diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d02bbab2d..cae925bc4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -98,16 +98,21 @@ spec:
     # Istio virtual service host names (optional)
     hosts:
     - podinfo.example.com
-    # Istio virtual service HTTP match conditions (optional)
+    # HTTP match conditions (optional)
     match:
       - uri:
           prefix: /
-    # Istio virtual service HTTP rewrite (optional)
+    # HTTP rewrite (optional)
     rewrite:
       uri: /
-  # for emergency cases when you want to ship changes
-  # in production without analysing the canary (default false)
+    # timeout for HTTP requests (optional)
+    timeout: 5s
+    # retry policy when a HTTP request fails (optional)
+    retries:
+      attempts: 3
+  # promote the canary without analysing it (default false)
   skipAnalysis: false
+  # define the canary analysis timing and KPIs
   canaryAnalysis:
     # schedule interval (default 60s)
     interval: 1m
@@ -121,6 +126,7 @@ spec:
     stepWeight: 5
     # Istio Prometheus checks
     metrics:
+    # builtin Istio checks
     - name: istio_requests_total
       # minimum req success rate (non 5xx responses)
       # percentage (0-100)
@@ -131,6 +137,16 @@ spec:
       # milliseconds
       threshold: 500
       interval: 30s
+    # custom check
+    - name: "kafka lag"
+      threshold: 100
+      query: |
+        avg_over_time(
+          kafka_consumergroup_lag{
+            consumergroup=~"podinfo-consumer-.*",
+            topic="podinfo"
+          }[1m]
+        )
     # external checks (optional)
     webhooks:
       - name: load-test
@@ -144,8 +160,8 @@ For more details on how the canary analysis and promotion works please [read the
 
 ### Roadmap
 
-* Extend the validation mechanism to support other metrics than HTTP success rate and latency
 * Add A/B testing capabilities using fixed routing based on HTTP headers and cookies match conditions
+* Integrate with other service mesh technologies like AWS AppMesh and Linkerd v2
 * Add support for comparing the canary metrics to the primary ones and do the validation based on the derivation between the two
 
 ### Contributing
diff --git a/artifacts/flagger/crd.yaml b/artifacts/flagger/crd.yaml
index b101d7be4..c628d5770 100644
--- a/artifacts/flagger/crd.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/flagger/crd.yaml
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ spec:
               properties:
                 port:
                   type: number
+                timeout:
+                  type: string
             skipAnalysis:
               type: boolean
             canaryAnalysis:
diff --git a/charts/flagger/templates/crd.yaml b/charts/flagger/templates/crd.yaml
index 5e3c40a33..efd880e69 100644
--- a/charts/flagger/templates/crd.yaml
+++ b/charts/flagger/templates/crd.yaml
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ spec:
               properties:
                 port:
                   type: number
+                timeout:
+                  type: string
             skipAnalysis:
               type: boolean
             canaryAnalysis:
diff --git a/docs/gitbook/how-it-works.md b/docs/gitbook/how-it-works.md
index 927d1bf51..7ce445097 100644
--- a/docs/gitbook/how-it-works.md
+++ b/docs/gitbook/how-it-works.md
@@ -39,16 +39,22 @@ spec:
     # Istio virtual service host names (optional)
     hosts:
     - podinfo.example.com
-    # Istio virtual service HTTP match conditions (optional)
+    # HTTP match conditions (optional)
     match:
       - uri:
           prefix: /
-    # Istio virtual service HTTP rewrite (optional)
+    # HTTP rewrite (optional)
     rewrite:
       uri: /
-  # for emergency cases when you want to ship changes
-  # in production without analysing the canary
+    # timeout for HTTP requests (optional)
+    timeout: 5s
+    # retry policy when a HTTP request fails (optional)
+    retries:
+      attempts: 3
+      perTryTimeout: 3s
+  # promote the canary without analysing it (default false)
   skipAnalysis: false
+  # define the canary analysis timing and KPIs
   canaryAnalysis:
     # schedule interval (default 60s)
     interval: 1m
diff --git a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/types.go b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/types.go
index f6bead856..0690695cd 100755
--- a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/types.go
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ type CanaryService struct {
 	Hosts    []string                         `json:"hosts"`
 	Match    []istiov1alpha3.HTTPMatchRequest `json:"match,omitempty"`
 	Rewrite  *istiov1alpha3.HTTPRewrite       `json:"rewrite,omitempty"`
+	Timeout  string                           `json:"timeout,omitempty"`
+	Retries  *istiov1alpha3.HTTPRetry         `json:"retries,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // CanaryAnalysis is used to describe how the analysis should be done
diff --git a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 23ff1c582..bded64e49 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -156,6 +156,11 @@ func (in *CanaryService) DeepCopyInto(out *CanaryService) {
 		*out = new(istiov1alpha3.HTTPRewrite)
 		**out = **in
 	}
+	if in.Retries != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Retries, &out.Retries
+		*out = new(istiov1alpha3.HTTPRetry)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/controller/router.go b/pkg/controller/router.go
index 869f2c071..6d07ff491 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/router.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/router.go
@@ -195,6 +195,8 @@ func (c *CanaryRouter) syncVirtualService(cd *flaggerv1.Canary) error {
 			{
 				Match:   cd.Spec.Service.Match,
 				Rewrite: cd.Spec.Service.Rewrite,
+				Timeout: cd.Spec.Service.Timeout,
+				Retries: cd.Spec.Service.Retries,
 				Route:   route,
 			},
 		},
@@ -309,6 +311,8 @@ func (c *CanaryRouter) SetRoutes(
 		{
 			Match:   cd.Spec.Service.Match,
 			Rewrite: cd.Spec.Service.Rewrite,
+			Timeout: cd.Spec.Service.Timeout,
+			Retries: cd.Spec.Service.Retries,
 			Route:   []istiov1alpha3.DestinationWeight{primary, canary},
 		},
 	}