Extension Settings

To configure the extension go to Stores > Configuration > AHEADWORKS EXTENSIONS > Subscription and Recurring Payments 2. The config page comes in five sections: General, Product Page, Engine, Email Settings and Subscription Editing.

General Settings

The 'General' section includes the following parameters:

• Shipping Method For Subscription Orders - select the default shipping method for subscriptions: flat rate (fixed) or table rate (best way) (is used when the shipping method from the initial order cannot be applied);

• Enable Extension Log - set to Yes if you need to log subscription updates, as well as the actions of the Customer and Admin;

• Use Product Advanced Pricing – set to Yes to use product special, group and tier prices to calculate the prices of the subscriptions by default.

Engine Settings

The Engine section has the following parameters to set:

• Merge same-day subscriptions - set to Yes to group subscriptions with the same delivery dates into single orders (so that customers can save on shipping);
• Number of Attempts to Charge Failed Subscriptions - a selector for a whole numeric value (ranging 1-10) to indicate the number of reattempts to charge a subscription fee in case of failure (per day). 

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Product Page

The Product Page section contains the following settings:

• Show Subscription Plan Selector As - decide between the two modes of Subscription Plan Selector as it will appear on the storefront page: Radiobutton or Dropdown;  
• Subscribe and Save Text - suggest a title for the hint to appear between the one-off purchase option and the list of subscription options (empty by default, not displayed when empty);
• Tooltip for Subscribe and Save - suggest a description of the hint to appear in a bubble when clicking or tapping on the question mark icon next to the hint (empty by default);

• Subscription Plan Description on Product Page - the Classic/Advanced switcher to define the format of the Regular and Trial Payments passage in the subscription details block on the following pages:

  • Product Page
  • Cart Page
  • Order Success Page
  • Order Page (backend/frontend)
  • Subscription Page (frontend)
  • Order Email notification (native Magento)

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Email Settings

The 'Email Settings' section contains the following parameters:

• Email Sender - the name of the default email sender;
• Successful Billing Email - enable/disable email alerts about successful subscription billing;
• Billing Successful Email Template - the email template for successful subscription billing alerts;
• Failed Billing Email - enable/disable email alerts about failed subscription billing;
• Billing Failed Email Template - the email template for failed subscription billing alerts;
• Subscription Cancelled by Admin Email - enable/disable email alerts about cancelled subscription (by Admin);
• Subscription Cancelled by Admin Template - the email template for cancelled subscription alerts (by Admin);
• Subscription Cancelled by Customer Email - enable/disable email alerts about cancelled subscription (by Customer);
• Subscription Cancelled by Customer Template - the email template for cancelled subscription alerts (by Customer);
• Send BCC to admin - the email addresses of the admins to receive blind copies of the emails on subscription billing failure (use commas to separate addresses, leave empty to disable the feature);
• Send Failure Alert To Admin -  the email addresses of the admin to receive notifications on the order cancellation because of failed shipping or payment;
• Send Reminder About Next Billing, Days - the number of days before the next billing when the corresponding email reminder must be sent;
• Next Billing Email Reminder Template - the email template for next billing reminders.

Subscription Editing Settings

The 'Subscription Editing' section allows configuring the following parameters:

• Switch to Another Plan - by choosing 'Yes' you will allow registered buyers to swap active subscription plans at any time they wish;
• Change Shipping Address - by choosing 'Yes' you will allow registered buyers to change their shipping address linked to an active subscription at any time they wish;
• Allow Editing Next Payment Date - by choosing 'Yes' you will allow registered buyers to edit the date of next payment related to an active subscription at any time they wish;
• Earliest Next Payment Dates, Days - type in the number of days towards earliest next payment within a subscription (Set to 1 to allow choosing "tomorrow", and then on likewise);
• Allow Next Payment Date Editing for Membership - choose 'Yes' to allow registered shoppers to edit the date of the next payment within their Membership subscriptions;
• Allow editing product options and quantity - choose 'Yes' to allow registered shoppers to edit the options and/or the quantity of the products within a subscription;
• Allow one-time editing of product options and quantity - choose 'Yes' to enable registered shoppers with the One-Time mode of editing the options and/or the quantity of the products within a subscription;
• Allow Customer To Cancel Subscription – set to ‘Yes’ to allow customers to cancel/renew subscriptions by default. The value set herein can be overridden for each subscription plan on the Plan page on Backend. When customers are not allowed to cancel subscriptions, the Cancel/Renew buttons are not displayed on the My Subscriptions grid.

