Step 1: Install from the Shopify App Store and authorise scopes
Click 'Install' on the App Store listing. Shopify will prompt you to authorise the app's required permission scopes. Subscription apps need read/write access to subscription contracts, products, orders, and customer payment methods — these are standard and necessary for the app to function. After authorising, you'll be redirected to the app's onboarding dashboard inside Shopify admin.
- Required scopes are standard: contracts, products, orders, payment methods
- Shopify handles authentication — no external login to create
- The app installs into your store's admin as an embedded app
Step 2: Create a selling plan (subscription plan)
Before the widget appears on product pages, you need to create at least one selling plan. A selling plan defines the subscription interval (e.g. every 4 weeks), the discount percentage (e.g. 15%), and any min/max cycle settings. Most apps provide a setup wizard that walks through this in a few clicks. The selling plan gets registered with Shopify's native subscription infrastructure — this is what enables Shopify Payments and Shop Pay to work with your subscriptions.
Step 3: Assign the selling plan to products
Once a selling plan exists, assign it to the products you want to offer as subscriptions. You can typically assign a plan to individual products, product variants, or entire collections. Products with selling plans assigned become eligible to show the subscribe-and-save widget on their product pages. Plans can be created per-product or shared across multiple products.
- Assign one selling plan to multiple products for consistency
- Different products can have different discount tiers or intervals
- Unassigning a plan from a product removes the widget for new customers but doesn't cancel existing subscriptions
Step 4: Add the widget block to your product page template
Open the Online Store theme editor (Customize in Shopify admin). Navigate to a product page template for one of your subscription products. In the section list, find 'Add block' and search for the subscription app's widget block. Add it and position it below the Add to Cart button. Configure discount display, copy, and frequency selector labels in the block settings panel. Save and preview. The widget is live — no code changes, no theme forking.
Step 5: Configure notifications and test before going live
Before announcing subscriptions to customers, configure the notification emails: upcoming order (sent 3–5 days before billing), renewal receipt, failed payment, and shipping confirmation. These are typically template-based and take 10–15 minutes to customise. Then run a full test subscription using a test payment method: subscribe, check the portal, trigger a test failure, verify the dunning email arrives, then cancel. This end-to-end test catches configuration issues before real customers encounter them.
- Configure upcoming order email — the most important subscriber notification
- Set dunning retry schedule before going live
- Process a complete test subscription including a simulated failed payment
- Verify portal access link appears correctly in all notification emails