Free OpenClaw Skill for Subscription Box Companies: Retention and Dunning Agent (Download)

What this skill does for your subscription box brands

• Coordinates failed-payment dunning across Stripe Smart Retries, Stunning, and Churn Buster, with messaging keyed to the decline reason (insufficient funds, expired card, do-not-honor, fraud block).
• Runs the skip-month flow: surfaces the skip option before the next box ships, and converts the skip-intent customer into a swap, a downgrade, or a hold rather than a cancel.
• Drafts the churn-save offer for customers hitting cancel with the offer keyed to tenure, LTV bucket, and stated reason (price, fit, value, life-event).
• Tracks LTV by cohort and surfaces the LTV/CAC and contribution margin trends so the operator catches the slow leak before it shows up in the P&L.
• Owns the win-back cadence for cancelled subscribers at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days with offers gated by prior churn-save outcome.

What's inside this OpenClaw skill

The full file you download, indexed below for search engines and for operators who want to read before they install.

---
name: subscription-box-retention
description: Retention and dunning agent for subscription box brands. Handles failed-payment dunning, skip-month conversion, churn-save offers, LTV cohort tracking, and win-back cadence. Integrates with Recharge, Bold Subscriptions, Skio, Stripe Smart Retries, Stunning, Churn Buster, Klaviyo, Postscript.
version: 1.0.0
author: OpenClaw Consult (Adhiraj Hangal)
license: MIT
url: https://openclawconsult.com/skills/subscription-box-companies
---

# OpenClaw Skill: Subscription Box Retention and Dunning Operator

## Overview

This skill turns the OpenClaw agent into the retention and dunning operator
for a subscription box brand. It does not replace the retention manager: it
amplifies them. The skill owns the daily dunning sweep, the skip-month
conversion flow, the churn-save offers, the LTV/CAC dashboard, and the
win-back cadence so the operator can focus on product mix, acquisition, and
the high-judgment churn calls.

It is designed for subscription brands with 1,000 to 250,000 active
subscribers running Recharge, Bold Subscriptions, Skio, Stay AI, Awtomic, or
Loop Subscriptions on Shopify. Stripe is assumed for payment processing.

## What this skill does

1. Coordinates failed-payment dunning across Stripe Smart Retries, Stunning, and Churn Buster
2. Runs the skip-month flow with swap, downgrade, or hold alternatives
3. Drafts churn-save offers keyed to tenure, LTV bucket, and cancel reason
4. Tracks LTV by cohort with leading-indicator alerts
5. Owns the win-back cadence at 30, 60, 90, 180 days
6. Provides the Monday retention dashboard the operator stares at every week

## Triggers

```yaml
triggers:
  - type: heartbeat
    schedule: "0 7 * * 1"            # Mondays 7am
    action: monday_retention_sweep

  - type: heartbeat
    schedule: "0 6 * * *"            # Daily 6am
    action: daily_dunning_sweep

  - type: heartbeat
    schedule: "0 14 * * 1-5"         # Weekdays 2pm
    action: skip_intent_conversion_sweep

  - type: on_event
    event: stripe.charge_failed
    action: enter_dunning_workflow

  - type: on_event
    event: subscription.skip_requested
    action: enter_skip_month_conversion

  - type: on_event
    event: subscription.cancel_requested
    action: enter_churn_save

  - type: on_event
    event: subscription.cancelled
    action: enter_win_back_queue
```

## Workflow: failed-payment dunning

When a charge fails, the agent:

1. Classifies the decline reason: insufficient funds (NSF), expired card, do-not-honor, fraud block, processor error
2. Picks the right retry strategy:
   - NSF and processor errors: Stripe Smart Retries at 3, 5, 7 days with soft email reminders
   - Expired card: trigger the update-card flow via Stunning with email + SMS to opt-in subscribers
   - Do-not-honor: surface to operator since these often need the customer to whitelist their bank
   - Fraud block: route for manual review
3. Coordinates the messaging across Stunning or Churn Buster, never double-dunning the customer
4. Tracks the recovery rate per decline reason for the operator's dashboard

The skill respects the customer's prior dunning history. A customer who has been dunned twice in 90 days gets a different tone than a first-time failed payment.

## Workflow: skip-month conversion

When a subscriber opens the skip-month flow, the agent:

1. Reads the stated reason (if asked) and the implicit signal (cart contents, prior skip history, tenure)
2. Offers an alternative before processing the skip:
   - "Too much product" -> downgrade to lower frequency (3-month to 6-month, monthly to bi-monthly)
   - "Tried that already" -> swap product or category
   - "Saving money" -> a value-add (smaller box at reduced price)
   - "Going on vacation" -> a hold for 1-2 months instead of skip
3. If the subscriber still wants to skip, processes the skip cleanly with a confirmation that next box ships on the next interval
4. Logs the skip reason and the conversion attempt to memory

Skip-month flow conversion is the highest-margin save in the playbook. Capturing 20% of skip-intent into swap-or-downgrade is worth several points of annual revenue.

