In the competitive subscription market, understanding what truly motivates your customers is the key to growth. With acquisition rates slowing and competition heating up, fine-tuning your strategies and truly understanding your customers' needs can make all the difference.

To cut through the noise, Recurly partnered with Hanover Research on an exclusive study of 1,000 subscription consumers. The full report is packed with insights, but here are three critical findings you can use right now to strengthen your acquisition and retention strategies.

You’re losing subscribers you don’t have to

Flexibility isn’t just a perk anymore — it’s a core expectation of users. When we asked consumers what they want in a subscription, one feature stood out.

55% of consumers identify the ability to pause their subscriptions as their top feature.

Here’s the problem: only 37% report that their current services actually offer a pause option. Forcing customers to cancel when they just need a temporary break is a direct path to losing them, maybe for good. Flexibility allows your subscribers to feel as if they are in control, especially if/when life inevitably throws curveballs. 

Offering a simple, user-friendly pause option builds goodwill and gives you a powerful tool to prevent unnecessary cancellations. In fact, businesses that provide a pause option have seen 25% of their subscribers choose to pause instead of cancelling. 

Price is a more powerful lever than you think

We all know price is important, but the data shows it’s the single most powerful factor in the churn and win-back cycle. 

When subscribers switch providers, the top reason they gave was to get better pricing (42%). But the real eye-opener is what they say could have convinced them to stay. When asked, their answers were overwhelmingly focused on direct financial incentives:

These aren't complex demands. Two-thirds of the top three win-back tactics are purely price-based. This shows that churned customers are highly receptive to straightforward, value-based offers. 

The first year is the make-or-break period

Early churn is one of the biggest threats to sustainable growth. Our research reveals just how critical the first few months are for improving customer retention.

Across all verticals, an average of 66% of all cancellations occur within the first 12 months of a subscription.

The pressure is even more intense for certain industries. The food subscription category, for example, sees a staggering 45% of its cancellations happen in under six months.

This means the onboarding period is everything. To reduce early churn, you have to prove your value from day one. A generic welcome email won’t cut it. Your first few interactions must be impactful and tailored to demonstrate that value. A tailored onboarding experience that aligns with a subscriber's initial motivation — be it cost savings or the desire for novelty — can significantly improve long-term loyalty.

Get the full data-driven blueprint

These findings are just the beginning. Understanding the modern subscriber is the cornerstone of sustainable growth, and the data shows they want flexibility, fair pricing, and immediate, demonstrable value.

Access the full report to gain exclusive insights and a comprehensive view, empowering you to make informed decisions with confidence.

💡 Read the report now!

About Hanover Research

Founded in 2003, Hanover Research is a global research and analytics firm that delivers market intelligence through a unique, fixed-fee model to more than 1,000 clients. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Hanover employs high-caliber market researchers, analysts, and account executives to provide a service that is revolutionary in its combination of flexibility and affordability. Hanover has been named a Top 50 Market Research Firm by the American Marketing Association every year since 2015. To learn more about Hanover Research, visit www.hanoverresearch.com.