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Subscription Prescription | Weekly Doses to Boost Ecommerce Revenue

Subscription Prescription | Weekly Doses to Boost Ecommerce Revenue

Written by: Subscription Doc
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Looking to sell on repeat? You’ve come to the right place. Welcome to the Subscription Prescription Podcast where you’ll learn everything there is to know about ecommerce. From establishing your brand identity online to winning the loyalty of your customers and limiting churn, nothing is off the table in these fun and informative conversations. In a world where online selling is the new way to shop, it’s important to stand out from the competition. Tune in each week to learn from industry expert, Matthew Holman, and jumpstart your ecommerce journey today!Patterns in the Cloud Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • The 3:1 LTV to CAC Ratio Is a Myth: What to Measure Instead

    The 3:1 LTV to CAC Ratio Is a Myth: What to Measure Instead
    Oct 20 2026
    Everyone chasing a 3:1 LTV to CAC ratio is chasing a number that came out of the pandemic ecom boom, and most brands could not survive it if LTV is measured in revenue dollars over 12 months. Until you define the margin and the time window, that ratio tells you almost nothing about the health of your business.

    In this episode, John Blair, founder of Free to Grow CFO, joins me to break down how to actually measure cohort profitability, when you can afford to stretch your payback period, and how to scale ad spend without running out of cash.

    What we cover:
    • Why most "LTV" numbers are really lifetime revenue, and how to convert them to margin dollars before comparing to CAC
    • CAC payback period as the first metric to understand, and why 3 to 6 months is the target for most consumables brands
    • How strong year two and year three retention lets some brands stretch payback to 9 months (the layered cake effect)
    • The seesaw model of LTV velocity: balancing new customer losses against margin coming back from returning cohorts
    • Segmenting LTV to CAC by subscribers versus non-subscribers, and why a deeper subscription discount can increase profitability
    • Acquisition SKUs versus retention SKUs, including a brand whose hero product on Amazon was different from Shopify
    • Running sensitivity analyses on rising CAC and falling LTV before you push ad spend
    • Why running out of subscription inventory is a death sentence, and why subscription brands can afford to order a little long

    Guest: Jon Blair
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathon-albert-blair
    Website: https://freetogrowcfo.com

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    38 mins
  • Why Discounting Harder at Cancellation Is Usually the Right Call

    Why Discounting Harder at Cancellation Is Usually the Right Call
    Oct 13 2026
    I hate aggressive discounting when you are trying to get someone in the door. But when a subscriber clicks cancel, increasing the discount is usually the right call, and the math is simple: most of those people are gone next month anyway, so one more profitable order is a win.

    In this episode, I walk through how I approach cancel flows with the brands I work with, from founder videos to reason-specific treatments to segmented offers, and why the cancel flow is one of the fastest places to find short-term revenue in your program.

    What we cover:
    • Why the cancel flow is your last line of defense, and why small changes can still lift save rates by 5, 10, or 20 percent
    • How often to review cancel flow performance (monthly for smaller brands, every one to two weeks for larger ones)
    • Using a one-minute founder video or educational content to connect with subscribers before they leave
    • Tying treatments to specific reasons: swaps for flavor complaints, frequency changes for too much product, support links for shipping issues
    • Why a bigger immediate discount beats a discount spread over multiple orders, and what that means for second and third renewals
    • Segmenting cancel offers by order number, cart value, and lifetime spend once you pass a few thousand subscribers
    • When dollars off outperforms a percentage, and when gifting makes more sense for long-tenured customers
    • Feeding cancel reasons back into onboarding and offer messaging so you stop churn before it starts

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    12 mins
  • How Quarterly Upsells Convert 20-30% After Checkout (AfterSell)

    How Quarterly Upsells Convert 20-30% After Checkout (AfterSell)
    Oct 6 2026
    Most brands leave the post-purchase page empty, or they fill it with random add-ons nobody asked for. Meanwhile, merchants offering a monthly-to-quarterly subscription upgrade on that same screen are converting 20 to 30% of buyers in a single click.

    Varun Kundra, co-founder of AfterSell by Rokt, joins me to break down how upsells actually work after checkout and why the quarterly upgrade is one of the most efficient LTV plays available to subscription brands right now.

    What we cover:
    • Why the post-purchase page converts so well: one offer, one click, right after the dopamine hit of buying
    • How quarterly upgrades hit 20 to 30% conversion with native Skio, Loop, and Recharge integrations
    • The "get a refund on your next order" framing that makes a bigger commitment feel like a no-brainer
    • Why the micro-commitment of a first purchase makes buyers more open to a three-month supply
    • Upsell angles by category: "more of the same" for supplements, "complete the set" for beauty and apparel
    • How Rokt Thanks lets brands get paid to use AfterSell instead of paying for it
    • Image-based templates and VSLs that make post-purchase pages look like real direct response offers
    • Stopping the scroll so shoppers actually read your offer before clicking no

    Guest: Varun Kundra
    Twitter: https://x.com/varunkundra
    Website: https://www.aftersell.com

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    26 mins
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