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Subscription orders

Use the subscription feature to boost recurring purchases by allowing your customers to place automatic orders for the products they want regularly. (See an example on the demo website.)

Features include:

• easy to set up
• ability to offer a discount for recurring orders
• add custom delivery frequency options per product
• subscription options displayed clearly on product details page
• initial subscription items can be ordered at the same time as one-time items
• automatically charge customer cards and create orders
• email notifications for upcoming fulfilment, successful automatic order, cancellation, and any subscription issues
• works with physical or virtual products
• ability to cancel a subscription at any time
• stock levels are automatically checked before a subscription order is filled
• dedicated member area for managing subscription details and order history

Subscriptions are available on the Ecommerce plan and the Advanced plan. 

Add it to your site

1. Ensure you meet all of the requirements:
   • you're on the Ecommerce plan or above
   • you have the shop app enabled
   • you have the membership app enabled
   • you have a merchant account with Pin Payments
2. In the left menu, go to Apps > Shop > Subscriptions.
3. Enable subscriptions, enter your initial settings (including the default delivery frequencies), and save your changes.
4. Edit each product to enable subscriptions for that item. You can also add custom delivery time frames here to overwrite the defaults. Once you save changes, the subscription options will start appearing for that product and customers will be able to start using it. 

Fees

Fees for the subscription feature are calculated per successful subscription order, with the Ecommerce plan at 3% per transaction, and the Advanced plan at 2% per transaction. Fees are calculated and invoiced at the end of each month. Regular orders containing only one-off items are exempt. If no subscription orders are completed in any given month, there will be no charge. 

How it works for customers

1. A customer chooses a subscription option for one of your products. Their choice of subscription frequency (eg. every 2 months) for that item is shown as confirmation in the cart, through the checkout, and in order emails.
   
2. During the checkout process, they become a member if they're not already, and their card is securely stored for future charges.
   
3. Their initial order is processed and fulfilled normally; any subscription discount is applied only to the subscribed items.
4. Three days before their selected subscription period (eg. 2 months) renews, the customer will receive a reminder email, giving them the opportunity to review their subscription before the order is automatically placed.
5. On the renewal date, the system automatically attempts to place an order for the subscribed item.
6. Successful orders will generate an order confirmation email for the customer (and an order notification email for the site owner), just like a normal order. The rest of the process is exactly the same as for normal orders.
   
7. Automatic orders that fail will be placed on hold, and a notification email will be sent to the customer advising the issue. Orders may fail for the following reasons:
   • Payment failed. The error message will include the specific reason, whether that's insufficient funds, expired card, cancelled card, etc. The site owner can manually reactivate the subscription when the issue has been resolved.
   • Subscription item is out of stock. When the site owner replenishes stock of this item, the system will automatically reactivate the subscription.
   • Subscription item is discontinued. This happens if the product no longer exists in the site; the subscription is effectively cancelled.
     
8. If a customer has multiple subscriptions renewing on the same date, the items will be compiled into a single order. This combines shipping and card charges.
9. If you haven't enabled free shipping for subscription fulfilments, the system will automatically choose the cheapest available shipping option (excluding Click & Collect methods).
   
10. Customers can access their order history, and manage their subscriptions, stored card and details at any time by logging in to their account.