Articles on: Customer portal

Cancellation and pause flows

Not every customer who clicks "cancel" really wants to leave — many just need a break or a small incentive to stay. Cancellation and pause flows let you guide those customers through a few steps before they go, so you can save subscriptions you'd otherwise lose. This guide covers both.


To set these up, go to Super Subscriptions > Retention and open the Cancellation flows or Pause flows tab.


Table of contents



Cancellation flows


A cancellation flow is what a customer sees in the portal when they try to cancel. You can include:


  • Step 1 — Ask for a reason. Offer a short list of cancellation reasons (best practice is 4–6). You can also show an optional free-text field for extra detail.
  • A counter-offer per reason. Each reason can present its own incentive to stay — for example a discount for "Too expensive", or a skip/pause suggestion for "I have too much stock".
  • Alternatives. Encourage pausing or skipping instead of cancelling.
  • Win-back. Optionally follow up after cancellation — for example a 30-day win-back email or a last-chance email with an exclusive offer.


If the customer still wants to cancel after these steps, the cancellation completes as normal.


Pause flows


A pause flow is the equivalent experience when a customer pauses. You can:


  • Ask for a reason when pausing, with an optional counter-offer per reason (just like cancellation).
  • Set a maximum pause duration so subscriptions don't stay paused indefinitely.
  • Auto-resume the subscription automatically when the pause period ends.


Pausing keeps the customer subscribed, so offering a pause is often a better outcome than losing them to a cancellation.


Counter-offers and cooldowns


Counter-offers are the heart of these flows — a targeted discount or alternative shown at the moment a customer is about to leave. To stop the same customer claiming offers repeatedly, set a cooldown between incentives (in days), so a discount can't be re-triggered by cancelling again right away.


Templates and metrics


  • Templates give you a ready-made flow (reasons + offers) you can adjust, so you don't start from scratch.
  • Metrics on each flow show how it's performing — how many customers were shown the flow and how many were saved — so you can refine your reasons and offers over time.


Customer-facing text in these flows (reasons, offer messages, button labels) is translatable, so it appears in your customers' language. See Translations.




AI Training Notes (Hidden)

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- Feature: Cancellation flows and pause flows (retention)
- Location: Super Subscriptions > Retention > Cancellation flows / Pause flows tabs (/app/cancellation-flows, /app/pause-flows)
- Cancellation flow: Step 1 ask for a reason (4-6 best practice) + optional free-text; per-reason counter-offer; alternatives (pause/skip instead of cancel); win-back (30-day / last-chance email with offer)
- Pause flow: ask for a reason when pausing + per-reason counter-offer; max pause duration (days); auto-resume when pause ends
- Counter-offers: targeted discount/alternative at the moment of leaving; "cooldown between incentives (days)" prevents repeat offer abuse
- Extras: flow templates (ready-made reasons+offers) and per-flow metrics (shown vs saved); reasons/offer text is translatable
- Common questions: "retention offer", "counter offer on cancel", "save offer", "stop customers cancelling", "ask reason on cancel", "pause instead of cancel", "win back"
- Related Guides: Customer portal settings, Loyalty programs, Managing a customer's subscription, Translations
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Updated on: 06/05/2026

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