Getting started with Cancel Flows

What are Cancel Flows?

Cancel Flows is a feature that lets you create targeted cancellation experiences for different customer segments. Instead of showing every customer the same generic flow, you can design multiple flows that address specific situations—like offering different retention strategies to new customers versus loyal subscribers, or tailoring offers based on product type or subscription value.

A well-structured Cancel Flow gives you more control over how you reduce churn and helps you test which retention strategies work best for different audience segments.

Your Cancel Flow determines what path customers will take based on a set of conditions when they attempt to cancel.

Why use multiple cancel flows?

Target the right customers with the right offers: Not all customers cancel for the same reasons. A first-time subscriber might need education about your product, while a long-term customer might respond better to a loyalty discount. With multiple cancel flows, you can match your retention strategy to each customer's context.
Test different retention strategies: Use the Split Treatments node to experiment with different offers, messaging, or flow structures within a single cancel flow. You can see which approach saves more subscriptions and refine your strategy based on real data.
Personalize by product, location, or subscription type: Create flows for specific scenarios like digital products, international customers, prepaid subscriptions, or Build-a-Box subscribers. Each flow can address the unique needs of that segment.

Example use cases
Show a pause option to customers who've been subscribed less than 3 months
Offer free shipping to international customers canceling due to delivery issues
Give VIP-tier customers exclusive retention offers
Create separate flows for digital versus physical products
Target customers with high subscription values differently than low-value subscribers

How do Cancel Flows work?

**Example**: You have 3 Cancel Flows set up, ranked by more specific to less specific. This customer doesn’t meet the entry conditions for **Cancel flow 2**, but does for **Cancel flow 1**.

Entry conditions determine which flow a customer sees: Every cancel flow (except your Default flow) has entry conditions that define which customers qualify for that flow. Entry conditions can be based on customer attributes, subscription details, products, or other criteria.

When a customer tries to cancel, Skio checks your active flows in ranked order. The first flow where the customer meets all entry conditions is the one they'll see.

Your Default flow is the safety net: Every Skio account has one Default flow. This flow has no entry conditions and cannot be archived. If a customer doesn't qualify for any other active flow, they'll always see the Default flow. Think of it as your universal fallback experience.

Ranking controls priority: Skio ranks your active flows based on their entry conditions. More specific flows (with multiple conditions) are evaluated before broader flows. This ensures customers see the most relevant experience for their situation.

Available entry Conditions

You can combine multiple entry conditions using AND/OR logic to create precise customer segments.

Customer-based conditions

Customer tag: Filter by whether a customer has or does not have a specified tag.
Credit balance: Filter customers based on their available store or subscription credit balance.
Tier: Filter customers by their loyalty or subscription tier (for example, Silver, Gold, VIP).

Subscription-based conditions

Order number: Filter by the current order number (for example, a subscription with 3 orders would have order number = 3).
Total quantity: Filter by total quantity of products in the subscription (for example, 1 × Product A and 1 × Product B = quantity of 2).
Total value: Filter by total dollar value of the subscription (sum of each product's subscription price × quantity).
Subscription creation date: Filter by when the subscription was created.
Day of week: Filter subscriptions with a specific charge day of the week.
Discount code: Filter subscriptions that contain specific discount codes.
Is prepaid renewing: Filter prepaid subscriptions by whether they are set to renew (continue into another term) or end after the current prepaid cycle.
Migrated from another platform: Identify subscriptions migrated from another platform (only captures the migrated subscription, not new subscriptions created by the same customer).
Next billing date: Filter subscriptions where the next billing date falls on, before, or after a selected date.
Shipping interval: Filter by how often the subscription ships (for example, every week, every 2 weeks, monthly).
Subscription country: Filter by shipping address country (supports multiple selections).
Subscription ID: Enter specific subscription IDs to target with the operation.
Subscription note: Filter subscriptions based on keywords or text stored in the internal subscription note.
Subscription status: Filter by status (Active, cancelled, failed, under review, paused).

Product-based conditions

Contains products: Identify subscriptions that include a specific product.
Contains dynamic boxes: Filter subscriptions that include a specific dynamic build-a-box product.
Contains static boxes: Filter subscriptions that include a specific static build-a-box product.
Exclude products: Identify subscriptions that do not include a specific product (helpful when paired with “contains products”).

Other conditions

Audit log: Filter subscriptions based on specific audit log actions.
Cancel Flow: Filter subscriptions that had X rebuttal shown and was saved or not saved.
Quick action: Filter customers or subscriptions based on whether a specific Quick Action link has been actioned, or viewed but not actioned.
Surprise and Delight: Filter customers who were or were not qualified for a surprise and delight gift.

