Subscription Revenue
See what your subscriptions actually earn
A subscription renewal arrives as an ordinary order, so blended ad-spend allocation charges it a share of today's ad spend - even though the ad that won that customer was paid for at signup. Renewals end up looking unprofitable and your acquisition numbers get muddied. MerchantFlow recognises renewals, keeps them out of ad-spend allocation, and reports renewal revenue and renewal profit on their own, while still counting them in your total revenue and profit.
The Subscriptions page
Recurring revenue, its profit, and where it comes from
Active subscribers, renewal revenue net of refunds, renewal contribution profit and the month's projection, with a breakdown by product. The same figures can be pinned to your dashboard.
Subscriptions
Recurring revenue and its true contribution profit, with renewals excluded from ad spend.
Active subscribers (est.)
1,284
142 new - 61 estimated churn
Renewal revenue
$37,230
From 1,176 renewals
Refunds on renewals
$1,190
3.1% of gross renewal revenue
Renewal contribution profit
$21,870
58.7% margin, no ad spend
Est. revenue this month
$40,150
From each subscriber's billing cadence
By product
| Product | Subscribers | Renewals | Revenue | Contribution profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly coffee box | 612 | 571 | $21,120 | $10,340 | 49.0% |
| Filter refill club | 401 | 368 | $9,690 | $5,250 | 54.2% |
| Free-shipping membership | 271 | 237 | $6,420 | $6,280 | 97.8% |
Illustrative data - not representative of actual performance
The problem
Renewals are real revenue. They are not new customers.
Treat a renewal like any other order and three numbers you rely on drift at once.
Renewals get charged for ads they never needed
Blended allocation spreads the day's ad spend across every order, renewals included. A subscriber billed for the twelfth time picks up acquisition cost again, so subscription products can look unprofitable when they are your steadiest earners.
Your acquisition numbers get flattered
Every renewal that absorbs a share of ad spend lowers the cost charged to the first orders that ads actually produced. Paid acquisition looks cheaper per order than it really is.
Recurring income hides inside the totals
Renewals sit in the same revenue line as everything else, so you cannot see how much of the business repeats each month, what it earns after costs, or whether it is growing. Rebills billed outside your store, in a platform such as Checkout Champ, are missing entirely.
What you get
Recurring revenue you can read on its own
Renewals stay in your revenue and profit. They just stop distorting everything around them.
Renewals carry no ad spend
The ad that won a subscriber is charged to their first order, where it belongs. Renewals are kept out of ad-spend allocation, so per-order margins and acquisition costs read true. This applies on every plan.
Renewal profit after real costs
The Subscriptions page shows renewal revenue net of refunds, then renewal contribution profit after COGS, payment fees and fulfilment, overall and by product, for any time range you pick.
Detection that fits how you bill
Subscriptions sold through Shopify's native selling plans are recognised automatically, including apps such as Recharge, Loop and Kaching. Legacy Recharge checkouts are caught from their order tags, you can pick subscription products by hand, and Checkout Champ rebills are imported directly.
Honest about what is estimated
Active subscribers, churn and the month's projection are estimated from charges that already happened, and labelled that way. Refunds on renewals are exact. A projection with too little history shows N/A rather than a guess.
How it works
Three steps to honest subscription numbers
Connect your store
Orders sync with their selling plans and tags. Stores that bill renewals in Checkout Champ connect it under Settings - Integrations too.
Check how subscriptions are detected
Selling-plan detection works with no setup. Under Settings, turn tag detection on or off and pick any subscription products an older app does not mark.
Read renewals on their own
Open Customers - Subscriptions, or pin Renewal Revenue, Renewal Contribution Profit and Active Subscribers to your dashboard.
FAQ
Questions about subscription revenue
Which plans include subscription reporting?
The Subscriptions page and the subscription dashboard cards are part of the Pro and Plus plans. Keeping renewals out of ad-spend allocation is not plan-gated: it applies on every plan, because it corrects your margins rather than adding a report.
Are renewals still counted in my revenue and profit?
Yes. A renewal is a real sale, so it stays in Total Brand Revenue, Net Profit and your P&L. The Subscriptions page and dashboard cards show the recurring part on its own; they do not move it out of your totals.
Does a subscriber's first order count as a renewal?
No. The first order is an acquisition and keeps its share of ad spend. Only the charges that follow it are renewals.
Which subscription apps does it work with?
Any app that uses Shopify's native selling plans is detected automatically; Recharge, Loop and Kaching have been verified in practice. Legacy Recharge checkouts are caught from their order tags, and you can pick subscription products by hand for anything else. Subscriptions billed in Checkout Champ are imported through the Checkout Champ integration. WooCommerce Subscriptions is not supported yet.
How accurate are the subscriber counts?
They are estimates. MerchantFlow reads the charges that happened rather than the subscription contracts themselves, so a paused subscription, a payment being retried and a cancellation look alike until a charge is missed. Apps that publish a paused or cancelled state, such as Kaching and Checkout Champ, make the count more precise. Refunds on renewals are exact.
Can I see subscriptions on my dashboard?
Yes. A Subscriptions card on the dashboard shows renewal revenue, renewal profit, active subscribers and the month's projection, and you can pin Renewal Revenue, Renewal Contribution Profit, Renewal Margin, Renewal Orders or Active Subscribers as North Star metrics.