More and more these days, we’re asked about whether we cater for subscription model needs. For existing Avenue customers, you’ll be happy to learn that implementing subscription boxes is possible using a recurring purchase function.

Below, we’ve explored the subscription model further and delved deeper into the process of adding a subscription box using Avenue.

The benefits of using a subscription model

A lot of people in the digital space are talking more and more about the subscription model. Forbes has gone as far as stating that there is a “significant shift happening that will impact business leaders. That shift is away from a pay-per-product model to a subscription-based model.” And Forbes aren’t the only ones taking notice with Harvard Business Review saying, “two of the most popular tactics are online communities and subscriptions… Lots of companies would love to implement a subscription model, especially one with a sticky online community component. This allows firms to build long-term, profitable relationships with customers - seemingly the perfect solution to the era of digital disruption.”

Setting up a Scheduled Order/Recurring Purchase

Any items flagged as being eligible for Recurring Order, can have a “frequency selector” that is visible on the Cart page. From the Cart page, customers would be able to select from a pre-defined list of frequency options. The frequency itself is set at a line level with each recurring line creating a separate “recurring order.” Any order could contain both recurring and non-recurring items with the initial order being independent of the recurring functionality.

Delivery

Recurring orders will always be sent to the user’s default address.

Payment

Your customers can have the option of paying by credit card/Paypal, which will be sent to SecurePay/Paypal for the payment of the current order. Be aware that Avenue does not store any credit card details (we just store a token SecurePay/Paypal form, which allows us to submit payments for future recurring orders).

Managing the order (in the front end)

At a predetermined time before each order recurrence, the customer would receive an email reminding them that a recurrence is scheduled. This would prompt them to alter the order if necessary. They would be able to view and edit their recurring purchases from within the Account Centre.

Managing Recurring Orders (in the Admin Console)

Within the Admin Console, we can allow an administrator to edit the details of all recurring orders in the system (of all users). Any creation or modification of recurring orders/lines via the web, would update the touchpoints automatically.

Recurring Order Process

Avenue would create the scheduled orders as per the input details. The order will be generated within Avenue on the scheduled date, triggering the standard Avenue order creation/submission process. A request for payment will be made to SecurePay/Paypal (using the token received during the initial purchase). Note: we only support payment via SecurePay/Paypal. Upon the receipt of payment confirmation from SecurePay, the order would then be sent to Pronto Xi as per the standard order process. From there, pricing would be calculated at the time each order (individual recurrence) is created. As such, any promotions applied at the time will affect the unit price. This also means that the value of the product/order may be different for each of the scheduled orders. If multiple lines for a single user exist in the Schedule Orders table (that are due for the same day), Avenue could combine these elements into a single package/order at the time of generating the order in Avenue. Should a recurring order fail, the user would receive an email providing details as to why the order failed – the most common reason tends to be that the payment method is no longer valid. The user will then have the opportunity to address any issues encountered via their Preference Centre.

My Payment Methods (SecurePay)

As mentioned above, we can enable a function which allows a customer’s credit card details to be stored by SecurePay's PCI DSS compliant storage system, which Avenue can utilise for the scheduled orders. These details are stored at the time of the initial order (when the recurring order was initiated by the customer) - they could then be used for each subsequent scheduled order. The user would be able to update their payment details (for recurring purchases) via the Account Centre. At the time of order processing (for the scheduled order), Avenue would send SecurePay the amount of money required to be paid along with their saved payment token via the SecurePay API.

Other handy things to know

• The “Standard Freight” method is applied to all Scheduled Orders.
• The recurring orders (future recurrences) will not appear against the customer’s debtor account and won’t be taken into account when calculating available quantities, commitments and so on.
• A user can only have one stored credit card.

Woven are ERP integration experts and are based locally in Melbourne but work with customers right around Australia. Our team is capable of providing you with more information about how subscriptions can be set-up for your business and self-managed by your customers online.

Contact Woven to start a discussion about subscriptions and your business.