Enabling Gift Subscriptions Management in Shopify

Gift subscriptions are increasingly gaining traction due to their convenience and reliability. Shopify businesses can offer gift subscriptions, alongside their regular plans, and pave the way for higher recurring revenue. But how can merchants actually set up gift subscriptions in their store?

That is where SubscriptionFlow comes into play. With the SubscriptionFlow app on Shopify, merchants can not only set up gift subscriptions, but they can also effectively manage them.

The app also integrates with ShipStation, an intelligent shipping platform. This integration allows vendors to automate their gift order processes from customer checkout to delivery to the recipient.

In this article, let’s find out how gift subscriptions management in Shopify is done the right way with SubscriptionFlow.

What is Gift Subscriptions Management?

Gift subscriptions are subscriptions which customers purchase for other recipients. In this type of subscription, the customer enters their own billing information for payment, but provides the shipping information of their intended recipient. Orders placed under such a subscription are customized as per the recipient, and need their personal information, including name and address.

Shopify store owners can also offer the gift subscription option to their customers. For that, they require an app such as SubscriptionFlow that helps them manage gift subscriptions like an expert. Gift subscriptions management covers setting up gift plans, providing various billing cycles, enabling custom cycles, handling payment collection, managing fulfillment, and more.

Advanced software provides a lot of flexibility to customers who purchase gift subscriptions. It enables them with customizable billing choices so that they can choose their own billing intervals, i.e., monthly, bi-monthly, every three months, etc. It also allows them to choose whether they want the subscription for one-time or on a recurring basis.

Moreover, this software lets customers personalize their gift with ease. Customers can include personalized notes in their order, choose preferable delivery dates, activate gift-related email messages, and more. And if customers choose to make their gift subscription recurring, it brings in extra revenue opportunities for Shopify merchants.

Why Merchants Need a Special Shopify App for Gift Subscriptions?

Merchants need the assistance of a special app for enabling gift subscriptions. That is because:

Shopify does not support this feature itself

Shopify is purpose-built to support and enhance single-product selling operations. Even if stores set up subscription workflows manually on Shopify, they still cannot offer gift subscriptions easily. That is because gift subscription is a special feature, and it requires a dedicated tool for its management.

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Stores have to manually configure gift subscription processes

Since there is no direct support from Shopify, businesses have to figure gift subscriptions out manually. That is if they don’t opt for a specialized app. This means that their customers have to manually request them to buy a subscription as a gift.

Moreover, since the checkout isn’t tailored for gift subscriptions, customers have to provide the recipients’ details to the store via other means. For instance, messages or emails. This can make operations inefficient and slow, as merchants have to check their message boxes repeatedly to ensure that their subscription details are accurate.

Additionally, this can lead to scattered customer data, as all the information is not accessible from one place.

Subscription expiration dates have to be manually tracked

Merchants need to confirm each gift subscription’s expiration dates manually. To make things more difficult, each gift subscription can have a different expiry date, as it depends solely on customer preference.

This also means that Shopify stores have to track all expiry dates themselves, as there is no system in place to do this for them. If they miss an expiration date and place a gift order again, it can lead to customer mistrust.

Automatic emails to recipient are not available

No integration with a special tool means no automation. Merchants have to maintain communication with both customers and gift subscription recipients themselves. They cannot set up an automated email sequence to inform recipients about their gifts.

Shopify apps are well-integrated into its workflows

Having a Shopify app like SubscriptionFlow to manage gift subscriptions is essential. One major reason is that the apps available within Shopify integrate with its workflows well. SubscriptionFlow allows automatic data syncing with Shopify. Due to that, merchants can easily push their orders in SubscriptionFlow, and automatically create subscriptions there.

