[New] Sell subscriptions with Square Online

[#1]

Hi sellers! 👋 We’re excited to announce that you can now sell single-item subscriptions on your Square Online website to help you unlock more predictable revenue streams. Offering subscriptions online can also help you: 

Reach more potential customers

Sell your subscriptions to a wider online audience and grow your recurring revenue.

Offer complete customer convenience

Customers can view, manage, and update subscription settings and payment methods in a secure online portal. You’ll be able to offer customers the convenience of shipping items directly or in-store pickup. 

Flexible settings give you total control

Sell physical items, donations, and services in a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly subscription. Set up “Subscribe & Save” programs to offer discounts on your subscription offerings. 

Boost your predictable revenue streams and start selling your subscriptions online today. This feature is available to sellers on the Plus and Premium plans. If you’d like to use this feature, upgrade to your plan here. 

We’re working on improving the subscriptions experience across Square, right now you’ll be able to create and sell subscriptions online and soon you’ll be able to create subscriptions from anywhere you sell including through POS. 

To learn how to sell subscriptions for items online, check out this support article. 

[TCSlaguna]

This is fantastic, and it will work well for the services we offer. Thank you!

[Stacelyn24]

Reading this just put my mind into overdrive...what can I create...what can we sale...how can this make our business even more awesome lol 🙂

Just give me a moment...and I'll have something.  Loving this new features!

[TCSlaguna]

@nika The video in the support article is very quick in explaining how to offer the product as a subscription via Square Online. 

The support article text lacks instructions on how to offer a subscription Online. It would be nice to have it written. 

[jean_sq]

Hello @TCSlaguna ! To get rolling with selling subscriptions through Square Online, you can start by creating a subscription plan (which includes attaching the items you want to have subscribable and some other details). That is done through Square Dashboard: you can follow the "Create a Plan" instructions here (or watch the video)

Once you have subscription plans set up, you may also attach those plans to other items. That's what is shown through the other article for Square Online

I hope this helps and feel free to drop any additional questions here. Thank you!

[TCSlaguna]

Thanks! I now see the link in the Support Article. 

[haven2]

First of all, love the new feature!  This makes so much sense to tie it into the items and integrate it more.  Well done!  I'm so excited about this feature and where it's going.

I wanted to pass a long a few thoughts/questions regarding future iterations

• I miss the ability to offer pickup.  I saw the FAQ said "not at this time".  We're a flower business and we charge $10 more for delivery but wanted to offer our customers the ability to pick up at the store on their way home, for example.  Is that on your roadmap?  Happen to have an ETA or quarter?
• Any ETA (even at quarter level) on when this will be offered within the POS/Terminal?
• I'd love the ability to have a customer pick a start date.  I believe the API supports a start date?  If a customer chooses to buy a flower bouquet for a friend/relative on a Monday but wants it delivered every Wednesday OR if a corporation wants to buy flowers regularly on Mondays to have during their business week then I don't want them having to make sure they purchase the subscription on a Monday just to make that happen.  And I want the start date to drive when the order shows on the Orders Page (if customer picks Monday then I want their order showing up on Monday, not Wednesday when they ordered it weekly).  Any ideas if this is on the roadmap?

Issues or things that seem like bugs:

• When adding a subscription from the "Items" page, it seems buggy and doesn't seem to stick because when I go back to edit the item, I have to reselect Subscription.  Have you noticed this?  It works fine when doing it from the "subscription page" and "adding an item".
• "This item is purchasable only as a subscription" on an "item" page doesn't seem to be saving or working.  It still shows a "one time" option.  Have you noticed this?
• The discount rate on a subscription doesn't seem to be working exactly as expected with modifiers when you're on the item view.  It's not taking the discount on the modifier and the moment you pick a modifier with a price it removes the discount on the subscription.  Example:  I had $45 offered weekly, bi-weekly and monthly - when I add a $0 modifier it works great.  When I add a $10 modifier, it makes them all $55 regardless of frequency.  If I then choose to move forward with the $55 subscription it displays the correct discount on the payments page.  Thoughts?

Thanks again for all you're doing in this space!

