Subscriptions
Turn a favourite product into a standing order
Add a "Subscribe & save" option next to the one-time price, choose the delivery rhythms you offer and the discount for each. SellOrchard creates every renewal order on schedule, charges the saved card or emails a payment link, and lets customers adjust their plan without emailing you.
- Up to six plans per product
- Renewals use today's prices, shipping and tax
- Monthly recurring revenue and churn on the dashboard
Availability: Pro and Advanced plans — included in the free trial (test mode)
Self-service
Let customers change their plan without writing to you
Without a portal
- "Can you skip my next box?" emails
- Cancellations when a customer only needed a pause
- Cards expire and renewals quietly fail
With SellOrchard subscriptions
- Skip, pause, resume or change the next date from their account
- Change frequency, quantity or swap to another variant
- Update the saved card securely (Stripe)
- Cancel with a reason, which you can review later
The customer portal
A subscriptions tab in every customer account
Each subscription has its own page showing the items, next order date, estimated amount, saved card and past orders. The actions on that page are exactly the ones you allow in settings — switch off cancellation or swapping if they don't suit your business.
Three days before each renewal (or however many you choose), customers get a reminder email with a link to skip or change the order.
- Pause for up to the number of cycles you set (three by default)
- Cancellation reasons you define
- Plan options come from the product's own subscription plans
Renewals & retries
What happens on renewal day
Step 1: Order created
Hourly, SellOrchard builds the renewal order with current prices, the subscription discount, shipping for the saved address and tax. Automatic discounts still apply and loyalty points are earned.
Step 2: Payment
Stripe cards are charged off-session. For PayPal, other gateways and offline methods, the customer is emailed a pay link or the order is created with its offline method.
Step 3: If it fails
The order stays unpaid and the customer is emailed. Retries follow your schedule — after 1, 3 and 7 days by default.
Step 4: Past due, then cancelled
After the last failed attempt the subscription is past due; it's cancelled automatically after 14 days unless the order is paid, which restores it to active.
In detail
Everything subscriptions handle
39capabilities in 6 areas
Product setup
7- Turn on subscriptions per product
- Subscription-only products (no one-time purchase)
- 1–6 plans per product, e.g. every 2 weeks or every month
- Weekly or monthly intervals, every 1–12
- Discount per plan from 0% to 50%
- Custom plan labels and a default plan
- Digital products can be subscribed to (not gift cards or licence-key products)
Buying
6- "One-time purchase / Subscribe & save X%" choice in the buy box
- Cart and checkout show "Every 2 weeks · Save 10%"
- Checkout summary: "Then $X every 2 weeks"
- Customers sign in or create an account to subscribe
- Different plans in one order become separate subscriptions
- Any enabled payment method for the first order
Renewals
7- Next date advances from the schedule, not the payment date
- Current prices and price lists at each renewal
- Out-of-stock items skipped and noted; all out of stock skips the cycle
- Stripe off-session charges with a saved card
- Pay-by-link email for every other method
- Renewals keep the first order's currency at the day's rate
- Paused subscriptions resume automatically
Retries & dunning
5- Retry schedule you control (default 1, 3 and 7 days)
- "Action needed" email when a bank asks for authentication
- Past-due status after the last attempt
- Auto-cancel after a set number of days past due (default 14)
- Paying the renewal by any route restores the subscription
Customer portal
7- Skip the next order
- Pause and resume
- Change next date, frequency and quantity
- Swap to another variant
- Update the card (Stripe) and shipping address
- Cancel with a reason
- Each action can be switched off in settings
Admin & emails
7- Dashboard: active subscriptions, monthly recurring revenue, new and churned in 30 days
- Status tabs: active, paused, past due, cancelled, expired
- Pause, resume, skip, cancel or charge now
- Edit date, interval, discount, items, address and shipping rate
- Timeline of every event per subscription
- "Renewal" badge on orders
- Emails for created, upcoming renewal, paid, action needed, paused, resumed and cancelled
Automatic card renewals need Stripe
Off-session renewals with a saved card run through Stripe. If your store uses another card gateway, PayPal or an offline method, renewals still happen on schedule — customers receive a link to pay each renewal order. Subscriptions are part of the Pro and Advanced plans and the free trial.
Which payment methods renew automatically?
Cards saved through Stripe are charged automatically on each renewal. With any other gateway, PayPal or an offline method, SellOrchard creates the renewal order and emails the customer a link to pay it (or uses the offline method).
What happens if a renewal payment fails?
The order stays unpaid, the customer is emailed, and SellOrchard retries on your schedule — after 1, 3 and 7 days by default. After the last attempt the subscription becomes past due and is cancelled automatically after 14 days unless it's paid.
Can customers skip or pause?
Yes, from the Subscriptions tab in their account: skip, pause, resume, change the date, frequency or quantity, swap variants, update their card or address, or cancel — whichever actions you allow.
Do renewals use the original price?
Renewals use the product's current price, minus the subscription discount, with current shipping and tax. If you raise a price, the next renewal reflects it.
Can I offer subscriptions on digital products?
Yes, for example monthly downloads. Gift cards and products that issue licence keys can't be sold on subscription.
Which plans include subscriptions?
Pro and Advanced. They're included in the 14-day free trial in test mode.
Give your regulars a reason to stay
Add a subscribe & save plan to one product during the free trial and walk through a renewal from both sides.
No credit card needed to start.