What is a Surprise & Delight rule?
A Surprise & Delight rule is a feature that helps you increase subscription retention by offering free products or discounts at strategic points in the subscriber lifecycle automatically.
This tactic helps reduce churn by:
Rewarding subscribers for staying active.
Offsetting common drop-off points (like after the third order)
Giving long-term subscribers something to look forward to.
For example, you could set up Surprise & Delight rewards on the following orders:
Order 2: Free trial pack of a different product
Order 3: Extra 10% off
Order 6: Extra 20% off
Order 10: Free product that complements their subscription
When does the reward appear in the Customer Portal?
Rewards are applied to a subscription after the previous order processes. For example, if a reward is set on order 2, it will be added to the subscription as soon as order 1 processes. The customer will see the gift in their portal right away.
When do I need to Sync rules?
Click Sync rules on the Surprise & Delight page when you want to apply a new or updated rule retroactively to existing subscriptions that already meet the trigger criteria. New subscriptions evaluate rules automatically. Syncing is only needed for subscribers who were already past the trigger point before the rule was created or updated.
How does Surprise & Delight work?
Rules trigger after the previous order processes to ensure customers see the reward before their next shipment.
For example:
A reward on order 2 triggers right after checkout. You can only add a Surprise & Delight rule on order 2 and above (order 1 is the checkout order).
A reward on order 4 triggers after order 3 processes.
Skio checks eligibility anytime a subscription is edited. If the subscription no longer qualifies, the reward is removed automatically.
Surprise & Delight rules are order-based, meaning you can include multiple gifts or discounts within a single rule for a specific order (e.g., order 3).
If you want to apply rewards on different order numbers (e.g., order 3 and order 6), you'll need to create separate rules for each.
How Surprise & Delight timing works
On stores using Apply Surprise & Delight rules before next billing date, Surprise & Delight is evaluated by a scheduled job when a subscription falls within the configured pre-billing window. The default window is 5 days before billing unless a different value is set on the rule.
That means:
Surprise & Delight is not re-checked in real time every time a subscription is edited
Changes to a subscription affect eligibility the next time the scheduled job evaluates that subscription
A reward for a future order is typically applied shortly before that target order bills, not immediately when the previous order completes
For example, if a reward is set for order 4, it is generally applied when the subscription enters the billing window before order 4 bills.
If you use "Apply Surprise & Delight rules before next billing date"
Keep the following in mind:
The Surprise & Delight job only evaluates subscriptions inside the configured billing window
Subscriptions outside that window will not update until they enter it
Creating or deleting a rule does not immediately force all subscriptions to re-evaluate
Managing active rules
Editing an active Surprise & Delight rule triggers a full re-evaluation of eligible subscriptions, including ones that already qualified under the previous version. This means subscribers who already received a notification for this rule may receive it again. To avoid duplicate notifications, avoid editing a rule once it's live and already applying to subscriptions.
Once created, you can monitor and manage all active rules from the main Surprise & Delight dashboard.
View rule performance:
Total Rewards Triggered: How many times this rule has activated
Total Rewards Redeemed: How many customers have received the reward
Recipient Retention Rate: The retention rate of customers who received this reward
Edit or manage rules:
Click the three-dot menu on any rule card to access rule options:
Edit: Modify rule settings, triggers, rewards, or conditions
Duplicate: Create a copy of the rule to use as a template for similar rewards
Export Subscriptions: Download a list of subscriptions that have triggered this rule
Copy ID: Copy the unique rule identifier for reference or troubleshooting
Delete: Permanently remove the rule from your active rewards
Monitor rule details: Each rule card displays:
Trigger milestone (e.g., "Order #5")
Reward type and product
Creation date
Current status (Active)
To apply the rule retroactively to existing subscriptions, click Sync rules on the Surprise & Delight page.
Surprise & Delight A/B Testing
Learn more in our guide on How to set up a Surprise & Delight A/B test here.
How do customers know when they receive a Surprise & Delight reward?
