Nav update: dunning / billing-retry settings now live under Retention → Payment recovery (was “Settings → Billing Management”). Old paths still redirect.
How Can I Handle Failed Subscription Orders and Payments?
Managing failed subscription orders and payments efficiently ensures your subscription process remains smooth and consistent for your customers. Below is a comprehensive guide on handling these issues:
Identifying and Managing Failed Orders
If you encounter a subscription order with payment failures, it can be manually fulfilled by following these steps:
Locate the Order: Access the Shopify panel to find the specific contract's orders associated with the failed payment.
Mark as Paid: In the case of payment failure, you may manually mark the order as paid. Ensure that you communicate with the subscriber if additional payment action is required to avoid overlaps or misunderstandings.
Fulfill the Order: Once the necessary payment adjustments are addressed, proceed to fulfill the order.
Retrying Failed Payments
1. Rescheduling Orders with Failed Payments
If a subscription payment fails, you can use the Reschedule feature to retry the payment attempt:
Resolve Relevant Issues First: Ensure the problem causing the failure, such as insufficient inventory, is addressed. If inventory was the issue, make sure the product is back in stock.
Set the Next Attempt: Reschedule the next order for the earliest available date to trigger another payment attempt.
Restore Original Schedule: After the payment succeeds, adjust the next order date back to its original cycle to maintain consistency in the subscription plan.
2. Using the Payment Recovery (Billing Management) Feature
If you want more structured retry options, you can use Subi’s Payment recovery feature (formerly “Billing Management”), now reachable from Retention > Payment recovery:
Use this feature to configure retry attempts for failed payments automatically.
Note that manual payment retries are generally unavailable, so leveraging tools like these or rescheduling orders can effectively solve most failures.
General Tips for Subscription Management
Always check inventory levels periodically for products tied to subscriptions to proactively avoid payment failures.
Communicate clearly with subscribers regarding any issues with payments or changes in their order schedules.
Evaluate whether upgrading your subscription management plan is beneficial. While not mandatory, higher-tier plans often provide additional billing flexibility and automation that can save time in the long run.
By following these guidelines, you can effectively handle failures in subscription orders and maintain a seamless experience for your customers.