Setting up Shopify Subscriptions

After you set up subscription plans, your customers can make scheduled purchases on a recurring basis. You can manage all of your subscription plans and contracts within the Shopify Subscriptions app, and then display your subscription plans on your online store. The app also adds a new subscription policy and subscription email notifications to your store.

Customer subscription management

If you have new customer accounts active, then customers can log in to their account from your online store navigation and manage their subscriptions. If you have classic customer accounts, then you can share the subscription management url to give customers access to manage their own subscriptions.

Customers with new customer accounts or classic customer accounts can manage their subscriptions by clicking Manage your subscription from your automated subscription email notifications.

Turn on subscription management in your Shopify admin settings to allow customers to manage their subscriptions.

Steps:

1. From the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customers.
2. In the New customer accounts section, turn on the Subscription management toggle button.

Learn more about Subscription management for customers.

Create a subscription plan

You can create a subscription plan from the Shopify Subscriptions app or from the product page in the Shopify admin. Creating a subscription plan allows your customers to purchase products on a recurring basis within a single checkout experience.

Create a subscription plan in the Shopify Subscriptions app

Steps:

Desktop

1. From the Shopify admin, go to Subscriptions > Plans.
2. Click Create new plan.
3. Give the plan a title.
4. Optional: Change the purchase option title from the default.
5. Select the products that you want to include in the subscription plan.
6. Optional: If you want to offer a discount, then check Offer discount, and select a discount type. Enter the discount amount in the applicable discount field.
7. Under Delivery frequency, enter a number, and then select either a weekly, monthly, or yearly frequency from the drop-down menu.
8. Optional: If you want to add additional delivery frequency and discount options for customers, then click Add option.
9. Click Save.

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Create a subscription plan from the product page

Steps:

Desktop

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.
2. Select the product that you want to create a subscription plan for.
3. Under Purchase options, click Add purchase option, and then click Create new option.
4. Give the plan a title, and a purchase option title.
5. Optional: If you want to offer a discount, then check Offer discount, and select a discount type. Enter the discount amount in the applicable discount field.
6. Under Delivery frequency, enter a number and select either a weekly, monthly, or yearly frequency from the drop-down menu.
7. Optional: If you want to add additional delivery frequency and discount options for customers, then click Add option.
8. Click Save.

Display subscriptions on your online store

After you set up a subscription plan, you can add a subscription widget to your product page. Subscription details display on the product, cart, and thank you pages.

Online Store 2.0 themes

Note

If you're adding the subscription widget to an Online Store 2.0 theme, then make sure that the Subscription widget in the App embeds section of the theme editor is toggled off to ensure that the subscription widget displays correctly.

Steps:

Desktop

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
2. Click Customize next to the theme that you want to add the subscription widget to.
3. Select an existing product template, or create a new template to add the subscription widget to.
4. Under Product information, click Add block, and then select Subscription widget.
5. Optional: Customize the subscription widget to match your store's theme.
6. Click Save.

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Vintage themes

Caution

Vintage themes aren't available in the Theme Store. Vintage themes don't have the features included in Shopify's Online Store 2.0 themes, and Shopify free vintage themes don't receive updates except security fixes.

The subscription widget is only supported on the following vintage themes: * Debut on version 15.0 or later * Brooklyn on version 17.0 or later

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
2. Click ... > Edit code next to the theme that you want to add the subscription widget to.
3. In the product-template.liquid file, add the following code snippet where you want the subscription widget to display on your product page.

<div class="subscriptions_app_embed_block"></div>

1. Click Save, and then click Exit.
2. Click Customize next to the same theme.
3. On the sidebar, click the App embeds icon, and then click the toggle beside Subscription widget to turn the widget on.
4. Optional: Customize the subscription widget to match your store's theme.
5. Click Save.

Learn more about customizing themes and editing theme code.

Shopify Subscription app settings

Note

Payment failure settings aren't available in the early access version of Shopify Subscriptions. Install the new Shopify Subscriptions app to access this feature.

You can adjust the number of billing retries and the interval between reattempts in the case of a failed payment capture.

You can also choose to skip, pause, or cancel the subscription when all retry attempts have failed. A notification is sent to your customer in each case.

Steps:

Desktop

1. From your Shopify admin go to Subscriptions > Settings.
2. In the Payment failure settings section, under Retry billing attempts, make any combination of the following changes:
   • Adjust the Number of retry attempts.
   • Adjust the Days between payment retry attempts.
   • Choose an Action when all retry attempts have failed.
3. Click Save.

Subscription management url

The subscription management url is the link where customers can access the subscription management page. You can add the subscription management url anywhere you want to give customers an entry point to the subscriptions management page, including email notifications and your online store's navigation.

Shopify Subscription notifications

Activating or deactivating Shopify Subscription notifications

With Shopify Subscriptions, you can receive, send, and modify subscription email notifications. You can activate or deactivate the subscription email notifications you receive, and the email notifications that you send to your customers. Email notifications are activated by default.

Steps:

1. From the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Notifications.
2. Under Customer notifications in the Subscriptions section, select email notifications to activate them, or deselect to deactivate them. Your selections are saved automatically.
3. Under Staff order notifications in the Subscriptions section, select email notifications to activate them, or deselect to deactivate them. Your selections are saved automatically.

Learn more about notifications, and editing notifications.

Adding a subscription policy

If you've set up a subscription, then a new Purchase options cancellation policy is automatically added to your store. This policy is linked in the cart page and in the Express checkout section of the checkout as a cancellation policy, and in the checkout footer as Subscription policy.

If you leave the policy in the Shopify admin settings blank, then a default template is displayed to customers.

At checkout, customers must agree to the cancellation policy terms before they can complete their purchase.

Edit your store policies to update the Purchase options cancellation policy that's displayed to your customers.