Managing Customer Subscriptions
Since both you and your customers' needs may change often, you both have the option to make changes to subscription orders throughout the subscription journey.
In this article, you'll learn how to manage your customers' subscriptions, so you can make sure they're always tailored to their needs, and ensure a long-lasting relationship with your customers.
How it works
When shoppers subscribe to a product on your store, they're signing up to receive that product based on the exact terms you've defined for the subscription plan in which that product is included. Each subscription sign-up results in a subscription that is added to that customer's page. Your customers can manage subscription orders through the customer portal, while you maintain complete control over customer information & customer subscription orders from your admin Customers tab.
Understanding subscription types
There are three main types of subscriptions you can offer your customers:
- Subscribe and save subscriptions: This is the standard type of subscriptions, where customers are charged only each time a new order is processed, and can cancel anytime.
- Calendar-based SKU swaps: With SKU swaps, customers sign up to receive one or more different products each month or quarter.
- Prepaid subscriptions: With this subscription, customers pay in advance for all their orders, and stay subscribed until the end of their billing period.
To set up subscribe and save subscriptions go to the Managing Subscription Plans article. To set up SKU swap subscriptions, see Offering Calendar-based SKU swaps.
Managing customers
To manage subscriptions of any type:
1. In your Yotpo Subscriptions admin, go to your Customers page.
2. Select the customer you want to update.
Several actions can be taken at the customer level by clicking the Customer actions dropdown in the upper-right corner:
Customer action | Description |
---|---|
Send link to customer portal | Sends your customer an email or SMS with a passwordless link to their customer portal |
Download customer timeline | Downloads a report of all actions taken by you or the customer |
View customer in Shopify | Opens the customer's profile in Shopify |
You can also copy your customer's email address by selecting the icon next to their name.
Managing subscribe and save subscriptions
For subscribe and save subscriptions, changes can be made on both the subscription and the product level.
Subscription-level changes
Subscription action | Description |
---|---|
Order now | The order will be processed on the same day. Future orders will follow the same frequency. |
Reschedule subscription | Reschedules the next delivery of the subscription. Future deliveries will follow the same frequency. |
Skip | Allows you to skip your customer's next order, in case they're going away, are overstocked, or for any other reason |
Add product | Allows you to add a product, either as a one-time purchase or as part of the subscription |
Pause subscription | Stops all upcoming orders. You can reactivate again at any time. |
Cancel subscription | Immediately cancels your customer's subscription. Their next delivery will not go out, and they will no longer be charged. You can reactivate again at any time. |
Reactivate subscription | Reactivates canceled or paused subscriptions. When you reactivate a subscription, you'll be able to reset the start date and delivery options. |
Update shipping address | Updates the shipping address for all upcoming deliveries within the subscription |
Update payment method | Change the payment method, or send an email to the customer requesting them to do so |
Apply discounts | Apply a discount code, or redeem loyalty points towards the subscription |
Update shipping price | Updates the shipping price for all upcoming deliveries within the subscription |
Product-level changes
Product action | Description |
---|---|
Order now | Processes the order for the same day. Future orders will follow the same frequency. The selected product will be moved to a new subscription with a separate delivery schedule. This may lead to additional shipping costs. |
Reschedule product | Rescheduling only select products within a subscription will move them to a new subscription with a separate delivery schedule. This may lead to additional shipping costs. |
Skip product | Skips the product for the upcoming delivery |
Edit product | Allows you to make changes to the price and quantity of the product |
Swap product | Allows you to change one product for another. This will be applied to all future orders. |
Swap variant | Allows you to change one product variant for another. This will be applied to all future orders. |
Remove product | Removes a product from the subscription. This will cancel all upcoming deliveries and charges for the product. |
Managing prepaid subscriptions
Since prepaid subscriptions are payed in advance, there are some differences in the actions you can take to manage them.
