Usage

Selling a subscription

1. Orders → Subscriptions → Plans → Add plan. Set the interval, the discounts, an optional trial and the number of deliveries.
2. Pick the products of the plan in the Products field and save.
3. Open a product page: the shopper sees Choose how to buy with “One-time purchase” selected and one row per plan, each with its frequency, price after discount and badges.
4. The shopper adds the product to the cart. The cart marks the line as a subscription; the first-order price is shown. The shopper checks out as usual.
5. When the first order is paid (or open, depending on the setting) the subscription starts and the shopper receives the “subscription started” e-mail with the schedule, the estimated amount, the key information and a link to manage it.

Only the lines with a plan become subscriptions; other lines of the same order are normal. Two plans in one order create two subscriptions.

How renewals are paid

CS-Cart does not store a card or a token for later charges, and its stock payment add-ons cannot be asked to charge a customer who is not at the checkout. The add-on therefore offers two modes, and tells the customer which one applies:

Mode	When	What happens
Automatic	The payment method of the first order has no payment processor (bank transfer, cash on delivery, cheque, a custom offline method), or a payment add-on registers a charge handler for it (see Developer notes).	On the renewal date the cron creates the order with the saved address, shipping method and payment method. For offline methods the order is created as usual and you collect the payment as you do for any such order.
Pay link	Every other payment method (all gateways of stock CS-Cart).	On the renewal date the customer receives an e-mail with a link. The link puts the renewal items in the cart and opens the normal checkout, so 3-D Secure, wallets and every payment method keep working. Nothing is ordered until the customer pays.

Pay-link renewals that are not paid get payment reminders on your schedule (default 1, 3 and 7 days after the due date) and then the subscription is cancelled or paused, as configured. A payment that is still pending (an order in status Incomplete) is not treated as failed while the customer can still pay: only a final failed or declined order reopens the cycle. An Incomplete order that is left alone for the abandoned-payment timeout (3 days by default) is set to Failed by the billing pass, and the cycle returns to the payment reminders. Cycles stuck in that state for more than a day show under Needs attention on the dashboard.

Reminders

The reminder e-mail goes out the configured number of days before a renewal, with the products, the renewal date, an estimated amount (products only, shipping and taxes are added when the order is placed), and links to manage or cancel. If the cron was not running and a reminder is overdue, the reminder is sent first and the renewal moves behind the lead time; an automatic renewal is never created before its reminder.

The customer account

My account → My subscriptions lists the subscriptions; each opens a page where the customer can:

• pause and resume;
• skip the next delivery (up to the limit of the plan);
• change the quantity, swap the product for another product of the plan, change the frequency by choosing another plan that covers the products;
• change the delivery address of automatic renewals;
• see the next renewal date and the orders of earlier deliveries;
• pay an open renewal (pay-link subscriptions);
• cancel: the Cancel button opens a confirmation page (click 1), the Confirm button cancels (click 2). A confirmation e-mail is sent. A cancelled subscription creates no further renewals; orders already placed are not affected.

Guests (and customers who are not signed in) use the signed link in the e-mails: it opens the subscription and the cancel page without a login. The link is personal to the subscription and cannot be used for another one.

Administration

• Orders → Subscriptions → Dashboard: monthly recurring revenue (estimate from active subscriptions: products only, no shipping or tax), churn of the last 30 days, renewal revenue of the last 30 days (paid renewal orders), renewals due in the next 7 days, unpaid renewals, cancellations by source, and the last billing pass with Run now.
• Subscriptions: list with search and filters; Export CSV. Open a subscription to pause, resume, skip, cancel, move the next renewal date, change the plan or quantity, or Renew now (administrators only). Tabs show every billing cycle with its order and the history of events.
• Plans: create, edit, disable and delete plans.

Multi-Vendor

Vendors see only their own subscriptions (the company of the order), create plans for their own products, and can pause, resume, skip, cancel and export. Starting the billing pass is not available to vendors. Subscriptions never mix vendors: each renewal is an order of one vendor.

Dates

All schedule maths use the shop time zone (Settings → Appearance). A renewal keeps its time of day across daylight-saving changes. After a pause the next renewal keeps its date if it is far enough ahead, otherwise it moves to now plus the reminder lead time. Skipping moves to the following scheduled date.

Statuses

Subscription	Meaning
Waiting for payment	The first order is placed but not paid yet.
Active	Renewals are created.
Paused	No renewals until the customer or you resume.
Cancelled	Ended by the customer, you, a vendor, or automatically (payment reminders used up, account deleted).
Completed	The planned number of deliveries is done.