When a customer meets the conditions set in your Surprise & Delight rule, a banner appears in the customer portal on the eligible subscription.
If gift product swapping is enabled, customers will see a Customize your gift button in the portal, which lets them choose an alternative variant.
To enable or disable the banner, in Customer Portal V2, enable the Show “surprise & delight” banner toggle. In Customer Portal V3, this toggle can be enabled in the Branding tab under Subscription banners.
How can I tell which customers received a Surprise & Delight reward from my Skio Dashboard?
When viewing subscriptions from the Subscribers > Subscriptions tab in your Skio Dashboard, a Surprise & Delight gift badge will display beside the free product on any eligible subscriptions to indicate when a customer is receiving a gift. For discounts, it will be indicated in the discount chip underneath the Subtotal.
Surprise & Delight FAQs
FAQ
Is the discount recurring?
No, it applies to the specific order only.
Can multiple rules apply at once?
Yes, if eligibility is met for multiple rules, all rewards will be applied.
Can I target specific products or variants?
Yes. You can apply rules to all products, specific products, or individual variants.
What if the free gifts is out of stock?
The rule will still apply. Skio does not check stock levels for Surprise & Delight rules.
What happens if a customer has multiple subscriptions?
Rules will apply to each eligible subscription in the customer’s account, unless customer level Surprise & Delight is enabled.
How can I prevent customers from abusing Surprise & Delight rules?
To prevent customers from abusing Surprise & Delight rules:
Do not add gift products to a selling plan: See the warning in Step 4, if the gift product has a selling plan, customers can add/swap the product directly without earning it through the milestone.
Use conditions to narrow eligibility: Target specific products, variants, or subscription statuses to prevent rewards from applying too broadly.
Use tags to exclude returning subscribers: If your rule targets order 2 to reward new customers, a returning subscriber who cancels and resubscribes would also trigger order 2. To prevent this, create a Shopify Flow that tags returning subscribers and add a condition to your rule excluding that tag.
Use A/B testing as a rollout control: If you're not sure how a rule will perform, start with a small treatment percentage (e.g., 20%) to measure impact before rolling it out to all subscribers.
Monitor with the rule card metrics: Keep an eye on Total Rewards Triggered vs. Total Rewards Redeemed. A large gap could indicate subscriptions qualifying then churning, or rules applying too broadly.
What happens to a Surprise & Delight gift when a customer pauses their subscription?
Pausing a subscription does not remove any existing Surprise & Delight gifts. The gift stays on the subscription and will be included in the next order once the subscription is resumed.
Are Surprise & Delight notifications automatic?
No, you must enable the notifications. There are two notification types, each configurable independently for both email and SMS:
Surprise & Delight - Product: Free gift additions
Surprise & Delight - Discount: Discount applications
Email notifications can be configured at Retain > Email Notifications in the Skio Dashboard. Skio SMS notifications can be configured in the Skio SMS settings. If notifications are not enabled, the customer will still see the gift in the Customer Portal and on their order when it processes, they just won't receive a proactive email or SMS about it.
See How to optimize Surprise & Delight notifications for more information.
Does Surprise & Delight work with Build-a-Box and Prepaid subscriptions?
Yes, both are supported.
Build-a-Box: All box types are compatible with Surprise & Delight. Use conditions to target subscriptions that contain box products (Contains static boxes or Contains dynamic boxes), and box products can be offered as gifts.
Prepaid subscriptions: Rules evaluate against delivery cycles, not billing cycles. For example, a rule set to order 3 will trigger after the 3rd delivery, regardless of how many deliveries are grouped into a single billing cycle for the prepaid subscription. Use the Subscription type condition to target prepaid and standard subscriptions differently, or the Is prepaid renewing condition to target subscribers at their prepaid renewal point.
Can a Surprise & Delight reward apply to every order?
Yes — Surprise & Delight can be configured to reward subscribers on every recurring order. This option is not enabled by default. Contact Skio support at help@skio.com to have it turned on for your account.