Spotify Offboarding Teardown

This is a step-by-step teardown of the process Spotify users go through when they cancel subscriptions.

For this exercise, I signed up with an existing Spotify account for the 30-day free trial of the Premium version, then canceled afterward.

Video Overview

Step 1

It's relatively simple to find the "Cancel Premium" option on Spotify's Account page.

They also clarify the next billing date and amount.

Step 2

Once I click "Cancel Premium" I'm redirected to a Loss Aversion page. This page highlights what I will lose if I downgrade to the Free account type.

It doesn't tell me anything about my previous usage which seems a bit of a missed opportunity. It could tell me how many songs I've listened to offline or how many songs I had downloaded and would no longer have access to.

Overall this step seems like it might retain some users.

Step 3

Step 3 is a bit of a let down.

It essentially repeats what I've already seen in the previous screen. I already know the features I will lose. If I clicked "Continue to cancel" before, I'll click "Yes, cancel" again.

This is a missed opportunity for another offer with a higher chance at retention (ex: 25% off for the next month if you stay).

Step 4

Step 4 is also not the best.

It's good that they ask why I'm cancelling.

But it's bad - for them - that they don't ask me this before I cancel. At this stage I guess 90% of the people will close the window. They might be losing out on tons of great feedback.

Also, if the feedback is something like "I have had technical problems related to Spotify Premium" Spotify should make sure they know this to be able to reach out later.

This is why usually the survey with the churn reasons comes before users cancel - and not after.

Overall, this is a solid effort by Spotify. There is some margin for improvement, but they follow some of the industry best practices.

If you're building an offboarding experience, check out our Offboarding Cheatsheet as a first step to improve your retention.