46:21The Retention Roadshow
San Diego 2024
The Routine Economy: Subscription Retention with Jen Gray
Jen Gray explains why being bought once is different from being kept, and how product habits, category choices, and subscription value can support repeat business.
Watch it. Put it to work.
ABOUT THIS SESSION
Become part of the routine.
Jen Gray explains why being bought once is different from being kept, and how product habits, category choices, and subscription value can support repeat business.
For brands working to turn a useful product into a recurring part of a customer’s life.
- Speaker
- Jen Gray
SVP of Marketing, Recharge - Recorded at
- San Diego 2024 ↗
September 2024
Speaker roles and platform examples reflect the session’s original context. This is an archived conversation.
TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR DESK
Ideas to put to work.
- 01
Know the customer who keeps the product
Study the behavior of repeat users, not just the profile of first-time buyers.
Read this part · 01:22 ↓ - 02
Find the routine your product supports
Describe when, why, and how the customer should use the product in an existing routine.
Read this part · 13:57 ↓ - 03
Look for a relevant replenishable
Evaluate replenishable additions by their fit with the customer’s existing use case.
Read this part · 17:37 ↓ - 04
Define the category around the customer
Frame expansion around a customer routine, such as sleep, rather than only the original product type.
Read this part · 18:09 ↓ - 05
Make subscription solve a real problem
Use subscription and cancellation feedback to improve both the offer and the win-back message.
Read this part · 20:50 ↓
READ THE SESSION
The edited transcript.
A condensed, edited reading version based on the YouTube captions and session chapters. Repetition and unclear audience audio have been removed; the discussion is paraphrased for clarity, rather than presented as a verbatim transcript. Timestamps refer to the original video.
Original recording on YouTube ↗Know the customer who keeps the product
Jen distinguishes the customer who tries a product from the customer who makes it part of everyday life. Her bathroom-counter example contrasts something used regularly with something pushed out of sight after the first use.
That difference changes the retention question. The brand needs to understand the routine it serves, not only the reason someone clicked an ad. Product use and customer context become as important as the acquisition message.
Find the routine your product supports
The session frames routine as a source of ongoing value. A product is easier to keep when it has a recognizable place in the customer’s day and helps accomplish something that matters to them.
Marketing can clarify that role, but the product must deliver it. Think about when it is used, what prompts the use, and what could interrupt the habit. Those questions can inform onboarding and retention more directly than another generic reminder to reorder.
Look for a relevant replenishable
Jen discusses how a business built around an infrequent purchase can consider complementary products. The example of a bidet brand expanding into bathroom consumables shows the difference between selling one object and serving a broader category.
The added product still needs to belong in the customer’s life. A replenishable is not automatically a retention strategy simply because it can be sold repeatedly. It should extend the value or routine the customer already associates with the brand.
Define the category around the customer
The Casper example moves from a mattress purchase to the broader sleep experience. Jen uses it to illustrate how category thinking can reveal related needs beyond the first product.
That broader position can inform what the brand makes and how it explains the offer. It should remain connected to a real customer purpose. Expanding the category is useful when it deepens the relationship, rather than simply creates a larger list of unrelated things to sell.
Make subscription solve a real problem
A subscription should create value through convenience, an appropriate replenishment rhythm, or another useful benefit. The discussion also considers the large group of people who subscribed once and later left.
Cancellation reasons can help explain which part of the value failed to persist. A win-back message is stronger when it addresses that reason instead of sending the same offer to everyone. Use the history of the relationship to decide what would make returning worthwhile.
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