How SMART Subscriptions works with Shopify selling plans
Updated · SMART Subscriptions (E-TRADE PARTNER)
Shopify subscriptions run on selling plans: a plan sets delivery frequency, billing style, and price. When a customer checks out with a plan selected, Shopify creates the first order and a subscription contract; after that, the app starts each renewal charge and Shopify creates a new order when it succeeds. SMART Subscriptions adds Plans, the Subscriptions Widget, the customer portal (Management), Emails, retry Settings, contract tools in Subscriptions, and MRR on Home.
SMART Subscriptions does this with plans, a product-page widget, and a native customer portal.
Try it freeOn this page
- Why the selling-plan model matters
- What Shopify provides natively versus what an app adds
- Setup steps so the model actually appears in your store
- Worked example: from product click to renewal
- Practical tips for explaining this to your team
- How this differs from a one-time-only store
- Frequently asked questions
Think of a vitamin brand that sells a bottle as a one-time purchase or as Deliver every 2 months at 15% off. The product page shows both choices. Checkout creates one order today and a contract for future orders. Later, the customer skips a cycle from their account. That whole story is selling plans plus subscription contracts, not a separate hosted checkout.
Why the selling-plan model matters
- Purchase options stay inside Shopify checkout, so customers use a familiar flow.
- Recurring orders become normal Shopify orders your team can fulfill from Orders.
- Contracts keep lifecycle state (active, paused, cancelled, expired) separate from any single order.
- Apps can attach merchant tools (widget, portal, dunning, emails) without inventing a parallel storefront.
- Discounts and frequencies live on the plan, so merchandising stays consistent across products that share the same offer.
What Shopify provides natively versus what an app adds
Native Shopify supplies the APIs and checkout behavior for selling plans, subscription contracts, and stored payment methods. Shopify does not bill renewals by itself: the app starts each billing attempt (Shopify docs). Merchants still need an app to create plans, show purchase options, run renewals and retries, host a customer portal, and send lifecycle emails.
| Piece | Shopify platform role | SMART Subscriptions role |
|---|---|---|
| Selling plan | Defines how a product can be sold on a recurring basis | Create plans and their options in Plans |
| Product page choice | Theme must surface selling plan selection | Subscriptions Widget theme app block |
| Checkout | Creates the first order and the contract | Customer selects the option before paying |
| Renewals | Charges the stored payment method when the app asks, then creates the order | Checks every 15 minutes and bills contracts that are due |
| Self-service | New customer accounts host the experience | Portal activated in Management: pause, resume, skip/unskip, cancel, saved payment method, delivery details |
| Recovery | Reports failed billing attempts | Settings retries and final action for payment and inventory failures |
| Contract edits | Contract APIs | Subscriptions: products, quantity, price, intervals, pause, cancel |
| Reporting | Orders and contracts exist in Shopify | Home shows MRR and active subscriptions |
Setup steps so the model actually appears in your store
- Install SMART Subscriptions and open Home.
- Activate the Subscriptions Widget on the product template in the theme editor.
- Create a plan in Plans: delivery every N days, weeks, months, or years; Pay as you go or Pay in advance; a Percentage, Amount off, or fixed price discount if needed; assign products or variants.
- Customize the Widget so customers understand one-time versus subscription.
- Activate the customer portal under Management.
- Activate the Emails you want. Templates stay inactive until you turn them on.
- Place a test checkout with a subscription option selected, using Shopify Payments in test mode. Then open the contract under Subscriptions and confirm the customer can reach portal actions.
Common mistake: treating the first order as the whole subscription
The first checkout creates one Shopify order and a separate subscription contract. Renewals create new orders later. If you only watch the original order, you will miss skips, pauses, failed renewals, and MRR on Home.
Worked example: from product click to renewal
A customer opens a protein powder product. The Subscriptions Widget shows One-time purchase and Deliver every 4 weeks (10% off). They choose the subscription option, check out with Shopify Payments, and receive the first order.
- Shopify stores the payment method for future charges.
- The contract appears under Subscriptions in SMART.
- Before the next cycle, the customer opens Subscriptions in their store account and skips one delivery.
- On the following cycle, SMART starts the billing attempt. When it succeeds, Shopify creates a new order for fulfillment.
- If a card fails, Settings payment failure retries run, then the final action you chose (cancel, pause, or skip).
That is the full loop: selling plan selection, contract, self-service, renewal order. For billing style tradeoffs, see pay as you go vs pay in advance.
Practical tips for explaining this to your team
- Train support on contract actions in Subscriptions, not on editing the original order.
- Merchandising owns Plans (frequency, discount, product assignment). Theme work owns the Subscriptions Widget placement.
- Finance should watch renewal orders in Shopify Orders plus MRR and active subscriptions on Home, which refresh about every 10 minutes.
- When you need discount patterns beyond a simple percentage, read Shopify subscription discounts.
- For a full launch checklist, use how to set up product subscriptions.
Put selling plans to work on your product pages
Plans, the product-page widget, a native customer portal, and payment recovery in one Shopify app.
Install free on ShopifyHow this differs from a one-time-only store
A one-time store ends at the order. A subscription store adds a living contract: frequency, pricing policies, portal actions, retries, and emails. Shopify owns the checkout and contract primitives. SMART Subscriptions owns the merchant tools that make those primitives sellable: Plans, Subscriptions, Widget, Management, Emails, Settings, and Home.
Frequently asked questions
›What is a Shopify selling plan?
A selling plan is how a product can be sold on a recurring basis: delivery frequency, billing style, and pricing. SMART creates those plans in Plans and shows them with the Subscriptions Widget.
›What is a subscription contract?
A subscription contract is the ongoing agreement created at checkout when a customer buys with a selling plan. For each renewal, the app starts a billing attempt on the stored payment method, and Shopify creates a new order when it succeeds.
›Do customers leave Shopify checkout to subscribe?
No. They select the plan on the product page, then complete normal Shopify checkout. SMART does not use a separate hosted checkout.
›Can customers swap products from the portal?
No. The portal supports pause, resume, skip/unskip, cancel, switching saved payment methods, and delivery updates. Customers can’t swap products, plans, or quantities there.
›Where do I see active subscriptions and MRR?
On Home. It shows two numbers, MRR and active subscriptions, refreshed about every 10 minutes.