MarTech Interview with Priya Lakshminarayanan, Chief Product Officer at Recurly

I explore how Recurly’s Spring Product Release is helping subscription and ecommerce brands build stronger customer relationships through smarter personalization and real-time insights. Recurly Compass, our new AI-powered decision engine, gives teams a clearer picture of subscriber behavior and churn risk, so they can take action earlier with timely, personalized engagement, rather than responding after a customer is already lost.

While our spring release did include our innovative Shopify integration, Recurly’s recent acquisition of Prive (now Recurly Commerce) makes it easier for ecommerce brands to offer subscriptions alongside one-time purchases in a single checkout, and how our expanded payment partnerships improve flexibility and reduce friction at checkout. The broader theme throughout is how brands can use automation not just to grow, but to retain, and how the future of subscriptions is about delivering seamless, customer-first experiences.

Priya, can you please start by sharing your professional journey and what led you to your role as CPO at Recurly?
I’ve spent the past two decades building and scaling product experiences at companies like Meta, PayPal, Microsoft, and Brex, focusing on everything from cloud and payments platforms to trust and safety in commerce to growth and monetization of SaaS offerings. Through this journey, I became increasingly fascinated by the power of subscription models to drive sustainable growth and deepen customer relationships.

Recurly stood out to me because of its expertise and thought leadership in this space. Subscription businesses power everything from entertainment to ecommerce, and yet the tools behind the scenes often lag behind consumer expectations. As Chief Product Officer, I saw an opportunity to lead product innovation to help brands not just manage but optimize the entire subscriber experience.

What was the core strategy behind this latest ecommerce product launch, and how does it position Recurly to better support subscription brands?
The strategy behind the launch was to bring together all the key pieces brands need to build and grow successful ecommerce subscription programs, starting with acquisition and extending through the entire customer lifecycle, even beyond the end of a subscription.

Recurly’s acquisition of Prive broadens its subscription billing expertise, offering more tailored solutions for businesses expanding into physical goods subscriptions. The combination of Prive’s industry-leading subscriber experiences and Recurly’s enterprise-grade scalability and capabilities in AI-powered analytics, intelligent retries etc. will make Recurly Commerce the best solution on the market.
Together, these tools empower brands to make smarter decisions and create seamless experiences that meet customers where they are.

How do you see Recurly Compass and its AI-driven decision engine transforming how subscription services operate and engage customers?
Recurly Compass uses AI to help platforms make smarter decisions about how they manage and grow their subscriber base. It analyzes things like churn risk, subscriber health, and revenue performance to discover opportunities for proactively engaging users. Instead of waiting until a subscriber cancels or a payment fails, Recurly Compass spots early warning signs, like a drop in activity or a missed payment, and helps teams respond before the customer is lost. That response might be a personalized promotion, payment reminders, or a subscription pause option. The goal is to give brands real-time, actionable insights so they can keep subscribers engaged and loyal for the long term.

With subscriber acquisition rates dropping, what are the biggest challenges marketers face today when trying to attract and retain customers?
Getting someone to sign up is just the start; the real challenge is keeping them. With so many subscription options on the market and budgets tightening due to economic uncertainty, consumers are increasingly selective about where they spend their money. This makes engagement and retention more important than ever.

The biggest challenge is making every interaction count. Marketers are expected to personalize offerings, create loyalty, and show value across every touchpoint, often with fewer resources. The brands that are succeeding are the ones breaking down internal silos between marketing, product, and payments, and using real-time data to stay in sync with customer behavior. Retention now plays a central role in growth, and that means focusing on ongoing, meaningful touchpoints that adapt as the subscriber’s needs evolve.

How can brands use tools like your new Recurly Commerce and expanded payment partnerships to create more agile, seamless customer experiences?
Shopify is a core platform for ecommerce brands, and our new product offering is designed to make subscriptions feel just as intuitive as traditional online shopping. With our tools, brands can offer subscriptions and one-time products in a single checkout, among other seamless features. Pair that with our expanded alternative payment offerings like Apple Pay, PayPal and Klarna Buy Now Pay Later options, and brands can give consumers the flexibility and convenience to shop and pay how they prefer. This also reduces friction at checkout and removes barriers that often lead to abandoned carts. If a shopper shows signs of churn, whether it’s a skipped renewal, a missed payment, or inactivity, Recurly Commerce makes it easy to step in with personalized interventions.

