Gratsi earns a 16X ROI with in-email subscription management and frictionless cross-sells

By working with YOCTO to embed Zaymo's in-email subscription portal and one-click cross-sells into a billing reminder flow, Gratsi cut subscriber churn by 31% and drove meaningful incremental cross-sell revenue, all validated through a controlled A/B test.

Gratsi is a direct-to-consumer wine subscription brand that pairs curated bottles with a commitment to honest, no-fuss commerce. With a loyal subscriber base and strong repeat purchase intent, the foundation for recurring revenue was already there. The friction lived at the moments that mattered most.

Initial Problem

Gratsi’s team identified two significant opportunities being left on the table:

Subscriber churn from pacing mismatch. The most common reason subscribers cancelled wasn’t dissatisfaction with the wine, it was that the cadence didn’t fit their consumption pace. Subscribers who simply needed to skip a shipment or slow their frequency were instead churning entirely.
Missed cross-sell revenue at high-intent moments. Billing reminders are among the highest-engagement emails in a subscription program, subscribers are actively thinking about their upcoming order. Without a frictionless way to add products in-email, that intent went unmonetized.

Zaymo and YOCTO’s Solution

YOCTO, Gratsi’s email strategy and build partner, integrated Zaymo’s in-email interactivity platform into a new billing reminder flow that addressed both challenges inside a single email experience:

In-email subscription portal. Subscribers can skip, delay, adjust frequency, or manage their upcoming order directly inside the email. No login, no new tab, no portal navigation. The action happens where their attention already is.
One-click cross-sell offers. Curated product recommendations sit alongside the subscription management block. Subscribers can add bottles to their upcoming order with a single click, converting inside the email itself before the moment fades.

The key insight was timing. A billing reminder is a moment of active attention. Giving subscribers easy, low-friction tools to adjust, rather than forcing a choice between “keep it as-is” and “cancel,” preserved relationships that would otherwise have ended.

Setup

To separate genuine lift from seasonal variation, YOCTO ran a controlled A/B test on the billing reminder flow. Two variants were sent to statistically significant subscriber segments:

Control. Standard billing reminder with a link out to the subscription portal.
Variant. Zaymo-powered billing reminder with embedded subscription management and in-email cross-sells.

Every result below is measured against that control.

The in-email interaction on the billing reminder flow, where subscribers can manage their order without leaving the email, removes friction at exactly the moment people might otherwise cancel.

Gratsi team On subscriber churn

Results

The program delivered outsized returns by working two revenue levers at once: protecting existing subscriber revenue through churn reduction, and growing per-subscriber value through cross-sells, all inside a single email touchpoint.

16X ROI total return from incremental revenue and retention savings vs. cost
31% reduction in subscriber churn, proven via A/B test
12X ROI from retention alone
4X ROI from in-email cross-sells, no redirect required

The 31% churn reduction wasn’t won through discounts or win-back campaigns. It was won by removing friction at the exact moment a subscriber was weighing whether to cancel, and giving them a self-serve tool for the real problem (pacing) right where their attention already lived.

It genuinely makes subscribers' lives easier. They can make changes without ever having to contact us, which has also reduced customer service volume on our end. Less friction for them, less back and forth for us.

Gratsi team On day-to-day impact

Takeaways

The billing reminder was the highest-leverage, highest-urgency moment in Gratsi’s subscriber journey, and it was the right place to start. By treating it as a moment of active attention rather than a transactional checkpoint, Gratsi turned a churn trigger into a retention moment and converted latent cross-sell intent into revenue inside the same email.

With the foundation proven, Gratsi is extending Zaymo-powered interactions to additional lifecycle touchpoints: welcome flows, post-purchase sequences, and replenishment nudges. The playbook isn’t about the billing reminder specifically, it’s about meeting subscribers where their attention already lives.