl rolled around in 2024, Paramount+ wasn’t just ready — they were primed for a record-breaking performance. With a 50% increase in streaming viewership and the largest single-day sign-ups in their history, they proved that frictionless experiences are a game-changer.

According to Yahoo Entertainment, Paramount+ eliminated the usual hurdles, offering new users an effortless sign-up process, personalized content, and timely engagement.

As the big game ended, millions of subscribers were smoothly transitioned to binge-worthy TV series like “Halo” and “Tracker,” all thanks to a perfectly executed lifecycle CRM strategy.

By focusing on seamless experiences from sign-up to content discovery, Paramount+ set a bold example of how removing friction fuels retention, engagement, and long-term success.

Read the full case study

sales@recurly.com

+1.844.732.8759

recurly.com