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The Failed payments page shows subscription contracts with failed billing attempts. When a customer’s payment method fails, the subscription appears in this list so you can take action.
Failed payments page showing billing failures and retry actions

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What are failed payments?

A failed payment occurs when Shopify attempts to bill a subscription contract but the payment is declined. Common reasons include:
  • Expired credit card
  • Insufficient funds
  • Card reported lost or stolen
  • Payment method cancelled by the customer
  • Bank declined the charge
When a payment fails, the subscription contract is not cancelled immediately. Instead, the app tracks the failure and continues retry attempts based on your dunning configuration.

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View failed payments

To access the Failed payments page:
  1. Click Subscriptions in the main navigation
  2. Click Failed payments or view the failed payments section on the Subscriptions page
The list shows:
  • Order: The order number associated with the failed billing attempt
  • Contract: The subscription contract ID
  • Customer: The customer name and email
  • Failed count: Number of failed billing attempts for this contract
  • Retry count: Number of automatic retry attempts made
  • Actions: Options to retry billing, contact the customer, or cancel the subscription

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Automatic retry attempts

The app automatically retries failed payments according to your dunning schedule. Each retry sends a dunning email to the customer reminding them to update their payment method. After the maximum retry attempts, the subscription may be:
  • Paused: Billing stops but the contract remains active (customer can resume by updating payment)
  • Cancelled: The subscription is permanently cancelled (depending on your settings)

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Manually retry a failed payment

If the customer updates their payment method, you can manually retry the billing attempt:
  1. Find the subscription in the Failed payments list
  2. Click the retry action (if available)
  3. Shopify immediately attempts to bill the updated payment method
  4. If successful, the subscription resumes and moves out of the failed payments list
Manual retry only works if the customer has updated their payment method. Retrying with the same failed payment method will fail again.

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Customize the failed-billing email

You can customize the dunning email that customers receive when a payment fails.

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Edit the email template

1

Go to Failed payments

Click Subscriptions → Failed payments.
2

Open email template

Click Email Template or Customize email (depending on the UI).
3

Edit email fields

Customize:
  • Important Link: A URL to direct customers (e.g., your customer portal or payment update page)
  • Greetings: The greeting text at the top of the email (e.g., “Dear Valued Customer”)
4

Save changes

Click Save to apply your changes. Future failed-billing emails will use the updated template.
Include a clear call-to-action in your dunning emails, such as “Update your payment method to resume your subscription.” Provide a direct link to the customer portal or payment update page.

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How dunning works

Dunning is the automated process of retrying failed payments and sending reminder emails:
  1. A billing attempt fails
  2. The subscription moves to the failed payments list
  3. The app sends the first dunning email to the customer
  4. The app retries billing after a delay (e.g., 3 days later)
  5. If it fails again, another email is sent and another retry is scheduled
  6. After the maximum retries, the subscription is paused or cancelled
Dunning settings (retry schedule, maximum attempts, email timing) are configured by the app. Contact support@getappfox.com if you need to adjust the dunning schedule.

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Best practices

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Reduce failed payments

  • Encourage customers to keep their payment methods up to date
  • Send proactive reminders before cards expire
  • Offer multiple payment options
  • Make it easy to update payment methods in the customer portal

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Handle failures quickly

  • Check the Failed payments list regularly
  • Contact high-value customers directly when payments fail
  • Offer grace periods before cancelling subscriptions

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Optimize dunning emails

  • Keep the message friendly and helpful, not punitive
  • Provide a clear path to update payment (link to customer portal)
  • Use your brand voice and colors
  • Customer portal — Let customers update payment methods themselves
  • Emails — Customize other subscription email templates
  • Subscriptions — View and manage all subscription contracts
Failed payments are separate from cancelled subscriptions. A failed payment means billing failed but the contract is still active (pending retry). A cancelled subscription has been permanently ended.