Available Treatment actions

Action	Description
Skip next order	Skips the customer’s next scheduled subscription order.
Change next order date	Updates the scheduled date for the next subscription order.
Edit frequency	Adjusts how often the customer receives their subscription.
Swap product	Lets the customer select a different product for future orders.
Offer discount	Applies a discount to the next order.
Offer gift	Adds a gift item to the customer’s order.
No action	Leaves the subscription unchanged; no action is applied.
Pause	Temporarily stops a customer’s subscription.
Delay	Lets customers delay their subscription by 1, 2, or 3 billing cycles.
Contact Support	Provides a link or option to contact your support team.
Get now	Triggers immediate fulfillment of the next subscription order.
Misc link	Placeholder for a custom or external link (function depends on configuration).
Predefined swap product	Automatically swaps the product with a specified alternative.

Key components in the cancel flow builder

The cancel flow builder is where you design your cancellation flows.

You can set entry conditions to control which customers see each flow, add a splash screen with video or messaging at the start, and use split treatments to test different retention offers by directing customers down multiple paths. The builder includes inline analytics that show you which paths customers take most often and which retention strategies perform best, helping you optimize your flows over time.

Component	Description
Start node	This is where you define entry conditions for each flow. Only customers who meet these conditions will see this specific cancel flow.
Splash Screen node	Add a video or message before customers enter the main cancellation flow. Each flow can have its own unique splash screen.
Split Treatments node	Test different retention strategies by splitting customers into multiple paths. For example, send 60% of customers to one offer and 40% to another, then compare which performs better.
In-flow translations	Add translations directly inside the flow builder instead of managing them globally. Click any text-based node, select Add locale, and enter translated content for that specific version of the flow.
Version history	When you edit an active flow and save it, Skio creates a new version. You can view previous versions using the version selector and see what changed between them.
Inline analytics	View path-level data and see what percentage of customers follow each branch in your flow. This helps you understand which cancellation reasons are most common and which retention offers work best.

Flow statuses

Status	Description
Active	The flow is live and customers who meet its entry conditions will see it.
Draft	The flow is saved but not live. Use this status while building or testing new flows before activating them.
Archived	Old flows you're no longer using. Archived flows don't appear in the main list and won't be shown to customers.

Configuring Cancel Flow global settings

Skio's global cancel flow settings control how cancellation works across all your cancel flows. To access these settings, go to Features > Cancel Flow and click Settings in the top-right corner.

California cancel compliance settings

What it does: Ensures compliance with California consumer protection law by allowing customers with California shipping addresses to cancel immediately at any point in the flow.
How it works: When this toggle is enabled, customers with California shipping addresses:
- Must go through the full cancel flow experience.
- Can still cancel at any time by clicking Cancel anyway.
- Will have the option to provide a cancellation reason after canceling.
This setting helps you stay compliant with California consumer protection laws.

Discount cooldown

What it does: Prevents customers from repeatedly triggering cancel discounts by setting a waiting period between discount offers.
How it works: Enter the number of days a customer must wait before becoming eligible for another cancel discount. This helps reduce discount abuse from customers who cancel and resubscribe frequently.
- Default: 0 days (no restriction)
- Example: Set to 30 to limit discount eligibility to once per month

Show credits block

What it does: Encourages customers to use their existing store credits instead of canceling.
How it works: When enabled, customers with available credits see a prompt during the cancel flow reminding them they can apply those credits to their subscription. Only appears for customers with a credit balance.
- Default: Off

Personalization settings

Use the Personalization section to match your cancel flow's visual design to your brand. These customizations apply only to the cancel experience and won't affect the rest of your customer portal.

Customize the following elements:

Header text: Titles like "Before you go..."
Body text: Regular paragraph content
Primary button: Background and text for key action buttons like "Keep Subscription"
Secondary button: Text-only buttons for less prominent actions
Background colors: Page background and accent cards
Accent color: Links, highlights, and icons

These settings give you complete control over the visual experience of your cancel flow.

Configuring Flow-level settings

While global settings apply by default, you can further customize individual cancel flows with additional branding and messaging options.

Custom HTML section

Add branded HTML and CSS to the top of a specific cancel flow.

Use cases:

Display a personalized message showing value: Use {{ savedBySubscribing }} to show how much the customer has saved by subscribing
Add custom styling with a <style></style> block
Include brand-specific messaging or trust signals

Custom images and videos

Display branded visuals at key points in your cancel flow to reinforce value or build trust.

Step	Description
Cancellation reason selection	Appears when customers select why they're canceling
Discount offer	Displays alongside retention discounts
Subscription cancelled	Shows after a customer completes cancellation
Changes saved	Appears when a customer updates their subscription instead of canceling

Format requirements:

Provide an image or video URL (must be hosted externally)
Recommended aspect ratio: 16:9 for optimal display quality