Subscribe and Save on Shopify: Upsell One-Time Buyers
Subscribe and save on Shopify means offering a product both as a one-time purchase and as a recurring delivery at a discount, so a buyer who would reorder anyway commits to it in advance. Shopify’s free Shopify Subscriptions app handles the plans, billing and customer self-service. The upsell itself is where you show the offer: the product page first, then the cart, order emails and campaigns to customers who already reorder.
The facts come from Shopify’s Help Center pages on subscriptions, Shopify Subscriptions, eligibility considerations, subscription plans, setup and the customer experience, read on 23 and October 31, 2026. Placement and discount advice is ours.
Set up subscriptions first
Shopify Subscriptions works only with Shopify Payments, PayPal Express, Authorize.net, Adyen or Stripe (Stripe and Adyen for approved merchants only), and your theme must support sections and blocks. Subscription products sell on the online store, Shopify POS, Shop and custom storefronts. Bundles aren’t compatible with the app.
To create the offer:
- Go to Apps > Subscriptions, click Plans, then Create plan.
- Enter a Title. Customers see it on the product page, so name the benefit, such as “Deliver every month, save 10%”.
- Add the products in the Products section.
- Under Discount and frequency options, pick a Discount type (Percentage off, Amount off or Fixed price) and the amount.
- Set the Delivery frequency in weeks, months or years. Click Option to offer more than one frequency, each with its own discount.
- Click Save.
Then add the widget: in Online Store, click Edit theme, open the product template, and under Product information click Add block and select Subscription widget. Save. With an Online Store 2.0 theme, Shopify advises keeping the Subscription widget app embed switched off, so the block is the only copy.
Recurring billing in general, including the choice between the free app and paid subscription apps, is covered in Shopify recurring payments.
Where to offer subscribe and save
| Placement | How | What it does best |
|---|---|---|
| Product page | The Subscription widget block next to the price | Catches the buyer at the moment of choice |
| Product description | A line on the saving per delivery and how to skip or cancel | Answers the commitment worry before it stops the sale |
| Cart and thank-you page | Shopify Subscriptions shows the frequency and discount there | Confirms the choice; no extra setup |
| Order emails for consumables | A line in the order confirmation linking to the product’s subscribe option | Reaches buyers when the product is new to them |
| Campaigns to repeat buyers | A segment of customers who ordered the product more than once | Reaches people already behaving like subscribers |
| Post-purchase offer | A third-party upsell app that supports subscriptions | Asks right after the first purchase; check each listing for subscription support |
In our view two details on the product page matter as much as the discount. Put the plan’s saving in its Title so the buyer sees a number without opening anything. And state the flexibility near the widget: customers can skip, pause or cancel from their account, and Shopify Subscriptions emails them 3 days before each charge with options to skip, pause or cancel.
We’d start campaigns with customers who already reorder. Sidekick can build segments from a plain description, so a prompt such as “customers who bought this product, have 2 or more orders and are subscribed to marketing emails” gives you a starting segment; check the count before you save it.
The offer itself
The discount has to survive every delivery, so set it against what’s left after product cost and shipping. For a consumable with a 50% gross margin and $6 of shipping you pay on a $30 order, if you ship free, a 10% discount costs $3 per delivery: a tenth of the order, but a third of the $9 left after product cost and shipping. Run the same sum for your product before choosing between 5%, 10% and 15%.
Three things we’d decide before launch:
- Frequency options. Offer the rhythm customers already buy at, plus one slower option. Deliveries that come faster than the product runs out can pile up and prompt cancellations.
- A set end or open-ended. End after a set number of orders suits a course of a product, such as a 3-month supply; the first order counts and skipped orders don’t.
- Free shipping on subscriptions. If your margin allows it, it can read as a stronger offer than an extra 5%. A free shipping discount has a Purchase type setting where you can choose Subscription.
Shopify also notes that gift cards and Shopify Scripts that change the price apply only to a subscription’s first payment, so don’t build the offer on them.
Measure it
Subscription data is available in Shopify’s sales reports: add the Subscription or one-time dimension or filter to split sales by purchase type. Watch the share of orders that start a subscription on products with the widget, and the Subscriptions app’s analytics for active, paused and canceled subscriptions. If cancellations come after the second or third delivery, the frequency may be too fast for how quickly the product runs out.
If you use a third-party subscription app and later uninstall it, Shopify notes that its data, except contracts and payment information, is deleted after 48 hours unless the app keeps a backup. More ways to raise order value are in how to upsell on Shopify and the pricing and sales hub.
FAQ
Is Shopify Subscriptions free? Shopify Subscriptions is Shopify’s free first-party app for selling products on a recurring basis. It needs a supported payment provider, such as Shopify Payments, and a theme that supports sections and blocks.
Can I offer more than one delivery frequency? When you create a plan, click Option to add more delivery frequencies, each with its own discount, billing day or order count. Customers see the chosen frequency and discount in the order summary at checkout.
Can subscribers skip or cancel? Customers can skip one or more upcoming orders, pause or resume, or cancel from their customer account. They’re reminded by email 3 days before each recurring charge.
How do I see subscription sales in reports? Add the Subscription or one-time dimension or filter to a sales report. Subscription data is available in all sales reports.