Allowing Customers to Self-Manage Subscriptions

      Allowing Customers to Self-Manage Subscriptions


        Article Summary

        Products


        Subscriptions
        Supported plans

        Pro, Premium

        eCommerce Platform

        Shopify, Shopify Plus

        Subscriptions build and nurture long-term relationships between you and your customers.

        Throughout this journey, your customers’ needs may change often, and they will need to make changes to their subscriptions, delivery schedule, payment information, and more.

        In this article, you'll learn how the customer portal helps can increase customer lifetime value and reduce churn by offering customers ongoing and easy access to self-manage their subscriptions.

        How it works

        Each time a customer subscribes to a product, a corresponding widget is created in their customer portal containing all the subscription information which they can manage at any time. See all the ways customers can access their customer portal

        In the customer portal, subscriptions are organized and managed according to the delivery frequency and the subscription purchase date. For example, If a customer subscribes to multiple products on the same date, and they're all delivered "every 1 month", they'll appear under the same subscription widget, with the same subscription ID.

        An example of two products in the same subscription:


        Please note:
        You can customize the customer portal to fit your brand's look & feel from your Yotpo Subscriptions Store View page.

        Before you start

        In order to publish the customer portal and give customers access to their subscriptions, you need to complete the Yotpo Subscriptions initial setup

        Once you've completed the initial setup and have launched at least one subscription plan, customers who purchase a subscription product will be able to access their customer portal in a variety of ways. See all the ways customers can access their customer portal.

        Accessing the customer portal

        There are four different ways your customers can access their customer portal: 

        1. Direct link via SMS/email: Customers can access this customer portal page via direct link from the subscription notifications they receive from your store. As soon as customers subscribe to one of your products, they'll receive a subscription confirmation email notification, including a link to their customer portal.

          You can send an individual customer an email with a link to their customer portal yourself anytime from the Customers page. Simply select the customer you want to send the link to, and from the Actions menu on the right-hand top, select Send link to the customer portal.

          Please note:
          To protect your customers’ security, the link to the customer portal will expire after 6 hours. However, if the link has expired, customers will be prompted to receive a new link to their email. In addition, payment related links are protected by two-factor authentication.
        2. Shopify account page: Customers who log in to their account page will be able to view and manage their subscriptions in addition to their other activities with your store. Learn how to add the customer portal to your account page for logged-in customers.

        3. Shopify login page: Customers can access their customer portal via passwordless login right from your Shopify login page. Learn how to add a passwordless login option from your login page.

        4.  Shopify order status page: Customers can access their customer portal right after making a subscription purchase on your store. Learn how to add the customer portal as a link to your Shopify order status page.

        Viewing and managing subscriptions

        Once customers access the customer portal, they'll have the ability to view and make changes to their subscriptions. 

        Please note:
        You can control which actions customers can take from their customer portal from the Customer Portal Widget >Available Actions menu in your Store View page. Note that actions work differently depending on what type of plan you have set up.

        Customer portal actions

        Customers can make changes at the subscription level and at the product level.

        Subscription-level actions

        Subscription actionDescription
        View subscription detailsCustomers can see the following details for each subscription:
        - The products they're subscribed to
        - The total price of their order (before shipping and taxes)
        - The delivery frequency & discount
        Next charge dateThe next date your customer will be charged for a subscription order

        Please note: The charge date is the same as the order date
        Order nowAllows customer to request their next order to be delivered immediately

        Please note: This option is not available for Calendar-based SKU swap subscriptions
        Update next delivery dateAllows customers to choose a separate date for their next delivery

        Please note: This option is not available for Calendar-based SKU swap subscriptions
        Update frequencyAllows customers to change how often they receive their order

        Please note: This option is only available for subscribe and save plans
        Skip upcoming orderAllows customers to skip their upcoming order, in case they're going away, are overstocked, or for any other reason

        Please note: If customers skip an order for a Calendar-based SKU swap subscription, they will miss out on that month's/quarter's product.
        Update shipping addressGives customers the flexibility to receive their upcoming orders at a new address and location
        Update payment informationAllows customers to change the credit card they have on file for automatic billing
        Cancel subscriptionCustomers have the option to cancel their subscription on their own. When a customer cancels a subscription, they will receive an email notification confirming their cancellation.
        Apply discountsAllows customers to add discounts to their order
        Add productAllows customers to purchase an additional product and receive it along with their existing subscription items. i.e., along with the same shipment, and at the same delivery frequency. To allow customers to add a one-time product, go to Store View > Customer Portal Widget and enable Add one-time product.

        Product-level actions

        Product actionDescription
        Order now
        Allows customers to request a product to be delivered immediately. This will create a new subscription for that iem and may result in additional shipping charges.

        Please note: This option is not available for Calendar-based SKU swap subscriptions
        Skip productAllows customers to skip a product

        Please note: Make sure your customers are aware that by skipping a product from a Calendar-based SKU swap subscription, they will miss out on that month's/quarter's products.
        Swap productAllows customers to replace an existing product with a different product from your subscription offerings
        Update quantityAllows the customer to change how many of a product they are receiving

        Please note: This option is not available for Calendar-based SKU swap subscriptions
        Remove productRemoves a product from the subscription. This will cancel all upcoming deliveries and charges for the product.

        Next steps

        To learn how to manage customer subscriptions yourself, visit the Managing Customer Subscriptions article. 

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