Wiederkehrenden Zahlungen, Abonnements uns Kundenbindung über einen längeren Zeitpunkt werden immer beliebter und oft versprechen Onlinehändler und Shops dadurch auch Rabatte oder Vorteile. Ein Abo-Modell bzw. Abo Produkte mit Abo-Funktion in einem WooCommerce Shop sind mittels WooCommerce Abonnement Plugin (engl. Subscriptions) möglich und bietet die beste Lösung und Möglichkeit um automatisch monatlich, quartalsweise oder jährlich über diverse Zahlungsanbieter einzuziehen und somit eine wiederkehrende Leistung oder ein Produkt (physisch oder digital) mit Laufzeit anzubieten.

WooCommerce Subscription Plugin (Recurring Payments Solution - Monthly, Quarterly, Annually)

In this article, we present 3 solutions in the form of subscription plugins, which are well suited for both physical and digital products. The features are generally compatible with all themes and other plugins. However, testing is also the best option here, as incompatibilities can occur, but these can be resolved through minor adjustments. As always, all presented plugins can be easily translated into German with Loco Translate.

UPDATE: Since April 2022 it is even better to use with various new add-ons! More information below in the article.

Tip for a payment provider:

Mollie Payment System for WooCommerce & other Shop Systems

WooCommerce subscriptions with WooCommerce Subscriptions*

The market leader and arguably the "best" subscription plugin for the WooCommerce store. Capture remaining revenue with recurring payments for any interval and period.

Can you guarantee how much money your business will earn this month? If you offer subscription-based products (WooCommerce subscription products), you can do exactly that.

With WooCommerce Subscriptions, you can create and manage products with recurring payments – payments that help you generate recurring revenue you can rely on.

With the plugin and the WooCommerce subscription features, you can introduce a variety of subscriptions for physical or virtual products and services. Create clubs of the month, weekly service subscriptions, or even annual software billing packages. Add sign-up fees, offer free trials, or set expiration dates.

With a subscription-based model, you can generate more recurring revenue – and all you need to do is ship the orders.

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Extension: WooCommerce Subscription Downloads (click here)*: Offer your subscribers additional downloads via downloadable products listed in your shop.

Why use WooCommerce Subscriptions?

• Multiple billing plans are available to meet your business requirements
• Integration with over 25 payment gateways for automatically recurring payments
• Supports manual renewal payments via any WooCommerce payment gateway as well as automatic email invoices and receipts
• Supports automatic billing of failed subscription payments so you never lose revenue
• Give subscribers the ability to manage their own plan, including upgrade or downgrade, without having to wait for you
• Integrated renewal notifications and automatic emails inform you – and your customers – when subscription payments have been processed, so there are no surprises.
• With detailed reports you can track recurring revenue, the number of active subscribers, and more

Features for WooCommerce subscriptions

Capture more residual revenue from existing subscriptions

Whether your goal is to send loyal customers a surprise package of products every month or to charge them for a personalized service provided by your small business, WooCommerce Subscriptions can make capturing these important recurring revenues stress-free.

You can track how many subscribers you have, when they are billed, and how much revenue you generate. This way, you always know how much revenue your business can count on as you continue to grow.

Subscription function for downloads (files)

WooCommerce Subscription Downloads adds a new field to your downloadable products in the metafield Product Data. Once you have set up your subscription product, the subscription can be searched via the new Subscription field that appears when adding your downloadable product.

Update access permissions easily

When you update the files available for a downloadable product, your subscribers automatically receive the update.

Subscriber view

Your subscribers will find their downloads on their My Account >> Downloads page.

To the subscription add-on for downloads*

How to get started with the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin:

1. Purchase this extension
2. Download the plugin in your WooCommerce store, install it and activate it
3. Set up your first subscription-based product or service and take it live
4. Read our detailed documentation to customize your subscription products, renewal options, and more
5. Sit back and enjoy more revenue with WooCommerce Shop!

to the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin*

Also a useful add-on for the subscription function:

AddOn: Buy Once or Subscribe on ONE Product Page

With this powerful extension for WooCommerce subscriptions, make all your existing products available for subscription purchase.

Offer any of your products as subscriptions or for one-time purchase

With this extension, you can convert all your standalone products into subscription packages. This is an add-on for the WooCommerce Subscription plugin. For this plugin to work, please first purchase and install the WooCommerce Subscription plugin* and then the AddOn (click here)*.

Buy AddOn here*

Show them how much they can save through a subscription instead of making a one-time purchase.

1. Offer a discount to entice customers to subscribe to a subscription instead of purchasing it once
2. Configure subscription discounts based on subscription frequency
3. Simplify your SKU management

Sell the same SKU both as a one-time product and as a subscription. This saves customers money while increasing your recurring revenue. Create these benefits without adding additional SKUs.

Combine extensions and offer additional exceptional features

Boost your recurring e-commerce revenue even more when you use "Buy Once" or "Subscribe" for WooCommerce Subscriptions together with the Self-Service Dashboard for WooCommerce Subscriptions. This is the only extension of this type that is compatible with the Self-Service Dashboard.

