Retention Emails
Automated emails that reduce churn — renewal reminders, grace and last-day notices, win-back campaigns and a cancellation survey, sent by the scheduler.
On this page
Where to find it: SubscriptionFlow → Email Center → Retention.
What this does
Unlike the transactional emails (which fire on an event), retention emails are sent by a daily scheduler that looks for subscriptions in a particular time window and emails the customer once.
| Sent | |
|---|---|
| Renewal Reminder — 30 / 14 / 7 / 3 / 1 day | The matching number of days before renewal/expiry |
| Grace Period Ending | ~3 days before a grace period ends |
| Last Day Before Deactivation | The final day before access is removed |
| Win Back After 7 Days | 7 days after a subscription ended |
| Win Back After 30 Days | 30 days after a subscription ended |
| Cancellation Survey | A few days after a cancellation |
| Sorry To See You Go | Immediately when a subscription is cancelled |
Each reminder is independent — enable only the offsets you want (for example, just 7‑day and 1‑day).
How to use it
- SubscriptionFlow → Email Center → Retention (Pro).
- Click Edit on Renewal Reminder (7 days).
- Enable it; use
{days_remaining},{plan},{expires_at},{dashboard_url}in the body. - Preview, Send test, Save Email.
- Enable any other offsets and campaigns you want.
The scheduler runs automatically each day via WordPress cron. Sending is de‑duplicated — a customer receives each reminder once per renewal cycle, even if the scheduler runs more than once.
Tips & Best Practices
-
Don’t enable all five reminders. Two or three (e.g. 7‑day and 1‑day) are usually enough and avoid fatigue.
-
Make win‑back emails inviting, with a clear reactivate link (
{dashboard_url}). -
Keep the cancellation survey short — a single question gets more replies.
-
On large stores, sending is batched per run; remaining customers are handled on the next daily run.
-
Make sure WordPress cron is working (a real cron trigger on high‑traffic or headless sites) so scheduled emails go out on time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the Retention tab greyed out / showing an upgrade notice?
Retention automation is a Pro feature. It appears once a Pro license is active.
Will a customer get five reminder emails?
Only for the offsets you enable, and each sends once per cycle. Enable just the ones you want.
Do reminders send for auto‑renewing subscriptions too?
Yes — they’re helpful even then (“your plan renews in 7 days”). Disable any you don’t want.
When exactly do they send?
On the daily scheduled run, when a subscription enters the matching window. Timing depends on your site’s cron.
Can I change the day offsets (e.g. 10 days)?
The offsets are fixed per template (30/14/7/3/1). You control which are on and their wording; a developer can adjust batch size via a filter.
Related Features
Was this article helpful?
Something missing or unclear? Tell the @Rank support team and we will fix the page.
For product help beyond the documentation, visit at-rank.com.