Subscription-level changes
Subscription action | Description |
---|---|
Order now | The order will be processed the same day. Future orders will follow the same frequency. |
Add product | Allows you to add a product as a one-time purchase. The customer will be charged on the next delivery date. Please note: To allow customers to add a one-time product, in Shopify, go to Store View > Customer Portal Widget and enable Add one-time product. |
Cancel subscription | Cancels your customer's subscription. Their next deliveries will not go out. You can determine whether to offer a refund per your policy. |
Reactivate subscription | Reactivates canceled or paused subscriptions. When you reactivate a subscription, you'll be able to reset the start date. |
Cancel renewal | Prevents the subscription from renewing once the current billing cycle ends |
Update shipping address | Updates the shipping address for all upcoming deliveries within the subscription Please note: Any related shipping fees won't be recalculated until the next billing date. |
Update payment method | Change the payment method, or send an email to the customer requesting them to do so Please note: When a prepaid delivery is scheduled, a charge of $0.00 is processed until the next billing cycle. |
Update shipping price | Updates the shipping price for all upcoming deliveries. The customer won't be charged until the next billing date. |
Product-level changes
Product action | Description |
---|---|
Order now | The product will be processed on the same day. Future orders will follow the same frequency. The selected product will be moved to a new subscription with a separate delivery schedule. |
Reschedule | Rescheduling only select products within a subscription will move them to a new subscription with a separate delivery schedule |
Skip | Skips the product for the upcoming delivery |
Edit | Allows you to make changes to the price and quantity of the product. Customers won't be charged any price difference until the next billing cycle. |
Swap product | Allows you to change one product for another. This will be applied to all future orders. Customers won't be charged any price difference until the next billing cycle. |
Swap variant | Allows you to change one product variant for another. This will be applied to all future orders. Customers won't be charged any price difference until the next billing cycle. |
Remove | Removes a product from the subscription. This will cancel all upcoming deliveries and charges for the product. You can choose to refund prepaid products based on your refund policy. |
Managing SKU swap subscriptions
Since Calendar-based SKU swap subscriptions change SKUs, there are some differences in the available actions.
Subscription-level changes
Subscription action | Description |
---|---|
Order now | The order will be processed on the same day. Future orders will follow the same frequency. |
Reschedule subscription | Reschedules the next delivery of the subscription. Future deliveries will follow the same frequency. |
Skip | Allows you to skip your customer's next order, in case they're going away, are overstocked, or for any other reason. Please note: The customer will miss out on that month's/quarter's product. It will not be included in the next shipment |
Add product | Allows you to add a product, either as a one-time purchase or as part of the subscription |
Pause subscription | Stops all upcoming orders. You can reactivate again at any time. |
Cancel subscription | Immediately cancels your customer's subscription. Their next delivery will not go out, and they will no longer be charged. You can reactivate again at any time. |
Reactivate subscription | Reactivates canceled or paused subscriptions. When you reactivate a subscription, you'll be able to reset the start date and delivery options. |
Update shipping address | Updates the shipping address for all upcoming deliveries within the subscription |
Update payment method | Change the payment method, or send an email to the customer requesting them to do so |
Product-level changes
Product action | Description |
---|---|
Order now | The order will be processed on the same day. Future orders will follow the same frequency. |
Reschedule product | Rescheduling only select products within a subscription will move them to a new subscription with a separate delivery schedule. This may lead to additional shipping costs. |
Skip product | Skips a product in the upcoming delivery |
Edit | Allows you to make changes to the price and quantity of the product |
Swap product | Allows you to change one product for another. This will be applied to all future orders. |
Swap variant | Allows you to change one product variant for another. This will be applied to all future orders. |
Remove product | Removes a product from the subscription. This will cancel all upcoming deliveries and charges for the product. |
Managing prepaid subscriptions
Since prepaid subscriptions are paid in advance, there are some differences in the actions you can take to manage them.
To manage your customer's information:
- Go to your Customers page.
- From the list of customers, select the customer whose subscription you want to update.
Here's a breakdown of the actions you can take for each prepaid subscription:
Action | Description |
---|---|
Add products | You can add additional prepaid products only, according to the following scenarios: |
Swap products or variants | You can replace a prepaid product with a different prepaid product only. Products will be updated immediately starting from the closest upcoming order. |
Edit shipping address | Since prepaid subscriptions already include taxes and shipping based on the country and state/province entered at checkout, you may only update addresses within the same country and state/province |
Cancel subscription | You or your customers can easily cancel a prepaid subscription before the next cycle and charge take place. However, cancellations within an existing cycle require that you take actions in Shopify to cancel upcoming orders and refund your customers. |
Next steps
You always have the option to make changes to your subscription plans, which control all the subscription offers that are live on your store. For example if you want to remove a subscription product from your store, change the frequencies or discounts they're offered at, etc. Learn more about Editing Subscription Plans.