## Workflow: churn-save

When a subscriber clicks cancel, the agent:

1. Pulls their tenure, LTV bucket, and product history
2. Asks for the cancel reason if not already captured
3. Drafts the offer keyed to (tenure, LTV bucket, reason):
   - High-LTV + price reason -> 25% off next 3 months
   - High-LTV + product reason -> category swap or premium box trial
   - Mid-LTV + life-event reason -> respectful pause with re-engage in 60 days
   - Low-LTV + any reason -> standard 15% off save offer
4. Routes to the operator for approval by default
5. Logs the offer, the outcome, and the post-save retention rate

Offers above 30% off, offers to subscribers with chargeback history, and offers in compliance-sensitive categories stay manual indefinitely.

## Workflow: LTV cohort tracking

Every Monday, the agent:

1. Computes revenue per subscriber by acquisition cohort
2. Attributes acquisition cost from Meta, Google, TikTok, and your other ad accounts
3. Computes LTV at month-3, month-6, month-12, month-24 per cohort
4. Compares the most recent cohort to the trailing 6 months
5. Flags any cohort tracking 10% or more below the trailing baseline at the month-3 or month-6 mark
6. Surfaces the contribution margin trend

The leading-indicator alert is the most valuable part of this workflow. A cohort tracking 12% low at month-3 is almost certainly going to bleed out by month-12, and catching it at month-3 gives the operator 9 months to react.

## Workflow: win-back

Cancelled subscribers enter the win-back queue. Touchpoints:

- Day 30: lightweight re-engage with no offer ("anything we can fix?")
- Day 60: category-swap or downgrade offer based on original cancel reason
- Day 90: stronger offer (often 30-50% off first box back)
- Day 180: annual check-in with new product launches

The offer at each touchpoint is gated by the prior churn-save outcome. A subscriber who declined a 25% save offer gets a different sequence than one who churned for a stated life event.

## Memory keys

```yaml
memory:
  - key: sub.subscriber[{subscriber_id}]
    description: Subscriber state and metadata
    schema: { tenure_months: number, ltv_bucket: string, last_billing_event: datetime, status: string, prior_skip_count: number, prior_save_outcomes: array }

  - key: sub.dunning_state[{subscriber_id}]
    description: Active dunning sequence
    schema: { decline_reason: string, retry_attempts: number, last_retry_at: datetime, recovery_state: string }

  - key: sub.skip_intent[{subscriber_id}]
    description: Active skip-month flow
    schema: { opened_at: datetime, reason: string, alternative_offered: string, outcome: string }

  - key: sub.churn_save[{subscriber_id}]
    description: Active or completed churn-save attempt
    schema: { offered_at: datetime, offer: string, accepted: bool, retention_outcome: string }

  - key: sub.cohort[{cohort_month}]
    description: Cohort-level LTV and retention metrics
    schema: { acquired: number, active_month_3: number, active_month_6: number, ltv_month_3: number, ltv_month_6: number, ltv_month_12: number }
```

## Message templates

```yaml
templates:
  dunning_nsf_first_retry:
    channel: email
    subject: "Quick heads up about your {brand_name} renewal"
    body: |
      Hi {subscriber_first_name},

      Your card was declined when we tried to renew today. Banks sometimes
      flag subscription charges as suspicious, and most clear up on the
      next try.

      We will try again on {next_retry_date}. If you want to update your
      card before then, here is the link:

      {update_card_url}

      No action needed if everything is fine.

      The {brand_name} team

  expired_card_update_request:
    channel: sms
    body: |
      Hi {subscriber_first_name}, this is {brand_first_name} from
      {brand_name}. Looks like the card on file expired. To keep your
      {next_box_name} on track, update here: {update_card_url}

      Reply STOP to opt out.

  skip_month_alternative:
    channel: email
    subject: "Want to swap or downgrade instead of skipping?"
    body: |
      Hi {subscriber_first_name},

      Saw you started the skip flow for {month}'s box. Before you skip,
      one quick option:

      {alternative_offer}

      Or if a skip is really what you need, here is the one-tap link:
      {confirm_skip_url}

      Either way, we will be here when you are ready.

      The {brand_name} team

  churn_save_high_ltv_price:
    channel: email
    subject: "Before you go, one thing"
    body: |
      Hi {subscriber_first_name},

      You have been with us for {tenure_months} months and we appreciate
      that. Before you cancel, here is the offer we save for our longest
      subscribers:

      {discount_offer}

      Use {one_tap_link} to apply it to the next 3 boxes.

      If you still want to cancel, here is the link: {cancel_confirm_url}

      Either way, thank you for the time you have been with us.

      The {brand_name} team

  win_back_day_60_swap:
    channel: email
    subject: "Curious to try the {alternative_category} box?"
    body: |
      Hi {subscriber_first_name},

      You mentioned the {original_category} box was not quite right when
      you left. We have been quietly working on {alternative_category},
      which is a different feel.

      Want to try a single box at {trial_offer}, no commitment? Pick yours
      here: {try_link}

      No worries if not.

      The {brand_name} team

  monday_retention_summary_internal:
    channel: slack
    body: |
      Monday retention sweep, week of {week_of}

      Active subscribers: {active_count}
      Failed payments overnight: {failed_payment_count}
      Skip-month conversions last 7 days: {skip_converted_count} of {skip_intent_count} ({skip_conversion_rate})
      Churn saves last 7 days: {saves_attempted} attempted, {saves_converted} converted at avg {avg_discount} off
      Cohort LTV alerts: {cohort_alerts}
```