[TCSlaguna]

@haven2  @nika 

I am also experiencing: 

• "This item is purchasable only as a subscription" on an "item" page doesn't seem to be saving or working.  It still shows a "one time" option.  

@jean_sq  has flagged it with the engineering team. 

I am also experiencing

• When adding a subscription from the "Items" page, it seems buggy and doesn't seem to stick because when I go back to edit the item, I have to reselect Subscription.   It works fine when doing it from the "subscription page" and "adding an item".

I have created the Item in Square Online. Added it to a subscription plan: 

 

Click Save ->  it doesn't show that it is part of a Subscription. Just an option to "Add subscription." 

 

Hoping these issues get addressed. We are pretty excited to use the feature once it's functional. 

[jean_sq]

Hi @haven2! Thanks for the questions. Estimated timelines below:

• Offering Pickup : it is on the roadmap and the team is hoping to roll that out by end of year
• Subscription availability on POS/Terminal: On the roadmap and hoping for early 2024
• Custom start date: Looking to launch in the very near future

I have already flagged the first issue with the team (issues with getting subscriptions to stick from the items page) and I've just flagged the second issue (regarding your problems with discounts and subscriptions) as well.

Thank you very much for your feedback! It's greatly appreciated 🙂

[haven2]

Thanks @jean_sq!

[Cafeto]

We 2nd the request to offer subscriptions offering pickup as an option. Some local customers want to pick up their coffee directly from our roastery

Questions;

1. When the first subscription ships do customers get a "your order has shipped" email? We did not get one when we tested this like regular online order.

2. When viewing orders from the Online orders page the subscription orders do not show up... why? Wouldn't it make sense to have it there as well since the orders were placed online? The only way to view the subscriptions is from homepage orders tab and the subscriptions area?

3. We are still testing this out but how does a subscription reappear when it's due? Does it show up on the orders page when it's due alongside all other online orders?

4. Is using the invoicing feature necessary for subscriptions? in my opinion it should just look like a reoccurring online order. Rather than a "you paid an invoice" email.

[elementalacres]

Nowhere does it explain how/when billing will occur. If I cannot set a specific date for billing/charges to occur how do I know when the charges will be applied? If we are fulfilling all subscription orders once per month, at the same time or after a specific date how do we keep from sending something out without it being paid for? We are a small family farm and want to do a monthly pork box but fulfillment would be based on processing dates. We need to be able to control when charges are made or set a date, like 1st of the month, for the subscription to be charged. The lack of this option is keeping us from using this service.

[jean_sq]

@elementalacres thanks for the question! We will soon be releasing custom billing dates (which will allow you to set up a specific billing date like the 1st of the month for your subscription plan). We will be sure to announce it here in Product Updates once it's available. Thank you!

[jean_sq]

Hi @Cafeto , thanks for your questions! I'll address them below

1. I'm sorry but we do not currently have any notifications around when a subscription order is shipped. We understand why that is important to you and your customer and the team is aware of this gap.

2. All Subscription orders appear in Square Order Manager (and not Square Online Order Manager). In order to make things less confusing for all sellers, Square will be moving all orders to Square Order Manager (and Square Online Order Manager will no longer be available)

3. Yes, your recurring orders should appear in Order Manager every time they are ready to be fulfilled.

4. Subscriptions uses some parts of Invoices for functionality so that is why it looks the way that it does. Allowing for more customization in email communications is something the team is aware of.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you!

[Davesté]

Do you know if we will be able to set up specific billing dates in subscriptions as follows:

We have a seasonal product. We ship to subscribers twice annually: May and October.

We want to charge members at the start of May, and the Start of October every year, automatically recurring. We don't want to prorate, we don't want their sign up date to incur a charge. We don't want to charge random dates every six months. 

Will this be possible with your new functionality?

[Cafeto]

Hi Jean,

1. After testing out the subscription we really need there to be an auto email that sends out when orders are shipped to customers. Otherwise our customers are not reminded they have a subscription on the way in any format

2. We noticed from the home orders page when we put in tracking info for shipments, no notification email gets sent our telling them their order is on the way. We have had lots of customers complaining about this issue. When managing orders through the online orders page an email goes out to customers and they are used to this. Help!

