Tier Subscriptions

Set up recurring tier membership billing with Shopify Subscriptions

Tier Subscriptions enable recurring billing for tier memberships using Shopify's native subscription infrastructure. Customers subscribe to a tier and are automatically billed on a regular schedule.

How It Works

Customer subscribes to Gold tier ($9.99/month)
        ↓
Subscription contract created in Shopify
        ↓
Customer assigned to Gold tier immediately
        ↓
Monthly billing occurs automatically
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Tier access continues while subscription active
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If cancelled, tier reverts based on spending

Subscription Components

Selling Plans

Shopify Selling Plans define subscription options:

Component
Description

Selling Plan Group

Container for related plans

Selling Plan

Individual subscription option

Billing Policy

When to charge (weekly/monthly/annual)

Delivery Policy

For physical products (not used for tiers)

Subscription Contracts

When a customer subscribes:

Field
Description

shopifyContractId

Unique contract identifier

status

ACTIVE, PAUSED, CANCELLED, EXPIRED

billingInterval

WEEKLY, MONTHLY, ANNUAL

nextBillingDate

When next charge occurs

priceCents

Amount charged per cycle

discountPercentage

Any applied discount

Setting Up Subscriptions

Prerequisites

  1. Shopify Subscriptions app installed

  2. Tier product created in RewardsPro

  3. "Both" or "Subscription" purchase type selected

Step 1: Configure Subscription Pricing

In the Tier Product settings:

Setting
Description
Example

Subscription Price

Amount per billing cycle

$9.99

Billing Interval

How often to charge

Monthly

Discount %

Optional discount off base

10%

Step 2: Create Selling Plan

RewardsPro automatically creates:

  1. Selling Plan Group linked to your tier product

  2. Selling Plan with your pricing configuration

  3. Billing Policy matching your interval

Step 3: Product Variant Update

The tier product variant is updated to:

  • Include subscription selling plan

  • Display subscription option at checkout

  • Show correct pricing

Billing Intervals

Interval
Charge Frequency
Best For

Weekly

Every 7 days

High-engagement, low-price

Monthly

Every 30 days

Most common, predictable

Annual

Every 365 days

Committed customers, discounts

Pricing Recommendations

Tier Level
Monthly
Annual (15% off)

Silver

$4.99

$50.99

Gold

$9.99

$101.99

Platinum

$19.99

$203.99

Subscription Lifecycle

Status Flow

Status
Description
Tier Access

PENDING

Awaiting first payment

No

ACTIVE

Subscription running

Yes

PAUSED

Temporarily stopped

Configurable

CANCELLED

Customer cancelled

No

EXPIRED

Payment failed/ended

No

Lifecycle Events

Event
Webhook
Action

Created

subscription_contracts/create

Assign tier

Activated

subscription_billing_attempts/success

Confirm tier

Renewed

subscription_billing_attempts/success

Extend access

Paused

subscription_contracts/update

Optional: Keep tier

Resumed

subscription_contracts/update

Restore tier

Cancelled

subscription_contracts/update

Recalculate tier

Failed

subscription_billing_attempts/failure

Grace period

Managing Subscriptions

View Customer Subscriptions

In Customer Details > Subscriptions tab:

Column
Description

Tier

Subscribed tier name

Status

Active, Paused, Cancelled

Price

Recurring amount

Next Billing

Next charge date

Started

Subscription start date

Pause a Subscription

Customers can pause from their account, or admins can:

  1. Open Customer Details

  2. Go to Subscriptions tab

  3. Click Pause on the subscription

  4. Select pause duration (optional)

During Pause:

  • No billing occurs

  • Tier access is configurable (keep or remove)

  • Can resume anytime

Resume a Subscription

  1. Open Customer Details

  2. Go to Subscriptions tab

  3. Click Resume on the paused subscription

  4. Next billing date is set

Cancel a Subscription

  1. Open Customer Details

  2. Go to Subscriptions tab

  3. Click Cancel on the subscription

  4. Confirm cancellation

After Cancellation:

  • No future billing

  • Tier access continues until period end

  • Customer reverts to spending-based tier

Payment Handling

Successful Payments

When billing succeeds:

  1. Payment captured in Shopify

  2. Subscription period extended

  3. Tier access continues

  4. Event logged in subscription history

Failed Payments

When billing fails:

  1. Grace Period starts (default: 3 days)

  2. Customer notified via email

  3. Retry attempts scheduled

  4. After grace: Subscription cancelled

Dunning Management

RewardsPro handles payment retries:

Retry
Timing
Action

1st

Immediate

Automatic retry

2nd

24 hours

Retry + email

3rd

48 hours

Retry + email

Final

72 hours

Cancel if fails

Subscription Data Model

TierSubscription Fields

Field
Type
Description

id

UUID

Unique subscription ID

shopifyContractId

String

Shopify contract reference

customerId

UUID

Customer relationship

tierId

UUID

Subscribed tier

status

Enum

ACTIVE, PAUSED, CANCELLED, EXPIRED

billingInterval

Enum

WEEKLY, MONTHLY, ANNUAL

priceCents

Int

Price per cycle in cents

discountPercentage

Decimal

Applied discount

currentPeriodStart

DateTime

Current period start

currentPeriodEnd

DateTime

Current period end

nextBillingDate

DateTime

Next charge date

cancelledAt

DateTime?

When cancelled

cancellationReason

String?

Why cancelled

Subscription Events

All subscription changes are logged:

Event Type
Description

CREATED

Subscription started

ACTIVATED

First payment successful

RENEWED

Recurring payment successful

PAUSED

Subscription paused

RESUMED

Subscription resumed

CANCELLED

Subscription cancelled

EXPIRED

Subscription ended

PAYMENT_FAILED

Billing attempt failed

PAYMENT_RETRY

Payment retry attempted

Webhooks for Subscriptions

RewardsPro listens to these Shopify webhooks:

Webhook
Purpose

subscription_contracts/create

New subscription created

subscription_contracts/update

Status changes (pause/cancel)

subscription_billing_attempts/success

Payment succeeded

subscription_billing_attempts/failure

Payment failed

Customer Self-Service

Customers can manage subscriptions from:

Shopify Account Page

  • View active subscriptions

  • See next billing date

  • Pause subscription

  • Cancel subscription

  • Update payment method

Customer Account Extension

If enabled, customers see:

  • Subscription status badge

  • Current tier benefits

  • Billing history

  • Management actions

Best Practices

Pricing Strategy

  1. Price below threshold value: If Gold requires $1000 spend at 5% = $50 value, price subscription lower

  2. Offer annual discounts: 15-20% off encourages commitment

  3. Consider upgrade paths: Make higher tiers attractive upgrades

Reducing Churn

  1. Clear value communication: Show cashback earned vs subscription cost

  2. Engagement reminders: Email about benefits being used

  3. Win-back campaigns: Offer discounts to churned subscribers

  4. Pause option: Better than cancellation

Launch Checklist

Troubleshooting

Subscription Not Created

Check:

  1. Shopify Subscriptions app is installed

  2. Selling plan is attached to product

  3. Customer completed checkout

Tier Not Assigned

Check:

  1. Subscription status is ACTIVE

  2. Webhook was received

  3. Customer exists in RewardsPro

Payment Failing

Check:

  1. Customer payment method is valid

  2. Card not expired

  3. Sufficient funds

Solution: Customer needs to update payment method in Shopify account.

Related Guides

PreviousTier ProductsNextCustomer Widget

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