How to Set Up Subscriptions on Shopify (8 Steps)

To set up subscriptions on Shopify, install a subscription app, create a selling plan (delivery frequency plus discount), attach it to products, add the subscription widget to your product page template, then set up payment retries and the customer portal. Recurring revenue gives your business stability that one-time sales can't. Shopify's subscription contracts API (shopify.dev/docs/apps/selling-strategies/subscriptions) is the foundation all subscription apps build on.

This step-by-step guide walks you through everything: choosing the right subscription app, creating your first subscription plan, configuring billing, setting up the customer portal, and launching. We use SubzWallet for the walkthrough, but the concepts apply to any Shopify subscription app.

Step 1: Choose a subscription app

Shopify does not include subscription functionality natively, so you need a third-party app. The main options are SubzWallet (subscriptions with retention and rewards built in), ReCharge (subscriptions; check current pricing), Appstle (basic subscriptions, free tier), and Loop.

SubzWallet covers dunning, cancel flows, the customer portal and rewards in one app, so you do not need to add a separate loyalty app later. The Free plan covers up to 50 active subscriptions and includes the points program; milestone gifts and analytics start on Launch ($99/mo + 1% of subscription sales), and VIP tiers, cashback and automation flows on Growth ($299/mo + 0.7%). The full feature list is on our Shopify subscription app page.

Step 2: Install and connect the app

1. Go to the Shopify App Store and search for your chosen subscription app.
2. Click Install and authorize the app to access your Shopify store.
3. The app will connect to your Shopify admin automatically.
4. Complete the initial setup wizard if one is provided.

With SubzWallet, you accept the terms on first open, then the app opens inside your Shopify admin under Apps, with Selling plans, Subscription contracts, Cancellation flows and Customer portal in its sidebar.

Step 3: Create your first subscription plan

A subscription plan (Shopify calls it a selling plan) defines the delivery frequency and any discounts for subscribers. Here is how to create one in SubzWallet:

1. Open SubzWallet, go to Selling plans and click Create subscription plan.
2. Enter the name shown to customers (for example "Subscribe and save"), an internal name only your team sees, and an optional plan selector title that appears above the plan options on the product page.
3. Add one or more delivery options. Each one is "every N" days, weeks, months or years, so you can offer every 2 weeks, every month and every 2 months side by side and mark one as the default.
4. Set the discount for each option: an initial discount for the first subscription order only, a recurring discount for every order, or both. Each can be a percentage off, an amount off, or a fixed price.
5. Optionally turn on prepaid billing for a delivery option and set the deliveries per billing cycle, so the customer pays for several deliveries upfront (for example 3 months at once).
6. Optionally set minimum and maximum billing cycles, for example a 3-order minimum or a plan that ends after 12 orders.
7. Add the products and variants the plan applies to, choose the channels (storefront product pages, customer portal, admin), and limit it to specific markets if you need to. Save.

You can also create a plan without leaving the product: on a product page in Shopify admin, open the purchase options card, choose Subscriptions, and add a title, a discount (percentage off, amount off or fixed price) and delivery frequencies. Selling-plan names are translated automatically for the languages your shop sells in.

Start simple with one plan. You can always add more frequencies later. A monthly delivery with a 10% subscribe-and-save discount is a common starting point.

Step 4: Add subscription options to your product pages

Once your plan is created, customers need to see the subscription option on your product pages. In SubzWallet this is the Subscription widget, a theme app block that shows the one-time and subscribe options.

1. In Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes > Customize and open your product template.
2. In the product information section, click Add block and choose Subscription widget.
3. Under Style & color, pick one of 7 styles (Minimal, Glass, Clay, Neubrutalism, Skeuomorphic, Neumorphic, Neon) and one of 7 color schemes (Slate, Indigo, Rose, Emerald, Amber, Ocean, Mono).
4. Under Layout, choose Cards, Compact or Minimal, then adjust border thickness, corner roundness, inner padding, price position and font size.
5. Turn on the savings badge (outline or solid) and, if you run rewards, Show subscription rewards so shoppers see the cashback and points they would earn. Add a link to your subscription policy. Save.