3. For subscriptions it would be nice to be able to see when a subscription order is about to come up for future planning. Instead of just waiting for the auto invoice to create.

4. In my opinion subscriptions should really be tied to online orders and come up like a reoccurring online order instead of invoicing. Invoicing feels like another unnecessary step for us.

5. Any idea of when subscriptions for pick up will become available?

[jean_sq]

Hi @Cafeto , I'll address your questions below:
1. I'm sorry but Subscriptions does not send notifications like you described. It's on the backlog and the team hopes to tackle notifications in 2024

2. I'll check on that one as I believe the coming shipping manager integration with Orders may solve some of the issues you are describing. That's scheduled to rollout by end of this year.

3. We don't currently support that but I'm curious how much notice you would like and how you would like to be notified of upcoming orders?

4. Square Online Order manager will be deprecated later this year and all orders will flow into Order Manager

5. The team knows how important pick-up is for fulfillment and is working on that. Hoping to have that out by end of this year.

[LukeNieuw]

Sweet! 

[Cafeto]

Hi @jean_sq A new issue that came up for us;

We noticed a customer placed a subscription order for 2 separate items but with the same frequency so shes paying 2 flat rate shipping cost and we thought that was strange. Then when we explored it we realized customers can't put multiple items in their cart for subscribe and save, each item has to be signed up separately.

For example our customers would like to have 1 pound of Italian Roast Coffee, 1 pound of French Roast coffee and 1 pound of Colombian coffee every 2 months all shipped together since their habit is ordering an assortment on a regular basis. Currently they would have to set up separate subscriptions and pay 3 shipping cost in separate boxes.

Can you let me know if this is something that is being worked on or is there a work around? 

In response to above questions;

3. We don't currently support that but I'm curious how much notice you would like and how you would like to be notified of upcoming orders? 

It would be nice if they showed up on the online orders or if there was some form of notification on the subscriptions page that says "this subscription renews in 2 days". This would help our shipping and production department

[GavinH69]

Good day, do your application work on android as the shop one oinly seems to work with iPhone. 

[Breffni]

Hi @GavinH69 sorry for the delayed response. 

Are you looking to use the Point of Sale app? If so, you can download the Android app here. 

Let me know if there is anything else I can help with! 

[rawdogfood]

How do you add the tax to the subscription as I am looing the funds on checkout 

[taylorandjones]

@nika @jean_sq Thank you for providing updates about selling subscriptions. The new features for Square Online are wonderful. 

I'm a Square Online seller and website designer that helps Square Online sellers.

While creating a subscription items for a client, I ran into sticking points (some already mentioned in this thread).

I submitted an email to support a week ago but haven't received help yet. I hope you can point me in the right direction.

I created a new item and subscription plan:

1. I assigned the new (subscription) item to an existing free shipping profile in Square Online.
When I go to the live item and add a subscription to the cart, a $5 shipping line item is showing during checkout.

I've manually calculated a discount that removed the extra $5 shipping fee.

2. I toggled "This item is only purchasable by subscription" Items > Edit Item > Subscriptions.
When I view the live item, there's an option to purchase a one-time purchase or a subscription.

Screenshots are attached. 

Link to subscription: 

https://checkout.square.site/merchant/3NETWJX5F5CQS/checkout/RKQYUYI4HCYRKXYBBB2ZCRYL

I appreciate any helpful guidance.

[Jason99]

Not able to track appointments for services, or show they are prepaid. Awesome service to provide but creates a headache tracking for both the customer and owner.

[Summer2024]

Hi, @Jason99! 

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us here. If you would like, you can also submit your suggestion to our Ideate Board in the Seller Community. Our Product Teams keep their eyes on this form as they are constantly working to improve our products and features: https://squ.re/ideate 

[Jason99]

Not sure why common sense needs to be suggested. Having to pay for additional “services” that create more work is crazy. 

much like the savings account not syncing with quickbooks, my hope for a fix is nonexistent.