## Required integrations

| Integration                | Purpose                                        | Read | Write |
|----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------|-------|
| Recharge / Bold / Skio     | Subscription state, intervals, billing dates   | yes  | optional |
| Stripe                     | Payment events and Smart Retries               | yes  | yes   |
| Stunning                   | Dunning communications and update-card flows   | yes  | yes   |
| Churn Buster               | Multi-channel dunning                          | yes  | yes   |
| Klaviyo                    | Marketing email and flow control               | yes  | yes   |
| Postscript                 | Marketing SMS                                  | yes  | yes   |
| Shopify Admin GraphQL      | Order and customer data                        | yes  | optional |
| Slack                      | Operator alerts and Monday dashboard           | no   | yes   |
| OpenClaw Memory            | Cross-run state                                | yes  | yes   |
| OpenClaw Heartbeat         | Scheduled triggers                             | yes  | yes   |

Write-back to the subscription platform starts disabled. Most operators flip on subscription pause, swap, and downgrade actions after two weeks of validation. Cancellation actions stay with the operator indefinitely.

## Compliance

The skill respects subscriber opt-in status from Klaviyo and Postscript
before sending any marketing communication. Transactional notifications
(card declined, card expired) ride on the transactional channel and are
not blocked by marketing opt-out status, per Stripe and standard email-
deliverability practice. All marketing copy includes the unsubscribe
footer pulled from your provider.

## Configuration

```yaml
config:
  brand_name: "Your Brand"
  brand_voice: "warm-direct"
  approval_mode: operator_approves_all   # or "selective_autonomous"
  ltv_buckets:
    high: { min_revenue: 500 }
    mid: { min_revenue: 150, max_revenue: 499 }
    low: { max_revenue: 149 }
  dunning_retry_schedule_nsf: [3d, 5d, 7d]
  dunning_retry_schedule_expired: [immediate]
  skip_conversion_alternatives: [downgrade, swap, hold]
  churn_save_max_discount_autonomous_pct: 25
  win_back_cadence: [30d, 60d, 90d, 180d]
  cohort_alert_threshold_pct: 10
```

## Quick install

```bash
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
mv subscription-box-companies.md ~/.claude/skills/subscription-box-retention.md
# Edit the config block to match your brand
```

Launch OpenClaw and the skill is live. Run `monday retention sweep` or
`run dunning sweep` to invoke it on demand, or wait for Heartbeat to fire
on the configured schedule.

## Want it wired to your stack?

This SKILL.md is the starting point. If you want it plugged into your
specific subscription platform, your dunning stack, your churn-save
playbook, and your cohort definitions on a fixed-price two-week clock,
the door is at https://www.adhirajhangal.com/work

Install in 60 seconds

1. 1

   Drop the file into your OpenClaw skills directory

   Save the downloaded subscription-box-companies.md as ~/.claude/skills/subscription-box-retention.md (or your project-level .claude/skills/). OpenClaw picks up new skill files on next agent launch, no restart command required.

2. 2

   Connect your subscription platform and dunning tools

   Edit the integrations block to add your Recharge, Bold Subscriptions, or Skio API key, your Stripe API key, your Stunning or Churn Buster credentials, and your Klaviyo or Postscript keys. Read-only is enough for the dashboard and the churn-save drafting. Write access on dunning lets the skill update retry schedules and send the dunning sequence.

3. 3

   Start in operator approval mode, then move churn-save offers to autonomous

   Run for two weeks with the operator approving every dunning sequence change, every skip-month conversion offer, and every churn-save offer. The skill defaults route any offer above 30% off, any offer to a customer with prior chargeback history, and any compliance-sensitive flow to a human. After two weeks, flip the standard dunning sequences and the tenure-appropriate skip-month conversion offers to autonomous.

Example conversation

Common questions

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