Subscription plans
A plan is a group of delivery options attached to a set of products. The shopper picks one option; that choice becomes their subscription.
Anatomy of a plan
Each delivery option inside a plan carries its own settings:
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Label | What the shopper reads, e.g. "Every 2 weeks". Keep it plain. |
| Deliver every | The cadence: a count and a unit (day, week, month, year) |
| Pricing | Percentage off, fixed amount off, or a set price |
| Minimum cycles | Deliveries that must be billed before cancelling is allowed |
| Maximum cycles | Stop automatically after this many. Blank means open-ended. |
| Advantages | Up to four short benefit lines shown beneath the option |
| Prepaid cycles | Bill several deliveries at once — see Prepaid plans |
The plan's own name is internal. Customers never see it — they see the option labels.
Pricing rules
Percentage off — the usual choice. 10% off tracks your product price automatically, so a price rise carries through without editing the plan.
Fixed amount off — a flat reduction, e.g. $5 off. Be careful across a wide catalogue: $5 off a $6 product is nearly free.
Set price — the subscription costs exactly this, regardless of the product price.
Set price and multiple currencies
A set price is a single number, but your storefront may show several currencies through Shopify Markets. The set price applies as entered and will not be converted. Use percentage off if you sell in more than one currency.
Attaching products
Tick the products the plan applies to. The picker shows your synced catalogue and is searchable.
A plan with no products covers everything
If you attach nothing, the plan applies to your entire catalogue and appears on every product page. The wizard shows the real count — "this plan will show on every product in your store (all 412)" — so you cannot do it by accident, but it is worth saying twice.
A product can be covered by more than one plan. The widget merges all applicable cadences into one list, removes duplicates, and where two plans offer the same cadence the cheaper one wins.
Cycle limits
Minimum cycles create commitment. A 3-cycle minimum on a monthly plan means the customer is committed to three months. The portal refuses cancellation until then, and the customer is told why rather than just being blocked.
Maximum cycles end the subscription automatically — useful for a fixed course, a 6-box gift, or a seasonal programme.
Editing and retiring plans
Editing a plan changes what new subscribers get. Existing subscriptions keep the terms they signed up on — we do not reprice someone retroactively.
Deleting a plan removes the selling plan group from Shopify, so it stops being sellable immediately. If any live subscriber is still on it, the plan is kept in an archived state so their subscription still resolves. It simply cannot be bought any more.
Limits worth knowing
- Up to 10 delivery options per plan. More than about six becomes a select dropdown in the widget, and more than that is a decision no shopper enjoys making.
- A plan needs at least one delivery option to publish.
- Shopify allows at most two pricing policies per selling plan, which is why loyalty rewards are a single step rather than a ladder.