Upcoming order / billing reminder: best practices

Last updated: April 20, 2026

Goal: Reduce churn and increase AOV with upsells and cross-sells

Blocks:

Why the upcoming order?

The upcoming order reminder is a delicate moment in a subscriber's journey. Often, reminding someone that their subscription exists increases the likelihood of churn. With Zaymo's subscription portal, you can take advantage of this touchpoint to mitigate churn and increase AOV.

Typically, well-implemented Zaymo billing reminder emails:

  1. Decrease churn ~20%

  2. Increase cross-sells ~50%

What you'll be building:

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Implementation Guide (SOP)

  1. Create your non-interactive template in Klaviyo

    1. This template will be used as a fallback for customers who aren't able to view interactive emails.

  2. Set up your flow with the appropriate trigger(s)

    1. Each subscription provider has its own specific trigger for the upcoming order email.
      For example:

      1. Order upcoming on ReCharge

      2. Skio: Billing Reminder Notification

      3. Retextion - Order Upcoming

  3. Build in Zaymo

    1. Import your template from Klaviyo into Zaymo

    2. Add the Zaymo block(s) into the email

    3. Delete any repetitive or non-applicable elements

      1. For example, you'll want to delete the dynamic blocks with upcoming order items which are now being shown using the subscription portal block

    4. Customize the block to match your brand

  4. Export back to Klaviyo

    1. Click on "Preview / Export"

    2. In the previewer, view the email and ensure that it looks as expected on desktop vs mobile, and Apple vs Gmail. You can also send yourself test emails to review

    3. Once you're satisfied with the appearance, export the template to Klaviyo

      1. If you'd like to run an A/B test, export the template as an A/B test. More info here: 📄 How to use a Zaymo in-template A/B test

  5. Add your new template into the flow

Examples & best practices

Need ideas?

Example emails using the subscription portal

Screenshot 2025-05-23 at 4.50.25 PM.png

Use the 'Delay' button to keep customers away from cancelling

Breaking up the subscription portal into multiple pieces can improve your design

Carefully select your upsells.

Most brands have specific products that are more suitable for upsells than their bestsellers

Screenshot 2025-05-07 at 2.57.02 PM (1).png

Keep the portal high in the email. Your #1 intended action should be the first CTA you present to customers

The product grid will hide products a customer already has in their order; be sure to include at least 4-5 products on the carousel so you have backfills

Pulling in a dynamic collection allows you to test different upsells without the need to re-export from Zaymo

Screenshot 2025-06-08 at 6.19.27 PM.png

Swap ups may be a good substitute for upsells, depending on your intended customer journey

Applying even a small discount can drastically increase uptake on in-email offers

Measure results

The billing reminder affects several metrics that you should care about. Consider which one(s) you are focusing on.

Below are some metrics that we regularly see Zaymo help with. You can view the effect both in Zaymo and in Klaviyo. However, we recommend running a Zaymo A/B test to get the most comprehensive in-email action data.

Zaymo actions / events to track

Zaymo add one-time

Tracks the number of in-email add-ons that are successfully added to an upcoming order

Zaymo add to subscription

Tracks the number of in-email recurring add-ons successfully added to an upcoming order

Zaymo delay

Tracks the number of order processing delays that happen in the email

Zaymo send now

Tracks the number of accelerated orders that happen in the email

Non-Zaymo actions / events to track

These metrics measure all actions taken place by your actions--not necessarily taken via a Zaymo block. Tracking the difference in these actions often shows the incremental lift Zaymo causes. They're most relevant for A/B tests.

[Your subscription app] cancelled subscription

Zaymo typically lowers the cancelled subscription rate. This number is much more useful in an A/B test and is less meaningful on its own

[Your subscription app] one-time product added

Zaymo's add one-time purchase option adds an item to the next order via your subscription app. Most subscription apps send a Klaviyo event that tracks these outcomes

[Your subscription app] subscription started

Zaymo's add to subscription purchase option typically creates a new subscription that gets bundled in with the upcoming subscription order

[Your subscription app] send now

Measure the change in the number of people who accelerate their order

[Your subscription app] change charge date or delay

Consider checking how many subscriptions were started that are attributed to this email. Especially if your primary CTA is to start a subscription, this metric will be relevant