Netflix To Start Removing Inactive Accounts Automatically

Netflix which reported 183 million subscribers by the end of the first quarter of 2020 now says it wants to do more in proving that those numbers are going to start asking inactive users if they need help cancelling their account or need help in keeping their subscriptions. If a customer doesn’t respond within the time given by Netflix, the subscription will be automatically cancelled.

Netflix director of product innovation Eddy Wu said in a statement that

“We’re asking everyone who has not watched anything on Netflix for a year since they joined to confirm they want to keep their membership. And we’ll do the same for anyone who has stopped watching for more than two years.”

Netflix notes that customers in this category will either get an in-app notification or email notifying them of the impending cancellation. A customer may either get one or both notifications.

The big question is how many of the 183 million users can be termed inactive? Well Netflix says inactive accounts actually make up half of a percent of its total number of subscribers. Netflix has also adjusted it financial outlook as well and I guess we won’t know so much until new quarterly earnings numbers have been reported.

Netflix may be expecting to continue to see an uptick in the number of new subscriptions even as the Coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the planet. Many parts of the world are still in a form of lockdown and this is good for Netflix. Netflix has also surprised many with new titles even in the lockdown.