Configuration

To activate the subscription features, several preliminary steps are required to ensure the subscription options are displayed correctly in the shop and the subsequent orders can be triggered without issues.

Subscription Attributes

The product attributes are used in order to define which products allow subscriptions, what delivery intervals are available for the different subscription products, and which discounts should apply to subscriptions. To create attribute groups and add them to product categories, navigate to Settings > Product Structure > Attributes in the SCAYLE Panel.

For further information on attributes and how to set them up, see Attributes.

Attribute Groups

New attribute groups need to be created for:

The Subscription_Subsequent_Discount attribute needs to be created as an advanced attribute group made up of three simple attribute groups:

Add Attribute Groups to Categories

After the new attribute groups have been created and defined, they need to be added to the product categories that should allow subscriptions. To add an attribute group to a category, navigate to Settings > Product Structure > Categories , select a product category and use +Add Related Attribute Group to add the respective subscription attribute groups.

As part of this process you can, for example, define the default selected interval for a category by setting a default attribute for the Subscription_Available_Intervals attribute group. The defined default interval will be auto-selected in the Subscription component in the Product Detail Page in the shop.

Not all products within a category will automatically offer subscriptions options if the attribute groups are added to the category, as the subscription eligibility can still be enabled/disabled by setting the corresponding attribute in the Subscription_Eligibility attribute group.

Defining subscription options for products

Once the corresponding subscription attribute groups have been added to master categories and shop categories, the subscription options can be defined in more detail. You can update product data either globally (in the Products area) or for individual shops (in the Shops area).

As with other attributes, they can be defined via the Panel (either individually or in bulk) or via API.

The process outlined below will focus on updating product attribute data on shop level. Further information on how to update product attributes on a global level, see Update products data in bulk.

Attribute definition via Panel

To edit the subscription attribute values for a single product or variant, navigate to Shops > [Shop Name] > Products and select the product that you would like to edit. Select the attribute - either on product level or by selecting the associated variant - and set the desired value.

Select Save and, if required, manually index the product or wait for the automated indexing process. Once the product is indexed, your changes will appear in the subscription component in the shop.

If you would like to edit several products at the same time, navigate to Shops > [Shop Name] > Products and select the products you would like to edit from the list (either manually or by using a filter) and select Update.

Define which attribute group should be updated and set the target value. Select Proceed to update the selected products.

Attribute definition via API

To edit product attribute data via API, use the [POST]/products/{productIdentifier}/attributes endpoint of the Admin API and follow the outlined process for attribute updates: Create or update attributes.

Setting subscription price

If you would like to offer your customers a discounted price for products when they create a subscription, there are two options that can be used and that can also be combined:

• Offer discounted price for setting up a subscription
• Subsequent Discounts

Offer discounted price for setting up a subscription

An initial discount on a product variant can be granted by creating a second price for a variant in the shop. In order for a product to have two different active prices in a shop at the same time, you need to decide on a promotionKey and create a price linked to that key.

The default promotionKey used for subscription prices is subscription. However, you can also set a unique key for your shop (e.g. initial_subscription_discount_1234) when defining the variant prices. In this case, the key needs to be included in the setup of the PDP subscription component. Details on the setup of the subscription components in your shops can be found here: Integrations > Subscriptions.

If a key is defined, Storefront will request the variant price from the database using the promotionKey and will display the discounted price for the subscription product.

To ensure convenience for your customers, the price for subscription items stays consistent throughout the duration of the subscription. In case you change the subscription price for a variant by altering the price linked to the defined promotionKey, this will only affect subscriptions created after the change.

Subsequent Discounts

If you’d like to offer customers a discounted price from the first subsequent order (order created automatically by the system) onwards, this can be defined as part of the product attributes.

After following the configuration process for the variant attributes, you can set subsequent discounts for subscriptions. To define the discount, set the values for Subscription Discount Value, Subscription Discount Unit and Subscription Discount Text either via the API or navigate to Products > Product > Variant:

Subsequent discounts can be defined per variant and different subsequent discounts can be set for the same variant in different shop countries (depending on how the attributes was set up as part of the attribute creation for subscriptions).

Both initial discounts and subsequent discounts can be combined, but they can also be used individually to perfectly match your pricing strategy.

Payment Configuration

As subscriptions allow convenient ordering of products without requiring additional customer interaction, a payment method needs to be configured that allows continuous payment authorization.

Paypal Billing Agreements

Get in contact with the payment service provider you use to offer payment via Paypal to set up Paypal billing agreements (also referred to as “Reference Transactions“).

For further information on the process of enabling payment methods, please contact your SCAYLE Account Manager for assistance.

Limit payment methods

Once a payment method with continuous payment authorization has been enabled, the available payment methods for orders including subscription products need to be limited via the Checkout Rule Engine:

1. Navigate to Shops > Storefront > Checkout Settings > Rule Engine.
2. Select +ADD RULE or +ADD FIRST RULE.
3. Complete the 3 sections on the New Rule page.
4. General Info: Add a Name and Description for the rule.
5. Click ADD CONDITION to add a new rule:
   • Select the items collection from the list.
   • Select items > customData > subscriptionDefinition.
   • When the variable selection is complete, click ADD.
   • Select the operator (e.g., =, !=, >, <, <=, IS, IS NOT, IN, NOT IN) and corresponding values.
6. Results: Select Payment Options > {Payment Method} > Disable Payment Method) and disable all payment methods that don't offer continuous payment authorization.

Once the customer confirms their subscription order, the selected payment method will be used to pay for the subsequent subscription orders and the continuous payment authorization allows automatic deduction of the subscription value making subscription payments easy for your customers.

Shipping Costs

In case you would like to offer subscription orders free of shipping costs, you can also define this via the Rule Engine. Simply follow the same path structure as for the payment methods, but select Shipping Options in the Results and deactivate shipping options that are not free shipping.

Terms & Conditions

Subscription Emails

As subscriptions require emails to be sent to the customer, the Add-on triggers additional emails to the customer for the subscription creation and subscription cancellation.