Adding a Buffer Window to Subscription Plans

When subscriptions are scheduled to deliver on a specific day, and the first order is scheduled for the purchase day, the second order date is automatically skipped to avoid charging and delivering orders too close together. But if a customer orders shortly after this specific day, they could potentially wait a long time for their next order. Buffer windows help manage this by allowing you to set exactly when customers should receive their second order.

In this article, you’ll learn how to create and manage buffer windows in your subscriptions.

How it works

Say you’ve scheduled your subscriptions to be delivered on the 1st of every month, and for the first order to ship on the purchase day. Without a buffer window, a customer who orders on February 4 will need to wait until April 1 to receive their second order.

Now let’s add a buffer window of 5 days. When the customer orders on February 4, their second order won’t be skipped. They’ll receive their first order right away, and their second order on March 1.

If the customer orders on February 6, this is out of the buffer window. They will skip the March order and get their second order on April 1 instead.

If you never want to skip the second order, set the buffer window for the entire cadence. For example, if your order delivers monthly, setting the buffer window for 31 days means that the customer will get their second order on the specific delivery date, no matter when they placed the order.

Adding a buffer window

To add a buffer window:

1. In your Plans page, go to Delivery options & discounts.
2. In the Delivery schedule section, select Purchase day.
3. Check the Add buffer window box and select how many days the buffer window should last. The specific day will be included in the day count, so in the example above, a 5-day buffer window would run from February 1 to February 5.

Next steps

Learn more about additional plan settings that apply to all plans, and how to view, edit, or remove plans once you’ve created them.