A customer who has subscribed to a product or a service in your WooCommerce store might not always remember its renewal date, especially if they have opted for automatic renewal. This can cause awkward confusion when they see payments debited from their account without knowing why it happened.
It is therefore important to inform customers in advance of the payment. Moreover, in the case of manual renewals, a payment renewal reminder should be sent to the customers to make payment renewal easier.
The subscriptions plugin from WooCommerce, by default, does not offer subscription renewal reminders. You will need to use a plugin extension for this purpose. This is why plugin like ‘Subscriptions for WooCommerce’ by WebToffee is relevant.
With this plugin, you can create recurring subscription products and automatically send subscription notifications in addition to setting up recurring payments and discount coupons. You can achieve everything related to WooCommerce subscriptions with this single plugin.
In this article, we will be looking at how you can set up subscription renewal intimation and reminder emails for your WooCommerce store using the ‘Subscriptions for WooCommerce’ plugin by WebToffee.
WooCommerce subscription renewal reminder emails
WooCommerce subscription renewal reminders are emails that are automatically sent to product subscribers who have opted for manual subscription renewal. These emails are intended to inform them about the renewal process. These are sent out two days prior to the renewal date.
These emails contain information about the subscription product, its price, renewal date, billing address, and shipping address.
For manual renewals, another email ‘Customer renewal invoice’ will be sent to the customers with the subscription order information and payment links to make the process easier for the subscribers. You can enable this email using the same method explained below.
How to enable subscription renewal reminder emails?
These automated emails will be periodically sent out to the customers based on their renewal period.
To set up WooCommerce subscription renewal reminder emails using the subscriptions plugin for WooCommerce,
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails.
- Look for the ‘Subscription renewal reminder’ email and click on Manage.
- Now enable the email notification to get regular updates.
- Provide an email heading and content. You can also change the email type if you want.
- Once completed, save the changes made.
WooCommerce subscription renewal intimation emails
Subscription renewal intimation emails are similar to WooCommerce subscription renewal reminders. But these are sent out to the subscribers whose subscriptions will be renewed automatically without manual intervention. Like subscription renewal reminders, these are also sent two days before the renewal date.
How to enable subscription renewal intimation emails?
To enable and automate sending subscription renewal intimation emails from your WooCommerce store,
- Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails.
- Click on Manage corresponding to the ‘Subscription renewal intimation’ email.
- Enable the email notification and fill in the other required fields.
- Save the changes to make it live.
Other subscription emails sent to subscribers
Besides the subscription renewal reminder and intimation, the plugin also offers several other subscription-related emails that are also sent to the store admin and customers. It includes,
- Subscription expiry reminder
This is an email notification sent to the customers to remind them of the subscription expiry. Some subscriptions can have an ending period. This is not the same as the renewal period.
- New renewal order
These emails are sent to the store admins (by default) when a subscription renewal payment is processed. You can also add the customer as the email recipient if you want to convey this information to the subscribers.
- Subscription payment method updated
This email will be sent to the store admins (you can also include customers in this if you like) when the subscription payment method is updated. This email will contain details about the renewal details.
- Activated subscription
A subscription activation email will be sent to the customers when a renewal process is completed and the license is activated. The email contains the details of the renewal orders.
- Expired subscription
When a customer’s subscription expires, these emails are automatically sent out to the store admins to notify them. If required, you can also add the customer as the recipient to this email.
- Suspended subscription
When a subscription is suspended either by the customer or the store admin, these emails will be sent to store admins. You can also add customers to the recipient’s list if you like.
- Canceled subscription
This email is rolled out when a subscription is canceled by a shop manager or by the customer. These are usually aimed at store admins but they can also be sent to customers.
- Customer renewal invoice
These emails are sent to customers with subscriptions due for renewals. Note that, this will not be sent under all circumstances. It will be sent if the subscription uses manual renewals or because the automatic recurring payment processing failed during the initial attempt and the automatic retries.
- Processing renewal order
These are the order notifications sent to customers when they complete a subscription order renewal. The email will house details regarding the renewal order details.
- Completed renewal order
Completed renewal order emails are sent out to customers when the renewal orders are marked as completed in the store. This usually happens when the product is shipped to the customer.
Conclusion
Notifying your WooCommerce customers about subscription renewals is an important process. This helps you keep your customers well informed and in the loop. Informing them prior to the retrieval also helps to avoid confusion and even gives customers the time to acquire the required fund, if they didn’t have it. This can help you avoid multiple payment processing issues and more.
Also, such communication channels can help build trust in your customers. This can, in the long run, be rewarding to your store. Moreover, you can set up subscriptions and send reminder emails with a single plugin. So this is a hassle-free solution to a highly important requirement.
If interested, read more about the comparison between the subscription plugins from WebToffee and WooCommerce and importing and exporting subscription orders.
Hope this article was helpful. Drop your thoughts on this in the comments below.