The Allow Editing and Allow One-Time Editing options define the mode of editing of products within a subscription: Permanently or For Next Order Only (one-time), the functionality of which is disclosed as follows:

• When "Allow editing product options and quantity" is set to Yes and "Allow one-time editing of product options and quantity" is set to No, the changes customers make to the options of a product or to its quantity will be accepted permanently for all subsequent orders within the subscription.
• When both configuration options are set to 'Yes', both modes are available to the Customer. The choice of one is embodied via a popup, which is shown to the Customer on completion of the updates to the subscription. When the 'For Next Order Only' mode is selected in the popup, all changes to the configuration of the product and/or its quantity within the subscription will be applied to the upcoming subscription order only, all subsequent orders of the subscription will be processed against the settings of the previously delivered subscription.

Subscription Plans Grid

Having configured the main settings of the extension, proceed to creating subscription plans for products. Go to Sales > SARP 2 by AheadWorks > Plans.

The plans are aggregated into the Subscription Plans grid. Subscriptions data is presented into the following columns:

• ID - the identification number of the subscription;
• Name - the descriptive name of the subscription (active link to the Edit Plan page);
• Status - the status of the subscription (enabled/disabled);
• Initial Fee - the indicator of an initial fee set for the subscription (yes/no);
• Trial Period - the indicator of a trial period set for the subscription (yes/no);
• Total Number of Payments - the number of payments which will happen within the subscription;
• Number of Trial Payments - the number of trial payments which will happen within the subscription;
• Membership Model – Yes if the model of subscription is Membership, No otherwise (see Creating/Editing Subscription Plans).
• Offer to continue subscription – Yes if the subscription can be extended, No otherwise (see Creating/Editing Subscription Plans).

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With the 'Actions' box above the grid, you can manage your subscription plans one by one or in bulk.

Creating/Editing Subscription Plans

To edit a plan, click on the name thereof in the Subscription Plans grid.

To create a new plan, click on the Add Plan button at the top right of the page.

The New Plan page will come in six sections: General, Regular Period Schedule, Trial Period Schedule, Additional Pricing Settings, Continue Subscription Settings and Storefront Description.

General Settings

The 'General' section allow setting the following parameters:

• Enabled - set to Yes to enable the subscription plan;
• Name - suggest the name of the plan;
• Sort order - the whole numeric value to tell the relative order in which the subscription will feature on the list of subscriptions in the store (0 - top position).
• Enable Initial Fee - set to Yes to enable an initial fee for the plan;  
• Enable Trial Period - set to Yes to enable a trial fee for the plan;
• Allow Customer to cancel Subscription - set to ‘Yes’ to allow customers to cancel/renew the subscription plan. Tick the “Use value from Config Settings” check-box to use the default value of Allow Customer to Cancel Subscription as set in the Configuration.  When customers are not allowed to cancel the subscription, the Cancel/Renew buttons are not displayed on the My Subscriptions grid.

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Scheduling Settings

The 'Schedule' section allows defining the number of payments and payment frequency both for regular and trial periods. 

Regular Period Schedule

The block allows configuring the following parameters:

• Number of Payments - the whole numeric value to tell the number of payments within the subscription period;
• Repeat Payments - the frequency of payments selector with options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Every (further configurable);
• Send Reminder About Next Billing (in days) - the number of days before the next billing when the corresponding email reminder is to be sent (untick the "Use value from Config Settings" to indicate a custom value);
• Membership Model - the Yes/No toggle to enable or disable an extra cycle when the subscription comes to an end (Compare: when a product-purchase subscription expires buyers have to resubscribe should they wish to continue the subscription).