By adding the self-service dashboard to your online store, you reduce support tickets related to adjusting your customers' subscriptions. You also reduce churn and increase your customer lifetime value.

1. Enable your customers to purchase a simple or variable product on shop, category, or product pagespurchase once or subscribe.
   

   

   

    

2. Define subscription frequencies: You can further customize subscriptions by adding multiple frequencies from the admin area and different discounts to each frequency.
   

   

   

    

3. Add discounts for individual frequencies: For selected products that are to be sold as a subscription, you can add a discount or not add one. Adding a discount will generally encourage customers to purchase regularly with the subscription option. In the backend, you only add the percentage and the extension calculates the final price, which is automatically applied to each variant for variable products.

1. Purchase and install the WooCommerce subscription plugin*
2. Purchase, download and install additionally the plugin: "Buy Once or Subscribe for WooCommerce Subscriptions" (click here).
   
3. Create a new, simple or variable product, or select an existing product that you want to make available by subscription.
4. Go to Product Data > Subscriptions (see screenshot below)
   • Select the title for your call-to-action
   • Click Add Frequency and select the interval and discount
   • Add additional frequencies as needed
   • Publish
5. Watch how your recurring revenue grows now!

You can find further information in the documentation.

Customers can purchase products they like either once or as a subscription, which makes their lives easier and increases your recurring, predictable revenue. Additionally, purchasing a product as a subscription is more attractive to customers because you can offer them the product at a reduced price.

to AddOn plugin*

AddOn: Custom Start Date for WooCommerce Subscriptions

Customize subscription start dates

Have you always wanted to sell a subscription but also book it for a later start? Now you can!

Choose a start date or allow your customers to choose their own with the Custom Start Date for WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin.

for Start Date AddOn*

Set specific start dates

Set a specific date to start all subscriptions or just one product. You can receive your payments in advance and start subscriptions whenever you want.

This is how it looks on the product page:

Set a fixed delay time

Do you need a grace period or preparation time before a subscription begins? Set up a delay of days, weeks, or months between the first payment and the start of the subscription.

This is how it looks on the product page:

Let your customers choose a specific date to start their subscriptions

Would you like to let your customers select the exact day they want to start their subscription? You can do it with this plugin. Your customers can book and start their subscription anytime when they are ready.

This is how it looks on the product page:

Shopping cart & checkout

Your customers see the future start date and the updated renewal date in their cart and at checkout

How it works with custom start date

1. Set up a custom date in the product options or give your customer the option to choose a start date.
2. After paying and checkout (for the first period and others for sign-up fees), the subscription is created and scheduled to start on the custom date. Your customer is neither active nor has access to your services until the start date.
3. The subscription begins on the selected start date, which is set in the future, and all services are available from this custom date.
4. Future payments are automatically scheduled according to the custom start date.

Why do you need it?

• Offer subscriptions as gifts for special occasions. Gift subscriptions can be purchased in advance and only begin at the time chosen by the gift giver.
• Starts subscriptions on a fixed date. It is ideal for a situation like a course or school year. Allow enrollment throughout the year and align their tuition fees with the start of the semester.
• Offer a seasonal service or product for sale every season. Subscriptions only start during the special season. You can market them year-round and let customers secure their subscriptions in advance.

FAQ for custom start date

What happens between the purchase date and the start of the subscription?

The subscription is scheduled; the customer has no access to products or services available to active members/subscribers until the start date. Then the subscription is automatically activated.

Can a customer purchase multiple subscriptions with different start dates?

Yes. The plugin groups subscriptions based on their start dates and billing periods. Each product with different start dates is considered a single subscription and managed separately, but they can be purchased together in one checkout.

Does it work with all subscriptions?

At the moment it works with simple subscriptions created with the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin. We plan to expand it to work with additional subscription plugins soon

to the addon for custom start date*

YITH WooCommerce Subscription*

Sell subscription products with a subscription in your WooCommerce e-commerce shop and bind your customers in the medium and long term.

Use product variants to create different subscriptions

Use product variants to create unlimited subscription plans for your product or service and allow your users to easily upgrade and downgrade or switch from one plan to another. For example, you can set the conditions under which a customer must pay the difference between the old and new subscription.

Allow users to switch, pause, or cancel the subscription

Choose whether the user wants to pause a subscription (set limits such as the maximum number of pauses or the maximum number of paused days allowed before it automatically reactivates), switch to a different plan, or cancel a subscription directly from their account.

Set a free trial period to create a list of customers and move them to purchase later

A free trial period is possibly the most effective tool to encourage your users to subscribe to and test your products or services for free. After the trial period expires, you can more easily get them to make purchases and increase conversions.

Choose how failed payments should be handled and when a subscription should be suspended or cancelled

Thanks to some advanced options, you can choose how subscriptions with failed payments should be handled: set the number of days that are allowed before the subscription is suspended, and how long it can remain suspended before it is cancelled.

A wide range of email notifications for administrators and customers

The plugin enables sending various types of email notifications to both the administrator and subscribers. For example, the user can be notified multiple times about the expiring subscription, the expired subscription, a failed payment, or a successful payment when the subscription is paused, and so on.

