Subscription Renewal Automation

Subscription Renewal Automation

Renewals are where your recurring revenue comes from. IPTVbp automates the entire renewal process to maximise retention and minimise involuntary churn from failed payments.

Renewal Types

IPTVbp handles two types of renewals:

Automatic Renewals (Stripe, PayPal)

For customers who pay with Stripe or PayPal, renewals are fully automatic:

1. The payment gateway stores the customer's payment method.
2. On the billing date, the gateway charges the saved method.
3. IPTVbp receives a webhook and extends the subscription on the panel.

The customer does not need to take any action. Their subscription simply continues.

Manual Renewals (Crypto, Bank Transfer)

For payment methods that do not support recurring billing:

1. IPTVbp sends a renewal reminder email with a payment link.
2. The customer clicks the link and pays via their chosen method.
3. After payment confirmation, the subscription is extended.

Renewal Reminder Emails

IPTVbp sends reminders before a subscription expires:

Email	Timing	Content
Early Reminder	7 days before expiry	Informational -- "Your subscription renews in 7 days."
Upcoming Renewal	3 days before expiry	Action prompt -- "Ensure your payment method is up to date."
Day-Of Reminder	On expiry day	Urgency -- "Your subscription expires today."

For automatic renewal customers, reminders are informational (no action needed). For manual renewal customers, reminders include a "Pay Now" button.

Configure which reminders to send and their timing at Settings > Billing > Renewal Reminders.

Failed Payment Dunning

"Dunning" is the process of recovering failed payments. IPTVbp automates this with a multi-step sequence:

Step 1: First Failure (Day 0)

• Payment gateway reports the failure.
• IPTVbp logs the event.
• The gateway automatically retries after 24 hours (Stripe Smart Retries).
• An email is sent to the customer: "Your payment failed. Please update your payment method."

Step 2: Second Failure (Day 1-3)

• Second retry by the payment gateway.
• If it fails again, IPTVbp sends a more urgent email.
• Subject: "Action required: Update your payment to keep your subscription active."
• The email includes a direct link to update their card in the customer portal.

Step 3: Third Failure (Day 3-5)

• Final retry.
• IPTVbp sends a last-chance email.
• Subject: "Your subscription will be suspended tomorrow."
• The email clearly states what will happen if payment is not resolved.

Step 4: Grace Period Expiry

• Subscription is suspended (panel account disabled).
• Suspension email sent with a "Reactivate Now" button.

Dunning Email Configuration

Go to Settings > Billing > Dunning to configure:

• Enable/disable each dunning step.
• Email templates for each step (subject, body, tone).
• Retry intervals (default: 1, 3, 5 days).
• Grace period duration after all retries fail.
• Final action: Suspend, terminate, or do nothing.

Payment Method Update

When a customer's card is declined, they need a way to update it:

1. The dunning email includes a "Update Payment Method" link.
2. The link takes them to the customer portal's payment section.
3. They enter a new card (processed securely via Stripe Elements).
4. IPTVbp updates the Stripe customer object with the new card.
5. The next retry uses the new card automatically.

Win-Back Campaigns

For customers whose subscriptions have expired or been cancelled, IPTVbp can send win-back emails:

Configuration

Go to Settings > Billing > Win-Back:

• Enable win-back emails: Toggle on.
• Timing: 7 days after expiry/cancellation (configurable).
• Discount: Optionally include a discount code for reactivation.
• Email template: Customise the message.

Effective Win-Back Template

Subject: We miss you, {customer_name} -- here is 20% off to come back

Body:

Hi {customer_name},

Your {product_name} subscription ended on {expiry_date}. We would love to have you back.

As a special offer, use code WELCOME20 for 20% off your next month.

Reactivate My Subscription

This offer expires in 7 days.

Renewal Analytics

Track renewal health at Analytics > Renewals:

• Renewal rate: Percentage of subscriptions that renew successfully (target: >85%).
• Involuntary churn: Subscriptions lost to failed payments (target: <5%).
• Dunning recovery rate: Percentage of failed payments recovered by dunning emails (target: >30%).
• Win-back conversion: Percentage of expired customers who reactivate.
• Revenue at risk: MRR from subscriptions in grace period or dunning.

Best Practices for Maximum Retention

1. Send reminders early: Give customers time to update payment methods before the billing date.
2. Use Stripe Smart Retries: Stripe's ML-based retry logic chooses optimal times to retry failed payments.
3. Keep dunning emails helpful, not threatening: Customers with failed payments usually want to fix it -- they just need a convenient way.
4. Offer annual plans: Annual subscriptions have higher upfront commitment and lower churn rates.
5. Make reactivation easy: A single click from the email to the payment page.
6. Track metrics weekly: A rising involuntary churn rate means your dunning sequence needs tuning.
7. Segment win-back offers: Long-term customers deserve bigger discounts than trial users who never converted.
8. Do not spam: Limit total emails to 3-4 per event. More than that annoys customers and increases unsubscribes.