How to set up the SMART Subscriptions customer portal
Updated · SMART Subscriptions (E-TRADE PARTNER)
Activate the Subscription management page under Management in SMART Subscriptions, and customers get a Subscriptions page in your store’s new Shopify customer accounts. There they can pause, resume, skip or unskip orders, cancel once the plan’s minimum payments are made, switch to another saved payment method, and edit shipping, pickup, or local delivery details. They can’t swap products or change quantity, frequency, or plan.
SMART Subscriptions does this with plans, a product-page widget, and a native customer portal.
Try it freeOn this page
A subscriber is going on vacation and wants to skip next month’s coffee order. They should do that in your store account, not by emailing support or logging into a separate third-party portal. That is the point of a native customer-accounts management experience.
SMART Subscriptions uses Shopify customer accounts for self-service, and the page is translated into 33 languages. Merchants still handle deeper contract edits under Subscriptions. For the action-by-action playbook, see pause, skip, and cancel.
Why a native portal matters
- Customers already understand “log into my account” on your store.
- Pause, skip, and cancel without tickets when the tools are easy to find.
- Payment method switches and delivery updates keep renewals on track without an admin edit for every change.
- Staying on Shopify customer accounts avoids a second login hosted elsewhere.
What Shopify can and cannot do natively
Shopify customer accounts and subscription contracts are the platform foundation, and the app supplies the management page on top. The page only works on the new customer accounts; legacy customer accounts can’t show app pages (Shopify docs). SMART focuses on the core self-serve actions; it does not offer product swap, quantity, frequency, or plan changes in the portal.
| Action | Customer portal | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pause | Yes | Stops charges and upcoming orders until resumed |
| Resume | Yes | Restarts a paused subscription |
| Skip / unskip | Yes | Skip the next order, or skip and unskip any upcoming order |
| Cancel | Yes, after minimum payments | Blocked until the plan’s minimum number of payments is reached; can’t be undone |
| Payment method | Switch only | Pick another payment method already saved to the customer; no adding a new card in the portal |
| Shipping, pickup, local delivery | Yes | Edit the shipping address, pickup location, or local delivery details |
| Past orders | Yes | View past orders and the price summary |
| Swap products, quantity, frequency | No | Merchants edit these under Subscriptions |
| Change plan | No | Not available in the portal |
Setup steps in SMART Subscriptions
- Install SMART Subscriptions and publish at least one plan, with the Subscriptions Widget on your product template.
- Confirm your store uses the new Shopify customer accounts so subscribers can sign in. Legacy customer accounts are not supported.
- In Management, click Activate on Subscription management page and add the page in Shopify’s editor. Add it to your store’s navigation menu too.
- Optionally activate the Thank you page card (a “Manage your subscription” button after checkout) and the Order action button (a “Manage subscription” item on the customer’s order).
- Place a test subscription order with a test customer account, using Shopify Payments in test mode.
- Sign in as that customer, open Subscriptions, and confirm pause, resume, skip, cancel, payment method, and address actions work as expected.
- Tell customers in post-purchase emails or FAQ where to manage subscriptions: their store account, not a separate app login.
Important: customers cannot change their plan in the portal
Some in-app wording mentions plan changes. Treat portal self-serve as pause, resume, skip/unskip, cancel, switching saved payment methods, and delivery details only. Merchants can edit products, quantity, price, and intervals under Subscriptions; see manage subscription contracts.
Payment method: switch, not add
The portal lets customers switch to another payment method already saved to their account. If their only card expired, use Send link to update card on the customer’s profile in Shopify admin; the link expires after 48 hours (Shopify Help).
Worked example: skip before vacation
A monthly coffee subscriber will be away for one delivery. They should skip once, keep the subscription active, and let the following month bill as usual.
- Customer signs into the store’s Shopify customer account.
- Opens Subscriptions and selects the coffee subscription.
- Clicks Skip next order, or opens the upcoming orders and skips one date.
- Confirms the next order date moved to the following cycle and the subscription is still active.
- No cancel, no support ticket, no plan change.
Support only steps in if the customer needs something the portal does not offer, such as a quantity change.
Practical tips
- Activate the Thank you page card and Order action button, and link to the account area from your FAQ, so customers do not email first.
- Train support on what the portal can and cannot do: no plan change, no product swap, no new card in the portal.
- For failed cards, ask customers to switch to another saved method, or send a Shopify card-update link, then review failed payments / dunning.
- If a plan has a minimum number of payments, say so on the product page. The portal blocks cancel until it is reached and asks the customer to contact the store.
- Keep lifecycle emails accurate for pause, resume, skip, and cancel: subscription email notifications.
- Renewals still appear as normal Shopify orders: where subscription orders appear.
Let customers manage subscriptions in your store account
Plans, the product-page widget, a native customer portal, and payment recovery in one Shopify app.
Install free on ShopifyFrequently asked questions
›Where do customers manage SMART Subscriptions?
On a Subscriptions page in your store’s new Shopify customer accounts, which you activate under Management. There is no separate third-party login.
›What can customers do in the portal?
Pause, resume, skip or unskip upcoming orders, cancel after the plan’s minimum payments, switch to another saved payment method, edit shipping, pickup, or local delivery details, and view past orders.
›Can customers add a new card in the portal?
No. They can switch to another payment method already saved to their account. To get a new card on file, send a card-update link from the customer’s profile in Shopify admin.
›Why can’t a customer cancel?
If the plan option has a minimum number of payment cycles, the portal blocks cancel until that many payments are made. Merchants can still cancel under Subscriptions.
›Can customers change their plan in the portal?
No. Plan change is not a customer self-serve portal action. Do not promise plan switching in storefront or support copy.
›Can customers swap products themselves?
No. Product swap is not available in the customer portal. Merchants can edit products, quantity, and price under Subscriptions.
›Do customers need an account?
Yes. The portal runs on the new Shopify customer accounts, so the customer signs in to the account tied to the subscription.