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Appfox Subscriptions supports a variety of subscription business models. This guide shows practical use cases and how to implement them using Appfox features.

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Subscribe & save / recurring delivery

When to use: You sell consumable products that customers reorder regularly (coffee, skincare, pet food, supplements). How it works: Customers see a subscription option on the product page and can choose between one-time purchase and subscribe & save. They get a discount for subscribing, and products are delivered automatically on their chosen schedule.
1

Create a subscription plan

Go to Plans → Create Subscription Plan. Set the billing frequency (e.g., every 1 month, every 2 weeks) and discount (e.g., 10% off).
2

Add products to the plan

Select which products are available for subscription. You can add individual products or entire collections.
3

Configure the widget

Go to Storefront → Widget and customize the subscription options displayed on product pages. Choose colors, button text, and how discounts are shown.
4

Add the widget to your theme

Open the Shopify theme editor and add the Subscription Widget app block to your product page template.
Learn more: Subscription widget setup, Subscription plans

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Prepaid subscriptions

When to use: You want to charge customers less frequently than you deliver (e.g., charge every 2 months, deliver monthly). How it works: Customers prepay for multiple deliveries at once. Shopify creates fulfillment orders at the delivery frequency, but billing happens at the longer prepaid interval. Example: A plant club that delivers a plant every month but charges every 2 months.
1

Create a Prepaid or Advanced Prepaid plan

Go to Plans → Create Subscription Plan and set Plan Type to Prepaid or Advanced Prepaid.
2

Set frequencies

Configure:
  • Fulfillment Frequency: Every 1 month (how often products ship)
  • Billing Period: Every 2 months (how often customers are charged)
3

Set pricing

Set the product price to the prepaid amount (e.g., £20 for 2 deliveries at £10/month effective rate).
Shopify natively supports prepaid subscriptions where the billing period is a multiple of the fulfillment frequency. If you need to charge more frequently than you deliver (e.g., bill monthly, deliver every 2 months), see Bill monthly, deliver bimonthly for workarounds.
Learn more: Bill monthly, deliver bimonthly

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Membership or access subscriptions

When to use: You’re selling access to a service, club, or exclusive content rather than physical products (e.g., coffee club membership, premium access tier). How it works: Customers subscribe to a membership plan and receive recurring billing. You can configure whether they receive physical perks (e.g., a quarterly gift) or purely digital access.
1

Create a membership plan

Go to Plans → Create Subscription Plan. Name it something like “Premium Membership” or “Coffee Club Access.”
2

Add membership products

Add products that represent the membership tier. For digital-only memberships, create a placeholder product with no inventory tracking.
3

Set billing frequency

Configure billing to match your membership cadence (e.g., monthly, quarterly, yearly).
4

Enable customer portal

Let members manage their memberships through the customer portal. Enable pause, cancel, and payment update features.
Use Intro pricing in your plan settings to offer a discounted first month or trial period for new members.

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In-store subscription enrollment (POS)

When to use: You have a physical retail location and want staff to enroll customers in subscriptions at the register. How it works: Staff add products to the cart in Shopify POS and tap the Subscriptions tile to apply a subscription plan. The customer checks out with Shopify Payments, and the subscription contract is created.
1

Enable Shopify Payments

Subscriptions at the register require Shopify Payments. Third-party payment gateways cannot process selling plans in POS.
2

Add the Subscriptions tile

In Shopify POS, go to Settings → Smart grid and add the Appfox Subscriptions tile to your layout.
3

Publish products to POS

Make sure your subscription-eligible products are published to the Point of Sale sales channel.
4

Train staff

Show staff how to tap the Subscriptions tile and select plans when customers want to subscribe.
Learn more: POS enrollment

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Self-service customer portal

When to use: You want to reduce support volume by letting customers manage their subscriptions themselves (pause, cancel, change frequency, update payment, etc.). How it works: Customers log into their Shopify customer account and access the Manage Subscriptions page. You control which features are available (pause, cancel, product swap, change frequency, update payment, etc.).
1

Enable the customer account extension

In Shopify admin, go to Settings → Customer accounts and enable the Appfox Subscriptions - Manage Subscriptions extension.
2

Configure features

In Appfox, go to Storefront → Customer portal and toggle the features you want to allow (pause, cancel, change frequency, update payment, etc.).
3

Customize branding

Use the Images & colors tab to match the portal to your brand.
4

Link to the portal

Add a link to the customer account login page in your store footer or header so customers can easily find it.
Learn more: Add Manage Subscriptions, Customer portal

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Quick checkout / one-click reorder

When to use: You want to let existing subscribers quickly reorder products or add new items to their subscription without going through full checkout. How it works: Appfox includes a Quick checkout feature that lets customers add products to their next subscription order with minimal friction. Setup: See Quick checkout for configuration steps. Learn more: Quick checkout

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Backend subscription management (Enterprise API)

When to use: You’re building custom workflows, integrations, or admin tools that need programmatic access to subscription contracts (e.g., custom dashboards, mobile apps, third-party CRM sync). How it works: The Appfox Subscriptions Enterprise API is a REST API that lets you:
  • List, read, and search subscription contracts
  • Pause, resume, and cancel subscriptions
  • Update contract details (frequency, products, next billing date)
  • Create and manage contracts programmatically
The Enterprise API requires an Enterprise plan. It is not available on other plan tiers.
Learn more: API overview, API quickstart, Authentication

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Bundles and build-a-box

When to use: You want customers to build custom subscription boxes by choosing multiple products (e.g., coffee sampler box, snack box, beauty box). How it works: Appfox supports bundles and build-a-box functionality for subscription plans. Customers can select products to include in their recurring box, and you can configure minimum/maximum item counts.
Bundle and build-a-box features may be plan-gated or require specific configuration. Contact support@getappfox.com to confirm availability for your plan tier.
Setup: Contact support or check the Plans settings in Appfox for bundle configuration options.

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Tips for choosing the right approach

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Start simple

If you’re new to subscriptions, start with a basic subscribe & save model. Add one or two products, set a simple discount, and enable the widget on product pages. You can expand to prepaid, memberships, or bundles later.

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Combine use cases

Many merchants use multiple approaches:
  • Offer subscribe & save on product pages (for online customers)
  • Enable POS enrollment (for in-store customers)
  • Provide a customer portal (for self-service management)
  • Use the API (for custom backend workflows)

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Enable the right features

Not every business needs every feature. Consider:
  • Do you want customers to be able to cancel, or only pause? (Disable cancel if you want to encourage pausing.)
  • Do you want customers to swap products, or keep their original selection? (Disable product swap for curated boxes.)
Configure the Customer portal features based on your business model and support capacity. Learn more: Customer portal
Need help choosing the right setup? Contact support@getappfox.com.