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Trial Period Schedule

The section (see above) allows configuring the following parameters:

• Number of Trial Payments - the whole numeric value to tell the number of payments within the subscription period;
• Length is the same as for regular payments - the Yes/No toggle to unfold/fold up the Trial Period Scheduling options;
• Repeat Payments - the frequency of payments selector with options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Every (further configurable);
• Send Reminder About Next Billing (in days) - the number of days before the next billing when the corresponding email reminder is to be sent (untick the "Use value from Config Settings" to indicate a custom value);

Additional Pricing Settings and Storefront Description 

The Additional Pricing Settings section allows the following:

• Set the regular payment price (as a % of the product price);
• Set the trial payment price (as a % of the product price), if the trial period is enabled;
• Define the price rounding logic (up to XX.99, XX.90, or X9.00, down to XX.99, XX.90, or X9.00, or don't round).

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Continue Subscription Settings 

The Continue Subscription Settings section shows the following options for subscription plan configuration:

• Offer to continue subscription - the Yes/No toggle to enable or disable the option to extend the subscription (both on the front and backend);
• When to send (in days) - the whole numeric value to indicate the number of days when a notification on subscription extending option is to be sent to a customer;
• What to send - a drop-box to select an email template for the notification (AW_Offer to Continue Subscription Template by default)

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The default "Offer to Continue Subscriptions Template" contains an active link which takes a customer to the My Account area on the storefront and performs the Extend Subscription operation. The link remains active only for the length of the billing cycle as per the expired subscription. The link is inserted into the email by the following variable: {var extendLink}. The variable can be added manually to any subscription-related email.

{{depend extendLink}} 
	Your subscription ends soon. 
	<a href="{{var extendLink}}" target="_blank">Click here to extend it.</a> 
{{/depend}}

Storefront Description

The section comes with the following parameters:

• Store View - the selector of a store-view;
• Title - the text-box to contain the title of the subscription plan as per the store-view.

To add a store view and suggest a plan title for it, click the Add button below the Store View selector. 

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Examples of Subscription Plan Settings

Free 10-day Trial

I want to sell subscription tickets to yoga classes, and supply each subscription with a 10-day free trial, so that customers could come and try the classes to make sure they are very good and worth paying for. Customers will have to enter their card when purchasing the subscription with a free trial. An initial fee on registration of a customer for the class is to be set (paid once for a subscription). When purchasing the subscription customers will be charged only the initial fee. When the free 10-day trial elapses, customers will be charged the first payment within the subscription. That will be the date to start the regular payments period. No charge will follow, if customers cancel the subscription within the trial period (first 10 days). 

Enabled Initial fee - yes;

Enable Trial Period - yes;

Number of payments - 12 (annual subscription);

Regular Payment / Repeat payments - Every 1st month (monthly payment);

Membership Model - no (to collect an initial fee with next purchase of the subscription);

Number of Trial Payments - 1;

Trial Payment / Repeat payments - Every 10th day;

Regular Payment Price (% of product price) - 80;

Trial Payment Price (% of product price) - 0;

Adding Subscription Plans to Products

There are two ways to add a subscription plan to a product:

• individually;
• as part of a mass action.

Note, that more than one subscription can be added to a product.

Adding subscription plans to individual products

Go to Catalog > Products and open a product page. Scroll down to the 'Subscription Configuration' section. This is where you can configure subscription plan settings for the given product.

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First, define the subscription model (use the 'Subscription' box for this purpose):

• No - the product will be available only as a one-off purchase;
• Optional - the product will be available both as a subscription and one-off purchase;
• Subscription only - the product will be available only as a subscription.

Next, decide if the Advanced Pricing options set for the product are to be used to calculate the subscription fees and prices. Use the Use Product Advanced Pricing toggle to do so. Tick the “Use Config Settings” check-box to use the default value of the given parameter.

Read more on the logic of Advanced Pricing application for subscriptions here.

To finalize the plan, tweak the following options of the subscription:

• Website - If you run several websites, you can configure plan parameters for each. Use the 'Website' box to select a website.
• Plan - Choose a subscription plan from the 'Plan' box. You can use same plan for many products.
• Initial fee - The amount of the initial fee, if enabled in the Plan Settings. By default, 0.00. Set the initial fee manually. 
• Trial - The amount of the product fee during the trial period, if enabled in the Plan Settings. By default, the fee is calculated from the trial fee values as set in the Plan Settings.  
• Regular - The amount of the regular subscription fee as a % of the product price (see Plan Settings). By default, the regular fee is calculated from the regular fee values as set in the Plan Settings.

Installments Mode - The mode of subscription fee calculation when the price of a custom option (if any is added to the product) is split between regular subscription payments.

