We started offering flexible refunds and win-back offers through our web checkout instead of relying on app-store flows. The result was better customer sentiment and some unexpected LTV gains.
What we changed:
- quick pro-rated refunds on the web and easy partial-credit offers.
- targeted win-back discounts via email tied to the original UTM source.
- we tracked if refunded users re-subscribed and tied that revenue back to the original campaign.
What happened:
- refunded users who received a clear, empathetic outreach re-converted at a decent rate and often had higher retention than cold re-acquisitions.
- refunds cost money up front, but the brand goodwill and reactivation lifted LTV on that segment.
Ops note: automating refunds and VAT handling was essential.
Has anyone built a rule set for when to proactively offer a refund vs a discount to win someone back?
We used a small rules engine to decide between refund or discount based on tenure and usage.
If they were less than 30 days in and low usage we offered a partial refund plus a discount code. It saved us churn headaches.
Automate the workflow with your payment provider to avoid manual work.
Proactive refunds turned into retention lifts for us.
We tied refunds to web sessions and used the web funnel to present an exit offer. The automation made the process cheap and quick and lowered negative reviews.
I offered a 50% off annual refund once. Many people accepted and stuck around.
The gesture kept our brand impression positive.
Refunds cost now win customers later
Use data to decide. Create segments by tenure, engagement, and acquisition source. For low-tenure, low-engagement users offer a simplified refund plus a reactivation incentive. For longer-tenure users consider a tailored discount or a concierge approach.
Automate the decision tree and measure net LTV after reactivation. The rule set should be based on expected future revenue versus refund cost and operational overhead.
Pro tip: log the original UTM with the refund so you can see which channels produce reactivations after refunds.
Track LTV after refund before scaling the policy.