“Subscription success isn’t just about getting someone to sign up; it’s about continuing to deliver value in ways that are personal, timely, and effortless. The brands that grow sustainably are the ones that use the right tools to stay connected, respond in real time, and build lasting relationships through every stage of the subscriber journey.”

In a market where customer loyalty is increasingly hard to secure, what strategies do you believe are most effective for building long-term relationships?
Loyalty isn’t something you can buy, it’s something you build over time by being relevant, reliable, and responsive to your customers’ needs. The brands that do this well treat every subscriber interaction as a chance to deepen the relationship. That could be through personalized pricing, flexible billing options, or simply showing up at the right moment with the right message.

Retention has become more important than ever. That’s why Recurly’s tools are so valuable. They give brands insight into how subscribers are behaving and make it easier to test and adjust strategies in real time. Long-term relationships are built when customers feel seen and supported throughout their journey. The brands that prioritize that level of care are the ones that will keep customers coming back.

From your personal strategy as a marketing leader, how do you ensure your team stays innovative and responsive to shifting market dynamics?
Staying innovative starts with staying close to the customer and staying abreast of market trends. We make it a priority to listen to feedback from users, signals from the market related to new subscription models, and new tools to partner or integrate with that will add value to our merchants’ business. When you really understand what’s working and what’s not, it becomes much easier to move quickly and with confidence.

I also believe teams need room to experiment. The subscription space changes fast, and what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. We try things, we learn from them, and we make adjustments. It’s part of our culture to stay curious, test ideas, and use data to guide what we do next. Being responsive doesn’t mean chasing every new trend. It means staying focused on what matters most to your customers and building solutions that solve real problems in an increasingly competitive landscape.

What advice would you offer to marketers struggling to balance the need for fast action with the importance of delivering consistent, meaningful customer touchpoints?
Fast action only works when it’s connected to a broader, intentional strategy. I encourage marketers to define a clear lifecycle vision first. What do you want your subscriber journey to feel like? What are the non-negotiables in terms of tone, timing, or value delivery? Once that foundation is in place, you can move quickly because your guardrails are clear.

Also, don’t be afraid to start small. You don’t need to orchestrate the perfect end-to-end journey overnight. Pick one friction point – maybe it’s a drop-off in engagement or a spike in cancellations – and experiment with how a timely, thoughtful touchpoint could make a difference. When fast action is grounded in insight and executed with intention, it doesn’t compete with consistency, it enhances it.

How do you see AI continuing to reshape the future of marketing over the next few years, particularly in the subscription space?
Instead of reacting after a subscriber cancels or engagement drops, brands can now use AI to spot early warning signs and step in with the right message or offering. At Recurly, we’re using AI to help brands better understand their subscribers – like who’s likely to churn, when to offer a pause instead of a cancellation, or how to personalize offerings based on behavior. AI doesn’t replace the creative side of marketing; it supports it by giving teams the insight they need to move faster and make their work more impactful.

As subscriptions become a bigger part of how people buy everything from entertainment to physical goods, brands need to be more responsive than ever. AI is key to meeting that demand by helping marketers deliver experiences that feel timely, relevant, and personal.

Finally, Priya, what’s the one key takeaway you’d like to leave our readers with about the future of ecommerce and subscription brand success?
I would say that subscriptions are no longer just a business model; they’re becoming a part of consumers’ daily lives. Whether it’s getting a favorite skincare product delivered on a schedule or streaming the next big TV series, subscriptions are woven into our everyday routines. This means brands have a responsibility to make those experiences seamless and valuable.

In ecommerce, especially, we’re seeing subscriptions evolve as a core growth strategy. They complement online shopping by giving consumers more options and businesses new ways to engage. Platforms that are seeing the most success are the ones that use subscriptions as a relationship builder, rather than just a billing mechanism.

If there’s one thing I’d emphasize, it’s that subscription success comes from putting the customer at the center of every decision. When brands use the right tools to deliver value at every stage of the journey, they’re not just retaining subscribers, they’re earning loyalty.