Chewy Backup Payments

Background

Payment-related issues are the #1 cause of Autoship (Chewy's repeat delivery program) disruptions, accounting for 54% of all disrupted orders. To save Autoship orders, we wanted to increase adoption of backup payment methods.

Backup payment methods launched in August 2024, letting pet parents assign a backup card or payment method to be charged if their regular method ran into an issue. Despite the launch, adoption was low, so I explored ways to encourage opt-in.

Before, assigning a backup payment method was only possible through the payment method page, or a link in the footer of order emails.

Opt-in ingress

I moved to an "opt-in ingress" model that took customers directly to choosing a backup payment method, then identified the best placements based on page views and relationship to Autoship.

Messaging direction

Through UX research, I found pet parents resonated most with messaging that leaned into the value of avoiding delays to their pet's care, and that they preferred choosing their own backup method rather than being suggested one.

Building a scalable component

I planned to reuse the existing "ingress card" component, but it wasn't compatible with the app: it broke on wide mode, with the arrow positioned too far from the content on desktop. So I designed a custom component with breakpoints for each screen size in mind.

Seamless integration into pages

With several different pages this ingress point would live on, I made sure it matched the surrounding design on each.

Final designs

Outcomes

Launched in three places: Account, Manage Autoship, and the Autoship List page, with further placements planned.

214% increase in average daily backup payment method adds. Assuming a steady rate, that translates to roughly 461K customers organically adding a backup payment method per year.