Set a sign-up fee for your subscriptions

Choose whether you want to charge a sign-up fee for your subscription-based products.

Two additional coupon types to grant discounts on the registration fee or the recurring payment price

Create a coupon to give your customers a discount on the registration fee or on the recurring fee.

A dashboard for easy tracking of all subscriptions and subscription activities

Monitor the status of each subscription (start and end date, next payment date, payment amount, etc.) via the integrated dashboard.

A Gutenberg block for easily creating and displaying subscription modules in your shop

If you use Gutenberg, you can find the Subscription Plan block and create custom forms with a few clicks to visually display your available subscription plans. You can customize colors, typography, gradients, icons, and much more.

Integration with YITH WooCommerce Membership

Integrate our membership plugin and enable your subscribers to access private content and restricted sections.

Synchronize all recurring payments with a specific day (of the week, of each month, etc.).

Optimize the management of your shop subscriptions by synchronizing all recurring payments to the same day (the first day of the month, every Monday, etc.) and decide how the first subscription payment should be handled: you can charge the user a prorated amount or defer the full payment to the day selected in the synchronization options.

Export all subscriptions to a CSV file

Would you like to download and print an overview of all subscriptions in your shop? Download the CSV file with all subscription details with one click directly from the dashboard.

Schedule the delivery of products linked to a subscription

Do your subscriptions include planning the shipment of products (such as a product box, printed magazine, etc.)? Use the dedicated "Shipping Schedule" option and decide whether you want to synchronize all shipments on the same day (e.g., every Monday, every 1st day of the month, etc.).

for YITH Subscription Plugin*

Subscriptio – WooCommerce Subscriptions Plugin by RightPress*

Subscriptio is a WooCommerce extension* that allows you to sell subscriptions. Subscriptio extends WooCommerce with recurring payment functionality, so you can sell products such as magazine subscriptions, online memberships, e-learning packages, and other tangible or intangible products.

Both simple and variable products can be configured as subscriptions and allow you to set the payment cycle, free trial duration, subscription duration, and a setup fee. When a customer purchases a subscription, a subscription flow is initiated, which consists of the following actions in chronological order:

1. Order Placed
2. Receive payment (skipped in the case of a trial version without setup fee)
3. Subscription activated (or enters an optional trial period)
4. Renewal order generated
5. Payment reminders sent
6. Attempt to process automatic payment (if the payment gateway supports Subscriptio)
7. Subscription marked as overdue (grace period; optional)
8. Overdue payment reminders sent (optional)
9. Subscription suspended (optional)
10. Cancellation warnings sent (optional)
11. Subscription cancelled if no payment is received
12. Subscription expired (if not cancelled before reaching the maximum subscription duration)

Both shop managers and customers can pause, resume, and cancel subscriptions. However, it is possible to disable this option for customers. There are additional configuration options, such as when reminders should be sent, the duration of the pause, etc. Additionally, there are many hooks and filters that developers can use.

Features & Subscription Function of Subscriptio

• Enables the sale of subscriptions with WooCommerce
• All subscription-related actions are executed automatically
• Supports Stripe and PayPal for automatic subscription payments
• Both simple and variable products can be converted into subscriptions
• Set any billing cycle length and maximum subscription length
• Enables the collection of a one-time sign-up fee in addition to the recurring total
• Enables configuration of a trial period for subscriptions of any length
• Subscriptions can be manually paused, resumed, and canceled
• Multiple configuration fields so that this plugin works the way you want it to
• Subscriptions are purchased as regular WooCommerce products
• It is possible to purchase subscription and non-subscription products at a single checkout
• It is possible to purchase multiple subscriptions and any quantity of each subscription
• Tools for subscription lists and subscription management for customers
• Associated subscriptions are displayed for each order that contains subscriptions
• Associated orders are displayed for each subscription
• Super easy to use yet powerful admin area for administrator subscriptions
• All subscription transactions are logged and displayed
• Sell all tangible or intangible products
• Sell online memberships with recurring changes (requires additional renewal)
• Many hooks and filters for developers

Payment processing with subscription function – easier than ever!

Subscriptio supports semi-automatic billing and fully automatic billing. With semi-automatic billing, customers receive an email at the beginning of each billing cycle, click a Pay Now link, and perform their payments manually. With fully automatic billing, payments are processed automatically and require no action.

For semi-automatic billing, Subscriptio works with all WooCommerce payment gateway extensions.

For fully automatic billing, Subscriptio requires some specific features that are implemented in the Payment Gateway extension, allowing Subscriptio to process recurring payments at its discretion.

Subscriptio has two integrated payment gateway extensions that enable fully automatic standard billing – Stripe and PayPal Express Checkout. They have all the features required by Subscriptio and also function as regular payment methods.

Please note that for the integrated PayPal Express Checkout extension, Reference Transactions must be enabled so that your PayPal account can process recurring payments, for which you may have to pay a monthly fee to PayPal. If in doubt, contact PayPal Support.

to the WooCommerce subscription plugin Subscrptio*

Florian Ibe
^{CEO & Marketing Consultant}

Request a non-binding consultation now:

fi@vastcob.com

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