---
title: "Intro offer: definition, formula and example"
description: "What a new subscriber gets on the first order only: a deeper discount, a gift, a free trial. It buys the subscriber and is repaid by renewals."
url: https://offersuite.io/glossary/intro-offer
updated: 2026-10-13
---

# Intro offer

What a new subscriber gets on the first order only: a deeper discount, a gift, a free trial. It buys the subscriber and is repaid by renewals.

## In plain words

An intro offer is the deal on a subscription's first order: 20% off the first box, a free gift, the first month free. Its job is to get a visitor to start. From the second order on, the regular subscription price applies.

Intro offers differ in three ways at once. They cost different amounts on the first order. They convert at different rates. And they attract different subscribers, who stay for different lengths of time. The richest intro often converts best and retains worst, so the three effects have to be weighed together.

## Formula

- Value of a subscriber = first-order margin under the intro + Σ renewal margins on that intro's renewal curve
- Profit per visitor = conversion × subscriber value − cost per visitor

## Worked example

Two intros for one coffee subscription, with every visitor costing $0.90 to bring. A first-order discount with a gift mug converts 3.0% and wins a subscriber worth $53.29 over a year. Plain subscribe-and-save converts 2.4%, and its subscribers, who stay longer, are worth $70.77.

The engine puts the richer intro at $0.70 per visitor and the plain one at $0.80. The intro that converts worse earns more, and the other would need 6.3% more subscribers to match it.

### The example order

A $40.00 bag of coffee, shipped free, every cost counted

Revenue $40.00 to contribution margin $15.36 (38.4%)

Revenue

$40.00

Cost of goods

−$12.00

Pick and pack

−$1.18

Packaging

−$0.50

Shipping label

−$7.50

Card fee per order

−$0.30

Refunds

−$2.00

Card processing

−$1.16

Contribution margin

$15.36

2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option

Computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from a $40.00 bag of coffee with a $12.00 unit cost.

## The best-converting intro is not the best intro

An intro that brings more subscribers at a larger first-order loss, who then leave sooner, can lose to a plainer one on every measure that matters. Judge intros on profit per visitor over a fixed horizon, with each intro's own retention.

## Using it

When you test intro offers, keep the test running long enough to see the first renewal. That is where intros differ most. Record which intro won each subscriber, so renewals can be credited to it months later. And cap what an intro can combine with: an intro discount on top of a sale is how first orders end up below cost.

## In Offer Suite

Offer Suite's intro offer comparison gives each intro its own first-order margin, renewal curve and conversion against one cost per visitor, so an intro that converts better is credited with buying its subscribers more cheaply.

Source: Offer Suite's margin engine.

## Related

- [Glossary **Glossary of offer economics** The terms behind offer profit, defined plainly with their formulas and a worked number: contribution margin, profit per visitor, break-even lift and more.](https://offersuite.io/glossary)
- [Calculator **Subscription intro offer calculator** Subscribe and save, a discount on the first order, a free trial or a free product: each as a cohort of subscribers with the same costs, ranked on profit per visitor after acquisition.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/subscription-intro-offer)
- [Calculator **Subscription payback calculator: CAC and churn** How much a subscriber's first order loses against what you paid to acquire them, how many renewals it takes to earn that back with churn, and in which month.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/subscription-payback)
- [Glossary **Subscribe and save: definition, formula and example** A standing discount for buying on subscription, often with a deeper first-order discount. Its cost has to be priced over the renewals, not the first order.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/subscribe-and-save)
- [Glossary **First-order loss: definition, formula and example** What a customer still owes after their first order: acquisition cost minus the first order's margin. The sum that later orders must earn back.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/first-order-loss)
- [Glossary **Welcome gift: definition, formula and example** A gift or insert that ships only with a subscriber's first order. A cost of winning the subscriber, which renewals do not carry.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/welcome-gift)