SMS gets a 98 percent open rate versus 20 to 40 percent for email, but timing matters more than the channel alone. Here is what actually separates a dunning sequence that recovers revenue from one that pushes customers to cancel.

The single highest-ROI fix for subscription churn is a background service most merchants have never checked is turned on. Account updater services reduce expiry-related involuntary churn by 40 to 60 percent, with zero customer-facing change.

Some cancellations were never cancellations at all. Involuntary churn accounts for 20 to 40 percent of total subscription churn, an estimated $129 billion in lost revenue in 2025 alone, and most of it was recoverable.