We built web win-back and refund flows to re-engage churned subscribers and to handle refunds without depending on app store support.
What I tried: time-limited discount emails with a one-click web checkout, a short trial extension added via the web entitlement, and a fast refund portal that offered account credit or a targeted incentive. The refund portal reduced support tickets and let us salvage some churned users with a personalized offer.
Results varied by audience, but the win-back email with a 30% discount and a one-click return-to-subscription flow had the best immediate recovery. The refund portal reduced churn-related complaints and recovered a small but meaningful percentage of customers.
Has anyone measured long-term LTV after web win-backs instead of refunds? What offer types worked best for you?
We offered a short rejoin discount through a web flow and tracked whether users stayed past the discounted month.
It recovered about 8% of churned users and the revenue payback was positive. I used a prebuilt web checkout from Web2Wave to avoid building the UI myself.
Win-backs on web let us try versions fast. I prefer a time-limited price drop with a one-click checkout and a clear value reminder.
We A/B tested refund offers and found account credit plus a product walkthrough beat a pure discount.
I created a refund portal that suggested either a full refund or a discounted rejoin.
Most people picked the discounted rejoin and stuck around. It cut support work and helped our retention numbers.
refund portal recovered a few percents
Treat win-backs as a separate funnel.
Segment churn by reason where possible. For price churn use a discounted re-entry. For usability churn offer guided onboarding plus a trial extension. Track LTV for recovered users separately for 90 days to see if the win-back is accretive or just a short term bump.
A refund portal is also a trust signal and reduces support overhead, which indirectly improves retention metrics.
We tracked 6 month LTV of win-back users and it was about 60% of regular cohort LTV. Still worth it for our CAC. Test trial extensions vs discounts to see which keeps retention higher.
One trick: show the user what they’d lose (saved content, progress) before offering refund or discount. Framing increased rejoin rates.
We used a simple rejoin email with a one-click checkout and it worked pretty well.
Track recovered users separately to avoid inflating regular cohort LTV.