Contents
Key plugin features
Flexible Subscriptions Recurring Shipping adds separate shipping schedules to subscription products in WooCommerce. Use it when the customer should be charged according to one subscription schedule, but receive the physical product on a different delivery schedule.
In the product Shipping tab, you can set how often the subscription product should be shipped: every selected number of days, weeks, months, or years. You can also set the first shipping date, which is useful when the first delivery should start later, for example for pre-orders or delayed fulfilment.
When the shipping date arrives, the plugin creates a separate WooCommerce order for the shipment. The order contains the relevant subscription items and shipping data, but the item and shipping totals are set to zero. This gives the store admin a separate order to process for fulfilment without charging the customer again.
Customers can see recurring shipping information on the product page and in My Account → Subscriptions → View. The subscription details show the shipping frequency, the first or next shipping date when available, and the items included in the shipping package.
In the admin panel, the plugin adds shipping package details to the subscription edit screen. It also marks shipment orders in the WooCommerce order list with the Is shipment column and makes it possible to filter shipping orders separately.
What the plugin does?
The plugin allows you to manage recurring product shipments as part of a subscription. You can configure a product to be sent at specified intervals, such as every 2 weeks. When the shipping time arrives, the plugin will automatically create a new order, which will be processed like a standard WooCommerce order (with the difference that it will appear as free on the order list). These orders will be visible in the order list in the admin panel. Email notifications for these orders depend on the standard WooCommerce order email settings and order status.
Important: The plugin does not support virtual products. To ensure the functionality works correctly, the product must be physical and require shipping.
First steps
After installing the plugin, navigate to the product you want to enable recurring shipments for. To do this, go to Products → All Products → Find the appropriate product → Edit → Shipping.
Shipping Schedule Settings
In the Shipping tab, you will see new configuration fields that allow you to set the appropriate shipping cycle:
The plugin adds the following fields:
- Shipping cycle based on - allows you to set the shipping frequency. The available options are day(s), week(s), month(s), year(s),
- Delivery every - allows you to enter any number x, based on the principle of Delivery every x [the option you choose above], e.g., Delivery every 3 days, or Delivery every 1 month, etc.,
- First shipping date - Set the date of the first shipment using the calendar (this option is particularly useful for pre-orders). If the first shipping date is past (becomes a past date), it will be ignored and not considered in the shipping schedule. The schedule will be calculated from the subscription purchase date.
Customer View
When your store customer navigates to the product page, they will see relevant information regarding the recurring shipments:
If the first shipment date is in the past, it will be ignored and not displayed to your store customers:
The customer also has the option to view the details of recurring shipments for their active subscriptions. To do this, they need to log in to your store and navigate to My Account -> Subscriptions -> View:
As you can see above, the customer will find information about the shipping frequency, the next shipment, and the items included in these shipments.
Admin Panel View
After logging into your store's admin panel, you can find information about recurring shipments in the following sections:
Metabox in subscription details
After entering the details of a given subscription in the 'Notes' section, you will find information about the created shipping packages. The plugin also adds a metabox with details regarding the mentioned packages.
Order List
As described in the introduction, recurring shipments will be visible in the order list. The plugin also adds two new columns:
- Related Subscriptions - in this column, you will see which subscription the order refers to,
- Is shipment - in this column, subscription shipping orders will be marked.
The plugin also adds the ability to filter orders by Order Shipping - when such a filter is applied, only subscription orders that are shipping orders (with enabled recurring shipments) will be displayed.