Refer to the official Magento 2 guide to learn more on customizable options for products.

Click Save in the top right of the page to apply the configuration.

Adding subscription plans to products in bulk

Go to Catalog > Products, choose products to which you would like to add subscriptions, click the 'Actions' box and select 'Update attributes'. 

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This will take you to the 'Update Attributes' page. Scroll down to the subscription editing fields.

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Assign a subscription type and set other parameters in the same fashion as for individual products (see above). Click the 'Save' button in the top right corner to save changes. You will be redirected to the 'Products' page. 

Configuring Free Shipping for Subscriptions

How to configure free shipping for subscriptions

Free Shipping for Subscriptions is implemented with the help of Cart Price Rules. Do that on the New Cart Rule page in the Actions section (Marketing → Cart Price Rules → Edit / New Rule → Action).

The section brings forward the following configuration options:

• Condition block: native Magento 2 options of Product Attributes and Cart Item Attributes, as well as the condition of subscription existence. The latter is the enhancement brought forward by the given module.
• Free Shipping dropdown: No, For matching items only, For shipment with matching items.

Thereby, with M2 ASP (starting version 2.12.0) installed on the store, a Cart Price rule can have two tiers of conditions:

• the native Magento 2 cart price condition, which specifies when the rules is to be applied, and
• the free shipping condition, which specifies which cart items are to be shipped free of shipping charge

Every time the cart price condition enables the Cart Price Rule, the free shipping condition will work both for the initial subscription order and all the recurrent subscription orders. Once the cart price condition is not performed, the free shipping condition is dropped and is not performed too. This can happen, for example, when the Customer edits the details of the purchased subscription, which happen to be the values of the cart price condition of the Cart Price Rule which was implemented on purchase of the subscription.

Free shipping can be set both for products with optional and permanent subscriptions. For products with permanent subscriptions, Cart Price rules are applied to the subscriptions only. For products with optional subscriptions, consider that a product can be bought both/either as a one-off purchase and on subscription terms.

Free shipping for products with optional subscriptions

For products with optional subscriptions, mind the following alternative configurations of the Cart Price rule:

Configuration A

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Configuration B

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Using Coupons for Free Shipping

Consider the following logic of using coupons when setting up free shipping in a Cart Price rule:

• Coupon = No Coupon -> the rule works for all subsequent orders
• Coupon = Specific Coupon -> the rule works for first order only

Thereby, if you want to provide customers with coupons for free shipping, remember, that the rule works only for first subscription order. To configure coupons, go to Marketing → Cart Price Rules →  Edit / New Rule → Rule Information.

Sample cases and scenarios for subscriptions and free shipping

Case A

Subscription Product_1 (with free shipping) and Subscription Product_2 (without free shipping) in one subscription plan:

• delete Subscription Product_1 →  no free shipping
• delete Subscription Product_2 → free shipping

Case B

“For matching items only”, explained

The following examples explain the difference between the two settings for the Free Shipping drop-box (Marketing →  Cart Price Rules → Edit / New Rule →  Action) when subscriptions are considered for free shipping.

GIVEN: There are 2 subscription products with the XXX and YYY SKUs

1) Free Shipping = "For matching items only" and the shipping method has a fixed price (for example, fixed rate = 5$ for 1 item):

1. XXX in Cart/Subscription -> fixed rate = $0 in Cart and for all subsequent orders
2. XXX subscription and XXX product in Cart -> fixed rate = $5 in Cart -> After placing the order, fixed rate = $0 for all subsequent orders by the subscription
3. XXX and YYY in Cart -> fixed rate = $5 -> Place the order:

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> fixed rate = $5 for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> If delete YYY product, fixed rate = $0 for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> If delete XXX product, fixed rate = $5 (no free shipping) for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in different Subscriptions -> Subscription with XXX product (fixed rate = $0 for all subsequent orders) and Subscription with YYY product(fixed rate = $5 for all subsequent orders)

4. Subscription with XXX product (fixed rate = $0) and Subscription with YYY product(fixed rate = $5) -> Merged order with XXX and YYY subscriptions (fixed rate = $5 in the order)

2) Free Shipping = "For matching items only" and the shipping method has a dynamic price (for example, Fedex):

