# How do you run a Black Friday sale without subscribers cancelling? > Source: https://zubs.app/playbooks/black-friday-subscriptions > Title: Run Black Friday Without Losing Subscribers — Zubs > Author: Alexander Kohout (https://zubs.app/authors/alexander-kohout) > Published: 2026-10-07 > Updated: 2026-10-07 > Language: en ## Short answer Make sure the subscription still beats the sale price, prepare the offer subscribers see when they cancel and your sale emails before the peak, and give customers who sign up in the sale a faster start. Zubs covers each step with plan discounts, a cancellation flow with an offer per reason, Klaviyo events and a self-service customer portal. ## What problem does this play solve? A sitewide sale puts a price on the page that can be lower than what subscribers pay. New buyers see that subscribing isn't the best deal and buy once. Existing subscribers see it too, and some cancel to stock up at the sale price. Most of them still like the product. They're chasing the discount, and once they learn that a sale beats staying, they'll do it again next year. Customers who sign up during the sale bring a second risk. They joined for a price, not a habit, so they tend to leave sooner than people who subscribed at full price. ## What's the play? Three moves, all prepared before the peak: 1. **Keep the subscription the better deal.** Put the subscription price next to the sale price for every product in the promotion. Wherever the one-time offer wins, improve the subscription offer for the sale, for example an extra saving on the first orders, or leave that product out of the sale. 2. **Prepare the cancel moment and the emails.** Subscribers who cancel during a sale usually want the sale price, so the offer they see when cancelling should be at least as good as the public discount. Write it, along with your reminder and campaign copy for the season, well before the sale and try it on a small group first. Keep campaigns meant for one-time buyers away from subscribers. 3. **Onboard sale sign-ups faster.** Don't make them wait a week for the first useful email. Send short tips in the first days on getting results from the product and on skipping or moving an order instead of cancelling. An early reward they can see coming helps too. ## How do you build it in Zubs? - **[Subscription plans](https://zubs.app/features/subscription-plans):** a percentage or fixed discount per plan, plus an introductory discount that adds an extra saving to the first recurring orders. You can limit it to a Shopify customer segment, so the sale offer brings in new subscribers instead of rewarding people who cancel and sign up again. - **[Subscription conversion offers](https://zubs.app/features/subscription-conversion-offers):** the Subscribe & Save widget, the cart offer and, on Shopify Plus, checkout each show the saving from your plan, so shoppers compare both prices where they buy. - **[Cancellation flow](https://zubs.app/features/cancellation-flow):** subscribers pick a reason from a short list you write, and each reason can lead to one offer, such as a one-time discount on the next order. Match the offer for price reasons to your sale before it starts. - **[Klaviyo subscription events](https://zubs.app/features/klaviyo-subscription-events):** events when a subscription is created and before each order, plus profile data that says whether someone is an active subscriber. Build a faster welcome series for sale sign-ups and keep one-time-buyer campaigns apart. - **[Sequential Flows](https://zubs.app/features/sequential-flows):** a discount or a free item at the order you choose, shown on the upcoming order before it bills. - **[Customer portal](https://zubs.app/features/customer-portal):** subscribers skip or reschedule an order themselves, so someone who stocked up can wait instead of cancelling. A changed plan discount applies to new subscriptions, and existing subscribers keep their rate. For current subscribers, the cancel offer and your messaging do the work. ## What should you measure? After the sale, compare against a normal month: - **Cancellations in the sale weeks**, and the reasons subscribers picked, which the cancellation flow records. - **Skips during the sale**: a skip instead of a cancellation is a subscriber kept. - **Retention of sale sign-ups** a few months on, against subscribers who joined at full price. ## Bottom line A sale only costs you subscribers when it makes leaving the better deal. Keep the subscription ahead on price, have the cancel offer and emails ready before the peak, and give sale sign-ups a fast start. ## Frequently asked questions ### Should subscribers get the Black Friday discount too? They should never pay more than a one-time buyer during the sale. Keep the subscription price at least as good as the sale price, or tell subscribers why their rate already beats it. ### Does a higher plan discount for the sale change existing subscriptions? No. In Zubs, a new discount applies to new subscriptions, and existing subscribers keep their rate. ### Can I keep the sale offer for new subscribers only? Yes. You can limit the introductory discount to a Shopify customer segment, for example to leave out people who have subscribed before. ### Why do sale sign-ups cancel sooner? They joined for the price, before the product became a habit. Show them what it does for them quickly and give them a reason to stay past the first renewals. ### When should I prepare? Weeks before the sale, so you can try the cancel offer and the emails on a small group while traffic is still normal. ## Related - [Feature: subscription plans and the introductory discount](https://zubs.app/features/subscription-plans) - [Feature: cancellation flow with an offer per reason](https://zubs.app/features/cancellation-flow) - [Playbook: stop cancellations with an offer that fits the reason](https://zubs.app/playbooks/cancellation-offers) - [Playbook: keep new subscribers past their first 90 days](https://zubs.app/playbooks/reduce-early-subscription-churn) - [Feature: Klaviyo subscription events](https://zubs.app/features/klaviyo-subscription-events)