Open a product page on your phone to check how it looks. More examples are on the subscription widget page.

Step 5: Configure billing and payment settings

Subscription billing runs through Shopify Payments (or your configured payment gateway), and saved cards stay in Shopify. In SubzWallet, these are the settings to check before launch:

• Billing hour (Settings > Billing schedule): the hour of the day renewals are charged.
• Dunning (Settings > Dunning): 0 to 10 payment retries, 1 to 14 days apart, each with a branded email, then a final action you choose: skip the order, pause or cancel. See dunning management.
• Out-of-stock renewals: kept as owed and retried, with staff notifications, so a stock problem is not treated like a card problem.
• Emails: 24 templates, each with its own on/off switch, including upcoming-order reminders where you set how many days before and the send hour.
• Pause and resume rules (Settings > Pause & resume): what happens to the next order date when a paused subscription is resumed.

Step 6: Set up the customer portal

The customer portal is where subscribers manage their subscriptions: pause, skip, swap products, change delivery frequency, and update payment methods. A good customer portal reduces support tickets and gives subscribers flexibility that prevents cancellations. For more on how Shopify handles customer accounts, see the customer accounts guide (help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/customer-accounts).

In SubzWallet, the customer portal is included on every plan and is built mobile-first. Customers sign in through their Shopify customer account or a secure link the store sends. They can skip or restore an upcoming order, reschedule, order now (once a day), pause and resume, change frequency, swap products or variants from a list you allow, change quantities or remove items for the next order, add one-time add-ons, update their address and payment method (Shopify emails a secure link), apply a discount code, and cancel through your cancel flow.

To match your brand, open Customer portal in the SubzWallet sidebar. You can set colors (page, cards, text, accent, buttons), the font, corner shape and button fill style, an announcement banner, the portal heading and other labels, with a live preview next to the settings. Then set up a cancel flow under Cancellation flows so customers who try to cancel see reasons and options such as pause, skip or a retention offer.

Step 7: Add loyalty rewards for subscribers (optional)

If you are using SubzWallet, you can reward subscribers as they stay. Points are included on every plan, including Free, with earn rules, redemption codes, expiry and a birthday reward. From Launch you can add milestone rewards, such as a free gift on order #3. From Growth you get VIP tiers with points multipliers and a cashback wallet that adds store credit after each billing.

Subscribers see their milestones and points in the customer portal, and the product-page widget can preview the rewards before they subscribe.

Step 8: Launch and monitor

Before launching, do a test purchase to verify the full subscription flow: product page widget, checkout, confirmation email, and customer portal. Then announce subscriptions to your existing customers through email, social media, and on-site banners.

Key metrics to watch in the first 30 days: number of new subscriptions, subscription conversion rate (subscribers vs total orders), MRR (monthly recurring revenue), and churn rate. In SubzWallet, Analytics (Launch and up) shows MRR, churn, LTV, a cohort retention heatmap, cancellation reasons, failed-payment recovery and upcoming orders. If you are moving from ReCharge or Loop instead of starting fresh, migration is free on every plan and saved cards stay in Shopify, so customers do not re-enter them.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Offering too many frequency options: Start with 1-2 options. Too many choices overwhelm customers.
• No subscribe-and-save discount: Customers need a reason to commit. Even 5-10% off makes a difference.
• Ignoring dunning: failed payments cause roughly 20-40% of all subscription churn (Recurly, 2026). Set up retry logic from day one.
• No self-serve portal: If customers have to email support to change their subscription, they will cancel instead.
• Not promoting subscriptions: Add subscribe-and-save messaging to product pages, email flows, and your homepage.

Conclusion

Adding subscriptions to your Shopify store is straightforward with the right app. Start with a simple plan, make sure the customer portal and payment retries work before launch, and add rewards once subscribers are coming in.