How does Zubs handle failed subscription payments on Shopify?

What happens when a renewal payment fails?

Cards expire, accounts run low, banks decline. When a renewal charge fails, Zubs doesn’t end the subscription. It stays active and enters dunning: the customer hears about it right away, with a way to update their payment method, and the next attempt is scheduled.

That matters because a declined card doesn’t mean the customer wants to leave. Ending the subscription on the first decline turns a card problem into involuntary churn: you lose a subscriber who never decided to go. Winning that payment back is also your cheapest revenue, because this customer has already chosen you.

How do the retries work?

You decide how often Zubs tries again, how far apart, and what happens if nothing works. When a retry succeeds, the order is created and everything carries on as normal. If every attempt fails, Zubs runs your final action: skip this order and try again next cycle, pause the subscription, or cancel it.

Which mix fits depends on your margins and your customers. A coffee subscription might retry a few times and then skip, so the customer still receives the next bag. The failed-payments playbook walks through the trade-offs.

Who gets told along the way?

Customers get an email after the failed charge, a reminder with each retry and a final email that matches the outcome. Each one points them to their account, where they can update their card. Your team can be notified too, on every failure or only when retries have run out, so nobody has to watch a dashboard.

What about renewals that fail on stock?

A renewal can also fail because a product is out of stock. Zubs keeps those apart from payment failures, with their own retries, and tells the customer that no action is needed on their side. To stop them before billing day, reserve stock for upcoming renewals.

Can your team step in?

Yes. A failed order stays visible on the subscription in Zubs, with where dunning stands. Retry now runs the next attempt immediately, for example right after a customer calls to say they’ve updated their card. Once the automatic retries are done, Charge now tries again. A cycle can only be paid once, so neither tool can charge a customer twice.

How does it fit with the rest of Zubs?

Every failed attempt reaches Klaviyo and Shopify Flow, so you can send your own emails or open a support ticket. Subscription analytics show how many failed payments a later charge recovered.

Set it up in the help center: payment failure handling.