Advanced recovery strategies let you handle each type of failed payment with its own retries, emails, and discounts. A card that is short on funds today and a payment method the subscriber has removed need different treatment, and one general journey can't give them that. This playbook covers the 7 default strategies we create for your store, when each one helps, and how to adapt them.
How strategies are matched
When a payment fails, Loop looks for an active advanced recovery strategy whose failure reasons and conditions both match the failed payment. If a strategy matches, its retries, emails, and discounts apply to that subscription. If no active strategy matches, the general recovery strategy applies as the fallback.
Why strategies increase your recovery rate
Not every payment fails for the same reason. Retrying a payment that can't succeed wastes processing fees and can lower your approval rates. Emailing subscribers about a problem they can't fix confuses them. A strategy for each failure reason retries what can succeed and reaches out only when the subscriber needs to act.
Each strategy controls the following settings.
Setting | What it controls |
Payment failure reasons | Which failed payments enter the strategy, for example Insufficient funds or Card expired. |
Conditions | Optional filters that narrow entry further, such as payment method, customer tag, or order count. |
Retries and schedule | How many times Loop retries the charge, from 3 to 25, and the gap in days before each retry. |
Emails | Which retries send a payment failed email to the subscriber. Retries without an email run silently. |
Discounts | A percentage or fixed discount that applies automatically when the subscription reaches that retry. |
Outcome after all retries | Whether the subscription is paused or cancelled if the last retry fails. |
Learn more: Payment errors
Where to find advanced recovery strategies
Navigate to Loop admin > Retain > Payment recovery > Recovery strategies, then scroll to Advanced recovery strategy. Click Create strategy to build a new one, or click a default strategy's name to review and edit it.
Default strategies stay in Draft until you activate them. Open the ••• menu next to a strategy and set it to active once its retries, emails, and discounts fit your store.
Note: Advanced recovery strategies are available on the Pro plan. We create the 7 default strategies as drafts on new stores with advanced payment recovery. If you don't see them, you can build any of them with Create strategy using the failure reasons listed below.
Strategies you can create
The 7 default strategies are listed below. Treat them as a starting point, and adjust retries, discounts, and emails to fit your store and your subscribers.
1. Soft declines
For payments the bank declined for now, usually because of low funds or a spending limit. These often clear on their own, so the strategy retries quietly every day for two weeks before it emails the subscriber.
Failure reasons used: Card declined, Do not honor, Insufficient funds, Transaction limit exceeded
Default setup: 25 retries over 47 days, 11 emails, discounts from 5% to 20%
Learn more: Soft declines recovery strategy
2. Mixed declines
For payments that failed because of the card details, such as an expired card or a wrong card number. Some of these clear when the card details are updated, so the strategy retries quietly for a week before it asks the subscriber to update their card.
Failure reasons used: Card expired, Card type not supported, Incorrect card number, Invalid payment method
Default setup: 20 retries over 45 days, 13 emails, discounts from 5% to 25%
Learn more: Mixed declines recovery strategy
3. Hard declines
For payments the payment provider refused outright, where repeated retries rarely succeed. The strategy emails the subscriber from the third day and adds a discount early.
Failure reasons used: Billing agreement cancelled, Payment provider error, Card retry declined
Default setup: 15 retries over 42 days, 13 emails, discounts from 10% to 25%
Learn more: Hard declines recovery strategy
4. Wallet based declines
For card detail failures on subscribers who pay with Shop Pay, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. These subscribers fix the card inside their wallet or move to a card based payment method, so the strategy reaches out from the third day.
Failure reasons used: Card expired, Card type not supported, Incorrect card number, Invalid payment method
Condition used: Payment method is Shop Pay, Apple Pay, or Google Pay
Default setup: 15 retries over 45 days, 13 emails, discounts from 5% to 25%
Learn more: Wallet based declines recovery strategy
5. Payment method revoked
For subscribers whose saved payment method was removed or revoked. No retry can succeed until a new payment method is added, so the strategy emails the subscriber as soon as the payment fails.
Failure reasons used: Payment method revoked
Default setup: 10 retries over 41 days, 11 emails, discounts from 10% to 25%
Learn more: Payment method revoked recovery strategy
6. No customer action needed
For failures caused on your side or the payment provider's side, such as low inventory or a merchant account error. The subscriber can't fix these, so the strategy retries silently every 3 days while you resolve the cause.
Failure reasons used: Insufficient inventory, Merchant account error, No inventory location found, Payment provider not enabled, Transient error
Default setup: 15 retries over 45 days, 1 email
Learn more: No customer action needed recovery strategy
7. Fraud suspected
For payments the card issuer flagged as possible fraud. Repeated retries on a flagged card rarely succeed, so the strategy retries 3 times and then pauses the subscription.
Failure reasons used: Fraud suspected
Default setup: 3 retries over 3 days, 1 email
Learn more: Fraud suspected recovery strategy
Tracking results
The Advanced recovery strategy list shows payments failed, under recovery, recovered, and recovery rate for each strategy over the selected date range. Compare strategies to see which retry schedules and emails need changes. Click View payment analytics for a full breakdown by failure reason.
Learn more: Payment analytics
Need help?
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Regards,
Loop subscriptions team 🙂