How Do I Validate the Returning Subscribers Calculation?

To validate the "Returning Subscribers" calculation in the Subscribers Analytics dashboard, you can use the Subscriptions export to perform a manual check.

Follow these steps to download and analyze the data:

1. Download the Subscriptions Export:

   • In the Recurly Admin Console, go to Analytics > Exports.

   • Select the Subscriptions export.

   • For the filters, set "Subscription status" to "All" and "Time Range" to "All Time."

2. Identify Returning Subscribers: Once the export is downloaded, you can use the account_code column to check for duplicate account codes. The presence of a duplicate account_code indicates that an account has had more than one subscription.

3. Validate the Returning Status:

   • Use the activated_at and expires_at columns to determine when the first subscription expired and when the second subscription was activated.

   • For a subscription to qualify as a "Returning Subscriber," the new activated_at date must be at least 24 hours after the previous subscription's expires_at date. If this condition is met, that subscription would contribute toward the Returning Subscriber calculation.