Subscriptions

Overview

SODOO Subscriptions is a comprehensive subscription management system for businesses working with a recurring revenue model. It is ideal for SaaS companies, membership sites, magazine publishers, gyms and regular service providers.

The Subscription Model

The subscription model is a business model in which customers access a product or service by paying at regular intervals (monthly, yearly etc.).

Subscription Types

Billing Periods

Pricing Plans

You can create several pricing plans for different customer segments. Each plan can contain different features and price points.

Creating a Plan

1. Go to Subscriptions → Configuration → Plans
2. Add a plan with the "New" button
3. Enter the plan name and description
4. Choose the billing period
5. Set the price
6. Define the included features

The Subscription Life Cycle

Every subscription goes through certain stages. Understanding this cycle helps you manage customer relationships better.

Subscription States

Automatic Invoicing

The most important advantage of the subscription system is automatic invoicing. Invoices are created and sent to the customer automatically every period.

Invoicing Settings

• Invoice date: Start or end of the period
• Payment term: How many days after the invoice date
• Automatic collection: Automatic charge to the saved card
• Prepayment: Paying in advance for the next period

Payment Methods

You can accept various payment methods for subscriptions. For automatic collection, card details are stored securely.

Card Storage (Tokenisation)

By storing customers' card details securely you can collect automatically every period. PCI DSS-compliant payment infrastructures are used.

Failed Payments

Payments can fail for reasons such as a card limit being reached, an expired card or insufficient funds. Set up automation for these cases.

The Dunning (Collection Reminder) Process

1. First retry: Retry immediately when the payment fails
2. Reminder 1 (day 3): A card update e-mail to the customer
3. Reminder 2 (day 7): A warning that the account will be suspended
4. Reminder 3 (day 10): Final warning, service restriction
5. Suspension (day 14): Close access to the service

Upsell & Cross-sell

Existing subscribers upgrading their plan (upsell) or buying additional products/services (cross-sell) is the most effective way to grow revenue.

Plan Upgrade

• The customer can move to a higher plan at any time
• The difference is calculated pro rata
• Options to switch immediately or at the end of the period

Plan Downgrade

• Moving to a lower plan
• Usually takes effect at the end of the period
• Credit or refund options

Selling Add-ons

• Adding extra modules/features to the subscription
• One-off add-ons (installation, training)
• Usage-based extras (additional storage, API calls)

Cancellation and Churn

Churn (losing customers) is the most important metric for subscription businesses. Understand the reasons for cancellation and develop strategies to reduce churn.

Reasons for Churn

Churn Reduction Strategies

• Cancellation survey: Ask why they are leaving
• Make an offer: Suggest a discount or a free period
• Pause option: A temporary pause instead of cancellation
• Win-back campaign: A comeback offer to those who cancelled

Renewal

Subscription renewal is the process by which existing customers extend their service automatically or manually at the end of the period.

Automatic Refresh

• Active by default (opt-out model)
• Automatic invoice and payment at the end of the period
• A renewal notice to the customer (a legal requirement)

Manual Renewal

• Requires the customer's approval (opt-in model)
• Renewal reminder e-mails
• A renewal option until the last day

MRR and ARR

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) are the most important financial metrics of subscription businesses.

MRR Components

Cohort Analysis

Cohort analysis lets you compare the behaviour over time of groups of customers who joined in the same period. It is critical for understanding retention and churn trends.

Cohort Types

• Acquisition cohort: Customers who joined in the same month/week
• Behaviour cohort: Customers taking similar actions
• Channel cohort: Customers from the same channel
• Plan cohort: Customers who chose the same plan

Retention Table

Each row shows a cohort (e.g. those who joined in January 2024) and each column the percentage of customers remaining one period later.

Reports

You can access various reports to analyse your subscription performance.

Key Reports

• Revenue report: MRR/ARR trend, growth rates
• Subscription report: Active, paused and cancelled counts
• Plan distribution: How popular each plan is
• Churn report: Loss rates, reasons, trends
• Collection report: Successful/failed payments, dunning status
• Cohort tables: Periodic retention analysis

KPI Summary