By Lisa Bratkovich | Partner, The CMO Syndicate
Some say subscription is dead. After leading several sessions at SubSummit 2026, I'd say something different: the subscription category is finally growing up.
Most CPG brands unknowingly leave millions on the table with average-performing subscription programs, a "set it and forget it" strategy, and only 10-20% of customers subscribing.
20% isn't a ceiling. It's typically a symptom of negative performance that most brands don’t recognize.
Now, CPG brands are starting to catch up to what those of us who've lived deep in subscription for decades have always known: the model truly works when you build past the basics, use performance, brand, consumer psychology, payment/shipment best practices, and understand how to monetize every lever.
Three conversations at SubSummit addressed different issues that "growing up" needed to tackle:
1. 80% of your customers aren’t subscribing. That’s not a holistic retention strategy, now what?
2. Can a loyalty program strategically work with subscription?
3. Do typical data points and common beliefs often miss key signals? Can insights and AI unlock them?
First, the rise of the "Sometimes" customer who doesn’t subscribe.
For those non-subscribers who love your product, Jay Myers, Co-Founder of Bold Commerce, made the case that the future of repeat revenue isn't fixed, it's optional.
Just launched by Bold, rePete.me is a predictive AI reorder agent built for exactly those buyers.
So, how is it different from a typical reminder email/SMS flow to these customers? With rePete, the flow is predicted at the customer level vs. scheduled with fixed shipment cycles, which rarely mimic actual consumption. rePete also uses more channels.
Second, as a brand strategy, loyalty can successfully ride with subscription.
In my fireside chat with Matthew Seifert, VP of CRM & Loyalty at PrettyLitter, he named what most operators get wrong: they assume subscription is already doing the full loyalty job. It usually isn't.
PrettyLitter built loyalty on top of an already successful subscription program, and early data shows it is paying off in increased retention, expansion to retail, and notable community-first brand awareness.
Third, the data you have doesn’t lie, but it may not be telling the full story yet.
In my masterclass panel, Yael Dornbusch (Chief Subscription Officer, Zumba), James Bollinger (Head of Product & Data, Spot & Tango), and Sylvia Caballero (VP Marketing Strategy & Ops, FloSports) each shared stories where data or common beliefs said one thing, but a deeper signal said another. Pursuing those signals, trusting insights, and using AI-driven predictive churn models became game-changers.
Traditional subscribe and save isn't going away, but it is growing up. Your retention strategy should grow with it. Is it?
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About the Author
Lisa Bratkovich
Partner, The CMO Syndicate
Lisa is an accomplished Chief Marketing Officer known for driving significant growth for e-commerce, direct-to- consumer, and omnichannel CPG brands. With an over 30-year track record of proven results, Lisa works with CEOS and CMOs to unlock revenue and profit for large-cap to early-stage start-up brands.
She has led the launch, optimization, and scale for many brands and is also an expert in subscription business models, DRTV, and celebrity-based brands. With her P&L, general management, and AI-focused experience, Lisa also helps companies better monetize their marketing efforts and internal expenditures.