Subscription & Recurring Revenue
Recurring revenue and subscription commerce terminology covering churn, MRR, retention strategies, and subscription-first business models.
The metrics that decide whether your brand scales.
Subscription commerce changes what 'good' looks like. Acquisition costs that would be unprofitable for one-time purchase brands become rational when amortized over 6, 12, or 24 months of recurring revenue. But it also introduces churn, cohort math, and MRR mechanics that don't exist in transactional commerce.
The terms in this category cover the metrics subscription-first operators live by: monthly vs annual churn, cohort LTV, payback period under recurring revenue, and the difference between voluntary and involuntary churn that determines whether your retention work is winning.
If you're considering adding a subscription option, evaluating Recharge vs Bold vs Smartrr, or trying to model out whether a subscription brand is healthy, this is the vocabulary.
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Showing 11 of 11 terms in Subscription & Recurring Revenue
Monthly Recurring Revenue
MRRThe predictable, normalized monthly revenue from active subscriptions.
Annual Recurring Revenue
ARRMRR × 12, representing yearly subscription revenue.
Subscribe-and-Save
Automated recurring delivery of consumable products at a discount (typically 10-20% off).
Curation Subscription
Delivers curated, varied product selections each shipment based on customer preferences.
Membership Subscription
Offers exclusive benefits like discounts and early access rather than recurring product delivery.
Dunning
The process of recovering failed subscription payments through retry logic and communication.
Involuntary Churn
Subscription cancellations caused by failed payments rather than customer choice.
Voluntary Churn
Intentional cancellations initiated by customers.
Subscriber Portal
A self-service interface where subscribers manage their accounts and preferences.
Skip/Pause
Allowing subscribers to temporarily skip an order or pause without canceling.
Cancellation Flow
The process a subscriber goes through when canceling, often including retention offers.
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