SubscriptionFlow Enables Superior Gift Subscriptions Management in Shopify

To overcome the challenges that come with manual gift subscription handling, merchants need to connect with SubscriptionFlow. Here’s how SubscriptionFlow facilitates gift subscription operations:

Customers are given the gift subscription option separately

Customers don’t have to manually request stores for purchasing their subscriptions as gifts. SubscriptionFlow allows merchants to clearly set up and display the gift subscription option. Customers can simply select this option, and then proceed to the checkout page. Checkout is also tailored to address the gift subscription requirements.

Subscription schedule can be customized

On the checkout page, customers are asked to select their billing schedule. They can, for instance, choose to keep subscription active on a monthly basis for 2 months. This schedule is customizable, and customers can easily select the duration they prefer.

In case of digital gift subscriptions, such as subscription to e-books, merchants can give instantaneous access to the recipient, or according to the gift sender’s wishes. However, in the case of physical products, access is not instant. Delivery takes time.

Hence the merchants can offer subscription schedule options that are realistic, and align with their estimated delivery timings.

Subscription starts and ends automatically

When customers place a gift subscription order in Shopify store, SubscriptionFlow creates their subscription based on the order details. It automatically activates subscription as soon as the order is confirmed.

Then, it keeps the subscription active for the desired amount of time, for example 2 months. Recipients receive their gift orders smoothly during this time period. When the time ends, subscription is automatically cancelled, and no new orders are created and dispatched.

Automatic emails can be set up for recipient

Merchants are able to create personalized messages, according to the customer’s wishes. They can use SubscriptionFlow to send these emails to the recipient at set intervals.

Automatic messages can be set up for customers (gift senders)

Shopify stores can also actively maintain communication with subscription buyers (gift senders). They can keep them posted regarding payment confirmation and shipping progress etc. Invoices can also be sent to customers automatically.

Fulfillment is automated via ShipStation

SubscriptionFlow seamlessly integrates with ShipStation to accelerate fulfillment processes. Gift subscription orders are not only managed in SubscriptionFlow, but are also synced to ShipStation for further fulfillment.

How SubscriptionFlow and ShipStation Take Gift Subscriptions Management to the Next Level

SubscriptionFlow takes gift subscription orders from Shopify, converts them to subscriptions, and after billing, shares these orders with ShipStation. This allows merchants to have a complete network of tools for efficient order-to-delivery management.

With this network, Shopify stores can set up a comprehensive gift subscription process in place. The process begins when customers check out for gift subscription, and ends with successful order delivery to the recipient. Automated workflows make this process fast, and error-free.

Here is what the SubscriptionFlow-ShipStation integration does for merchants:

Automatically pushing orders for fulfillment

Merchants don’t have to create gift subscription orders in ShipStation separately. SubscriptionFlow bills customers for subscription, and when their invoices are paid, it pushes the confirmed orders to ShipStation itself. ShipStation takes fulfillment further, and helps in managing inventory, and dispatching orders for shipping.

Syncing recipient details for shipping labels

Recipient’s details, such as name as address are stored in SubscriptionFlow’s database, and synced with ShipStation directly. Manual intervention is not required. This ensures data accuracy, and facilitates the generation of error-free shipping labels.

Fulfilling gift orders on a recurring basis

Gift subscription orders are renewed according to the gift sender’s chosen schedule. When they are renewed in SubscriptionFlow, they are automatically pushed to ShipStation as well, so that their fulfillment can be carried out again. This workflow automates repeat processes, saving the merchants’ time and efforts.

Automatically expiring subscription

Just like orders are renewed automatically, they expire automatically too. Expiration happens when the gift subscription’s duration ends. When a subscription expires in SubscriptionFlow, its status is updated in ShipStation too, and no more orders are processed for shipping.

Letting merchants choose their carrier service

ShipStation allows merchants to choose their carrier services smartly. For each order to be shipped, it displays all the carriers available, and their charges. Charges vary according to the delivery location, product size and so on. Merchants can easily select the most cost-effective carriers.

Do you also want to enable gift subscriptions in your Shopify store? Connect your store with the SubscriptionFlow app, and manage gift subscription operations from end to end.