You can limit your subscriber access to specific functions in your store's subscription customer portal.
In This Article:
Where can I change the Customer Permissions in their portal?
You can manage the customer permissions from the Subi app Settings > Customer Portal > Customer permissions:
Can Subi turn on frequency and quantity changes for me from the Subscription Contracts page?
Yes. The Subscription Contracts page may suggest turning on frequency and quantity changes for your customers when three things are true: your plan includes the advanced customer portal permissions, Customer can Change subscription interval and Customer can Change product quantity are both off, and at least one subscription was cancelled in the last 30 days. The suggestion reads "Your customers can't change how often or how many they receive in the customer portal, so cancelling is the only change they can make themselves."
Selecting Let customers change frequency and quantity turns on only those two permissions. Every other portal permission stays as you set it, and the quantity limits keep their current values. The suggestion then reads "Customers can now change their delivery frequency and product quantity in the portal." with a Portal permissions link to the Customer permissions page.
To turn either permission off again, untick it on the Customer permissions page and save.
Portal Permissions
1. Subscription status:
Permissions: | If disabled: |
Customer can cancel their subscription | the Cancel button will be removed from the portal subscription detail page. |
Customer can skip their upcoming delivery | the Skip button will be removed from the portal subscription detail page, and the Skip next order button will not appear on the subscription's card in the subscriptions list. |
Customer can Pause/Resume their subscription renewal | the Pause button will be removed from the portal subscription detail page. |
Paused subscriptions start again on a date the customer picks when pausing | the pause dialog stops asking how long, so every pause lasts until someone resumes it. Dates already saved are kept but not acted on while this is off, and they take effect again when you switch it back on. |
2. Subscription interval and delivery:
Permissions: | If disabled: |
Customer can Change subscription interval | The button will be removed from the portal subscription detail page. |
Customer can Reschedule their subscription | The Reschedule button will be removed from the portal subscription detail page. |
Under Customer can Reschedule their subscription you can also set Maximum billing cycles a customer can move the next order ahead. Leave it empty for no limit, or enter 1 or more. For example, with 2 on a monthly subscription whose next order is on October 13, the customer can move it no later than December 13. See How do I limit how far a customer can reschedule their next order?.
3. Products
Permissions: | If disabled: |
Customer can Remove products | The delete icon is removed from each product in the portal's Edit subscription window. |
Customer can Add products | The Change products button is removed from the portal's Edit subscription window. |
Customer can Swap products | The Swap link is removed from each product in the portal's Edit subscription window. |
Customer can Change product quantity | The Quantity field will be removed from the portal subscription detail page. When enabled, two fields appear under the checkbox: Minimum quantity (set to 1 by default) and Maximum quantity (Leave empty for no limit). They apply when a customer edits an existing item or adds a new one from the portal, and Subi enforces them on the server as well. In the Subi hosted portal the quantity control is a − / + stepper with a typable field, and the buttons stop at your limits. |
What happens when a customer removes their last product?
A subscription always keeps at least one product. When a customer removes the last product in their subscription from the customer portal, what happens next depends on whether you let them add products.
Customer can Add products is on: the product is taken out of the list, the window shows "Your subscription needs at least one product.", and Save changes stays unavailable until the customer adds a product back with Change products. Nothing is saved until they do, so closing the window leaves the subscription exactly as it was.
Customer can Add products is off: the last product is not removed, and the same message appears instead. The customer has no way to add a replacement, so the subscription keeps the product it has.
The delete icon stays visible on every product in both cases, so customers are told why rather than finding the control missing. If you want customers with a single product to be able to change it, turn on Customer can Swap products: a swap replaces the product, so it can never leave the subscription empty.
If Customer can Remove products is the only product permission you have turned on, a customer whose subscription has a single product will not see the product list in Edit subscription at all, because there is nothing they could change there.
Swap Products
When Customer can Swap products is enabled, customers will be able to change their product with another product that meets these requirements:
The new product/variant is in the same subscription plan as the existing product.
The new product has inventory in Shopify:
a. Track quantity is enabled AND quantity>0.
b. Track quantity is disabled.
c. Track quantity is enabled AND continue selling when out of stock, is enabled.
Limitation:
Customers can not add/swap a product as a service, with a physical product, due to the lack of a shipping address in the subscription contract.
4. Change status timeframe
Permissions: | If enabled: |
Set limitation to cancel subscription: Set maximum days before delivery time which customer can cancel the subscription. | When the customer clicks Cancel subscription within this many days of their next order, the portal tells them straight away that cancellation isn't available right now. It says their next order will go ahead as planned and that they can cancel after it's placed, and it offers the options you allow: pausing, changing the frequency or contacting you. For example, with 5 days set and the next order on October 10, a customer who clicks Cancel on October 6 sees this message, and can cancel again once the October 10 order is placed. A paused subscription can be canceled from the day after its next order date. If the limit is longer than the time between orders (for example 30 days on a weekly plan), the message asks the customer to contact you instead of naming a date. If portal translation is turned on for your store, you can edit and translate this message in Translations, under the cancellation section. |
Set limitation to skip subscription: Set maximum days before delivery time which customer can skip their delivery. | When the customer presses Skip within X days of their next order, the portal doesn't skip it. It shows Skipping isn't available right now instead, with what they can do, such as pausing, changing the frequency or contacting you, depending on what your portal allows. The subscription isn't changed. |
5. Information
Permissions: | If disabled: |
Customer can Update Payment method | Customers won't be able to update their payment method. |
6. Discounts
Permissions: | If disabled: |
Customers can input discount code on customer portal | the Discount code field will be removed from the portal subscription detail page. |
7. Combining subscriptions
Permissions: | If enabled: |
Let customers put two subscriptions on the same billing interval together into one, keeping the price of every item | A customer with two eligible subscriptions on the same interval sees a Get both in one delivery card above their subscriptions list and can combine them into one, keeping the price of every item. The emptied subscription is canceled without a cancellation email. |
This permission is off for stores that installed Subi before it was released and on for stores that install afterwards. It does not depend on Customer can Add products. Which subscriptions can be combined and what happens to them is explained in Can my customers combine two subscriptions into one?
Let your customers know about their limited permissions
Let your customers know if you've disabled a certain function on the customer portal: inform them it they can't skip, cancel or pause their subscriptions or have any limited regarding this.
You can inform them on your store: explain it in the product description, subscription FAQ, or anywhere on the product page. If you have a subscription landing page, it would be good to put it there, too.