What is skip rate, and how do you calculate it?

How do you calculate skip rate?

Skip rate = skipped orders ÷ (skipped orders + successful renewals) × 100

The denominator is every order that was due and either billed or was skipped.

Example (made-up numbers): in April a shop’s subscriptions have 880 successful renewals and 120 skips. Skip rate = 120 ÷ (120 + 880) × 100 = 12%. In May there are 900 renewals and 150 skips: 150 ÷ 1,050 × 100 ≈ 14.3%.

Why does skip rate matter?

A skip is a subscriber saying “not this time” rather than “never again”, so the number cuts both ways:

• More skips with falling churn usually means flexibility is doing its job: subscribers skip instead of cancelling, for example after you offer a skip as the retention action for a cancellation reason.
• More skips with flat or rising churn often means the delivery interval doesn’t fit. Customers have more product than they use and are skipping their way toward cancelling.

Skips also lower revenue in the month they happen, so a high skip rate shows up as lower subscription revenue even while the subscriber count holds.

How does Zubs show skip rate?

The Zubs analytics dashboard shows the skip rate for each month. It counts every skipped order, whoever skipped it: the customer in the portal, your team, or an automatic skip such as the last step of dunning. If the rate is high, look at which delivery intervals your subscribers are on and consider offering a longer one.