Working with subscriptions

This topic describes how to work with subscriptions on the Order Management screen.

A subscription allows for recurring orders, and for payments to be spread over time, providing flexibility in how you sell your products. Use subscriptions for large and complicated orders, orders that need to be shipped in sequence, magazine or grocery subscriptions, or expensive items.

A Customer Service Representative (CSRStands for "customer service representative") sets up a subscription to generate recurring payments. Subscription processing is handled through the Subscription payment plans scheduled job.

Viewing subscriptions

1. From the Order Management screen, click Subscriptions. All subscriptions appear.
2. To narrow down the list, identify the subscription customer by selecting Search by Name or Search by Email.

   

   • If you chose Search by Name, move to the Search box and begin entering the customer's first name. For example, if the customer name is Bryan Stephens, enter B, Br, or Bry. Press Enter to execute the search.
     • You can enter the entire name, but this takes longer.
     • As you enter more characters, you get fewer search results.
     • You cannot find a customer by entering the last name. To continue the example, you cannot find Bryan Stephens by entering Ste.
   • If you chose Search by Email, enter the exact email address. Partial entries are not allowed.
3. Choose the subscription that you want to view. The information is displayed in the following tabs:
   • Summary. General information, such as market and currency, order number, created date, items, shipping, and discount information.
   • Form Details. Shipping address and method, line items, discounts, and payments.
   • Contact Details. Customer name and email address. You can view and edit customer information by clicking the edit icon next to Customer Information. See Viewing and updating customer information.
   • Settings. Information about the subscription, such as cycle length and start date.

Creating a subscription

1. From the Order Management screen, click Subscriptions.
2. Click Create Subscription.

   

3. Choose the subscription marketOne or more countries, regions or customer groups, to which you want to apply languages, catalogs, currencies or promotions. The market features support targeted merchandising and personalization..

   

4. Choose an existing customer or create a new one.
   • To find an existing customer, enter any part of the customer name or email address. A list of matching customer names appears. Select the customer.
   • To enter a new customer, click New Customer. The Create Contact dialog appears. Enter the customer's name, email address, and customer groupCustomer groups are created in Commerce Manager then applied to contacts and organizations. Customer groups are common to both contacts and organizations, and you can apply them to customer segments that are targeted for marketing campaigns and customer group-specific pricing, including variants..
5. Click Create Subscription.
6. Click the context menu to the right of shipment 1 and click Edit.

   

7. Enter the subscription shipping address and shipping methodCommerce: A set of information and rules that determine the shipping cost. Displayed on the front-end public site while a customer checks out an item from the shopping cart. The shipping fee is added to the total price of the purchase. A shipping method is mapped to a shipping provider visible to a back-end administrator in Commerce Manager. For example, when a customer picks "Ground Shipping," UPS (or another provider) may fulfill the shipment..

   

8. Click Save.
9. Click Add Line Items.

   

10. In the Product Variant field, enter a search phrase of three or more characters. Examples:
    • The entire SKUCommerce: Stock keeping unit; corresponds to a purchasable product with specific characteristics. For example, a product line of shirts has individual variations/SKUs for sleeve size, color, and collar size., for example, 44477844.
    • All or part of the item name or description, for example, boot.

    

11. Search results appear. Select the line item you want to add.

    To view detailed information of the line item, click More Details. The respective product page on your e-commerce website opens in a new tab.

12. Choose a quantity and price. The default placed price appears, but you can change it.
13. Click Add Line Item.
14. Open the Settings tab and set the cycles and parameters for the subscription.

    

    • Last Transaction Date. Logs the last transaction date. Leave the date and time fields as is when you create the subscription.
    • Completed Cycles. This tallies the number of completed cycles since the subscription was created. When initially creating the subscription, set this field to 0.
    • Cycle Length. Entering a value of 1 or higher determines the unit of time for the Plan Cycle. For example, if the Plan Cycle is Daily, and the Cycle Length is 3, a transaction occurs every three days. If the Plan Cycle is Monthly and the Cycle Length is 1, a transaction occurs each month.
    • Plan Cycle. (Cycle Mode)

      You can choose from the following plan cycles, which determine how often the customer is charged.

      • None. No recurring paymentCommerce: Payments initiated by Commerce Manager on a regular cycle, used in a subscription-based scenario. is created. The customer is charged once when the initial purchase order is created.
      • Days. Recurring payment happens daily from start date.
      • Weeks. Recurring payment happens weekly from start date.
      • Months. Recurring payment happens monthly from start date.
      • Years. Recurring payment happens annually from start date
      • Custom1/Custom2. These are placeholders for developers to create custom cycles within the Mediachase.Commerce.Orders.PaymentPlanCycle class.
    • Max Cycles. Determines the maximum number of cycles to run for this subscription. For example, if the Max Cycles is set to 2, the subscription stops after two transaction cycles. If you want the plan to go on indefinitely, set Max Cycles to 0.
    • Start Date. Set the start date and time when recurring transactions begin.
    • End Date. Set the end date and time when recurring transactions end.
    • Is Active. Select the check box to enable the subscription. Leave the check box empty to create the subscription and enable it later.
15. Click Create Subscription.

Subscription orders

After you create a new subscription, the Orders tab appears on the Subscription Details screen. The Orders History shows all processed purchase orders from this subscription.

The subscription begins when the first purchase order is generated. You can create the purchase order manually, or by running the subscription scheduled job (requires administration access).

Creating the first purchase order manually

1. From the Order Management screen, click Subscriptions.
2. Choose the subscription you want to create the first purchase order for.
3. On the Subscription Details screen, click the Form Details tab.
4. Click Add Payment.

   

5. Select a billing address and payment method.

   

6. Click Save.
7. Click Create First Purchase Order.

   

The Create First Purchase Order button disappears after creating the first purchase order manually, or if the subscription scheduled job runs and generates the first purchase order.

The generated purchase order number includes the parent ID of the subscription. For example, if the subscription parent ID is 35, subsequent purchase orders are numbered as PO35XXX.

When a payment is added to a subscription, the customer is not charged. The subscription simply collects payment information until converted to a purchase order. The customer is charged once the purchase order is generated for the first time (and through subsequent purchase orders).

Editing a subscription

1. From the Order Management screen, click Subscriptions.
2. Click the subscription you want to edit and make your changes. You can add and edit line items, change the subscription settings and shipping information.

Canceling a subscription

1. From the Order Management screen, click Subscriptions.
2. Click the subscription you want to cancel.
3. On the Subscription Details screen, click Cancel Subscription.

   

Converting a cart to a subscription

Typically, a shopping cartCommerce: A collection of products selected by a website customer, with the intention of completing a purchase. Also known as a shopping cart or basket. is converted to a purchase orderCommerce: An order that has been registered and paid for. Typically, it has an associated purchase order number. when a customer proceeds to checkoutCommerce: Completing a purchase on a website, involving the collection of shipping and billing address, shipping method, payment, and so on. and finalizes the purchase. You can also convert a cart to a subscriptionCommerce: A recurring order, can be associated with a payment plan. for further processing. For example, you want to generate recurring payments for the products added to the cart.

Select Convert To Subscription in Cart Details to convert a cart to a subscription.