Stop Losing Subscribers to Overstock: Proven Retention Strategies from Leading Brands

With the global subscription eCommerce market expected to flourish at a compound annual growth rate of 41% and reach $6,370 billion between now and 2033, it’s safe to say that subscriptions are already a major driver of revenue growth for today’s top brands and retailers.

But the biggest threat to that growth is when subscribers wind up with more of a particular product than they need. According to a year-over-year churn analysis of all Ordergroove merchants between 2023 and 2024, overstock accounted for 27% of subscription cancellations. That’s a lot of potential lifetime value (LTV) left on the table.

As more merchants get onboard with next-level strategies, the landscape of subscription offerings — and consumer expectations for them — continue to evolve, and each new innovation in the subscription space widens the delta between the brands who get it right and those who don’t.

On that front, there are valuable lessons to learn from the top subscription brands setting the standard in the market year after year. From balancing ongoing acquisition and retention efforts, to doubling down on LTV to offset marketing costs, there’s a clear throughline in their top learnings from the past year that every merchant should be thinking about as we enter 2025:

Overstock continues to be the number one reason for subscriber churn, and offering seamless subscription management is just the start of preventing it — the brands who get it right are the ones using clever and dynamic overstock prevention strategies. 

Let’s dive into the best practices and creative approaches to help subscribers avoid overstock to boost retention and unlock more LTV and subscription-driven profit down the line.

1. Stop subscribers from churning due to overstock with flexible subscription management

Across consumable categories like food and beverage, beauty, pet supplies, and personal care, there are a million and one reasons why a long-term subscriber might find themselves with more of a particular product than they need. Whether they’re out of town for work or just not using as much product as they expected, changes in subscriber routines can affect when they’ll need their next delivery.

Giving subscribers the flexibility to skip, pause, or delay orders based on their individual circumstances can help brands retain subscribers 135% longer — and according to research from McKinsey, not having that flexibility causes 12-19% of eCommerce subscription cancellations.

Assigning the right order frequencies for each product can prevent overstock from becoming a problem in the first place. But when it comes to driving retention and maximizing LTV, Ordergroove’s SKU Swap feature is a must-have that allows subscribers to switch up the flavors, sizes, and other variations of their products — eliminating the need to cancel their subscriptions and reducing churn.

It’s no surprise that subscribers tend to stick around 71% longer when they can easily try different products in their upcoming orders. Giving them the flexibility to swap SKUs enhances their experience and introduces them to new items they’ll love, creating more reasons to keep coming back.

The takeaway is simple: Flexible subscription management helps subscribers avoid overstock, so they stick around for longer. As retention increases, LTV also rises — without any additional customer acquisition costs (CAC) — enhancing subscription unit economics with a favorable LTV to CAC ratio for more profit.

2. Inspire subscribers to use up products with educational content

Once the best practices for flexible subscription management are in place, brands can push the envelope even further by creating unique educational content and experiential opportunities designed to help subscribers avoid overstock. 

Beyond showing them how to use their products to the fullest, this strategy can also help create a VIP experience for subscribers to add more value to the subscription as a whole, and Ordergroove merchant — and two-time winner of SubSummit’s Best Food Subscription award — Good Ranchers, is a great example of a brand getting this tactic right. 

Good Ranchers is in the business of delivering the best meat America has to offer directly to people’s tables. With their products arriving frozen and carefully packaged to last well beyond the typical subscription order frequency, it’s not uncommon for Good Ranchers’ subscribers to wind up with a surplus of product if they order in or go out to eat more often than expected. 

To avoid churn among subscribers who are more than happy with the product, Good Ranchers saw an opportunity to develop specific recipes for subscribers featuring their products — and even film cooking shows encouraging subscribers to cook alongside their team — to educate and inspire their customers on the many ways they could use up the items in each subscription order. 

As a growing company with an eye on profitability, Good Ranchers is already seeing a positive impact from reducing subscriber churn due to overstock: Retaining those subscribers for even one more order means more LTV for a shorter CAC payback period.

3. Engaging subscribers with targeted offers during cancellation

Just like other leading subscription brands, Ordergroove merchant Bonafide Health is tapping into the power of overstock prevention tactics by making it as easy as possible to skip an order instead of canceling.

But as a business that generates the majority of its revenue through subscriptions, Bonafide Health also saw an opportunity to use Ordergroove’s flexible technology to build a bespoke solution to retain their most valuable customers — subscribers on a three-month Prepaid subscription plan — to sustain those higher average order values (AOV) for more LTV in the long term.

After testing a range of offers to re-engage their longtime, highest LTV subscribers who might be at risk of overstock-related churn, Bonafide Health built an attention-grabbing 50% off discount into their custom ‘Cancel Save’ flow — a generous offer that paid for itself by fueling better retention and LTV growth.

Thanks to the powerful combination of their Prepaid subscriptions and custom cancellation flow, Bonafide Health is already in good shape when it comes to their LTV to CAC ratio.

4. Encourage subscribers to build the product into their daily habits

Another clever way brands can help subscribers prevent overstock upstream is by equipping them with the practical tools they need to successfully build daily habits around the items in their subscription.  

For an example of how this can look in practice, look no further than HUM Nutrition who developed a highly-rated mobile app to help subscribers consistently take their daily supplements, preventing overstock from becoming an issue. Their Healthy Habits app delivers personalized reminders, nutritionist tips, and practical information to support subscribers in building better daily supplement habits.

By teaching subscribers how to stick to their supplement plan and gamifying the experience with rewards for proper consumption, the app creates a more engaging wellness journey. As subscribers begin to experience better results from maintaining their supplement routine, it reinforces the value of their subscription — helping HUM Nutrition boost long-term retention.

The path towards retention-driven profitability starts with solving subscriber overstock

In the bigger financial picture of a brand’s subscription offer, retention is one of the most important levers for success — and the problem of subscriber overstock should be the first obstacle brands tackle in 2025.

If brands can help subscribers avoid overstock, they’ll see better retention, more revenue to offset marketing costs, and ultimately get on the path to sustainable growth with a profitable subscription offer.

The message from these front-running subscription merchants is clear: flexible subscription management is no longer optional — it’s a corner piece of the puzzle when it comes to preventing overstock and keeping subscribers engaged for the long haul. With the right innovative strategies to elevate the subscriber experience and avoid common reasons for churn, brands will delight customers and deliver measurable results, setting them up for success in the new year and beyond.

Ordergroove is here to help you not just get new subscribers, but keep them loyal for life with tools and strategies you need to help subscribers avoid overstock. Ready to join the leading brands using Ordergroove to double down on retention with an exceptional subscriber experience? Let’s chat.