1. XXX in Cart/Subscription -> FedEx = $0 in Cart and for all subsequent orders
2. XXX subscription and XXX product in Cart -> FedEx = "NOT free" in Cart -> After placing the order, FedEx = $0 for all subsequent orders by the subscription
3. XXX and YYY in Cart -> FedEx = -> Place the order:

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> FedEx = "NOT free" for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> If delete YYY product, FedEx = $0 for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> If delete XXX product, FedEx = "NOT free" for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in different Subscriptions -> Subscription with XXX product (FedEx = $0 for all subsequent orders) and Subscription with YYY product(FedEx = "NOT free" for all subsequent orders)

4. Subscription with XXX product (FedEx = $0) and Subscription with YYY product(FedEx = "NOT free") -> Merged order with XXX and YYY subscriptions (FedEx = "NOT free" in the order)

3) Free Shipping = "For shipment with matching items" and the shipping method has a dynamic price (for example, Fedex):

1. XXX in Cart/Subscription -> FedEx = $0 in Cart and for all subsequent orders
2. XXX subscription and XXX product in Cart -> FedEx = $0 in Cart -> After placing the order, FedEx = $0 for all subsequent orders by the subscription
3. XXX and YYY in Cart -> FedEx = $0 -> Place the order:

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> FedEx = $0 for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> If delete YYY product, FedEx = $0 for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in one Subscription -> If delete XXX product, FedEx = "NOT free" (no free shipping) for all subsequent orders

-> If XXX and YYY in different Subscriptions -> Subscription with XXX product (FedEx = $0 for all subsequent orders) and Subscription with YYY product(FedEx = "NOT free" for all subsequent orders)

4. Subscription with XXX product (FedEx = $0) and Subscription with YYY product(FedEx = "NOT free") -> Merged order with XXX and YYY subscriptions (FedEx = "NOT free" shipping in the order)

Managing Subscriptions

Once the plans have been assigned to the product, it becomes available for purchase as a subscription. To monitor all active subscribers, go to Sales → SARP 2 by AheadWorks → Subscriptions.

Monitoring & bulk-editing subscriptions

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The 'Subscription' grid contains the data about all the subscribers as arranged into the following columns:

• ID - an ID of a subscription;
• Subscription Profile ID - an ID of a subscription profile;
• Customer - the name of a subscriber;
• Email - subscriber's email address;
• Group - the group the subscriber is assigned to;
• Subscription Plan - the plan purchased by the subscriber;
• Status - the current subscription status (active, suspended, or canceled);
• Store view - the store view to show the subscription;
• Created At - the date and time of subscription creation;
• Start Date - the date when the subscriber started the subscription;
• Last Order - the ID of the latest order;
• Last Order Date - the date of the latest order.
• Last Order Grand Total - actual total for the most recent order (May also contain fees for non-subscription items and/or items from other subscriptions when charged together with the chosen one);
• Next Order Grand Total - actual total for the next order;
• Products - the products assigned to the subscription.

From the 'Actions' box above the grid, you can change the status of the selected subscription(s).

Browsing and editing individual subscriptions

To view the details of a subscription, click on the correspondent subscription profile ID (each id in the grid is an active link to the related subscription profile page).

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This is where you can browse the following:

• Next order details;
• Subscription status;
• Subscription plan information;
• Products assigned to the subscription;
• Buyer's address, shipment and payment methods;
• Order details to contain the subscription.

Depending on the status of the subscription a few actions are possible herein:

Active subscriptions can be cancelled. To do so, click on Cancel Subscription in the top right of the page. The page will be reloaded, the subscription will receive the status "Cancelled", and the Cancel Subscription option will change to Renew Subscription.

Cancelled subscriptions can be renewed. To renew a subscription, click on Renew Subscription in the top right of the page. The page will get reloaded, the subscriptions will receive the status "Active".

Expired subscriptions can be extended. To extend a subscription, click on the Extend Subscription in the top right of the page. The page will get reloaded, the subscription will receive the status "Active".   

On successful extending of a subscription the following arrangements will take place:

• there will be added as many billing cycles as configured within the subscription plan;
• the subscription will continue on the same schedule as before (if regular payments happened every Monday, then after extending the subscription they will take place every Monday too, disregarding on what day the subscription was extended);
• the price of each new billing cycle will be Regular (no initial fees, no trials).