Customer subscriptions: renewal, dunning and pause

Once a customer has signed up for a subscription, Cmerce renews it automatically at the end of each period and charges the stored payment method. Here you see how to keep track of subscriptions, what happens when a payment fails, and what you can do with an individual subscription.

Before you start

• You need the «Se abonnementer» (View subscriptions) permission to see the list, and «Pause, gjenoppta, kansellere, fornye, prisendring, kuponger» (Pause, resume, cancel, renew, change price, coupons) to change subscriptions.
• The retry and dunning settings require the «Abonnementsinnstillinger» (Subscription settings) permission.

How to do it

Find a subscription

1. Go to «Salg» (Sales) → «Abonnementer» (Subscriptions).
2. The list shows reference, product, customer, status, price, «Periode til» (Period ends) and the number of failed attempts.
3. Use the filters to find what you are looking for, for example «Har betalingsproblemer» (Has payment problems), «Kanselleres snart» (Ending soon), «Mangler betalingsmåte» (Missing payment method) or «Startet i kassen» (Started at the till).
4. Click a subscription to open it.

Actions on a subscription

On the subscription page you find the buttons that fit its status:

• «Pause» – stops renewals. The customer is removed from the subscription group. If the subscription has a commitment period, it is extended by the length of the pause.
• «Gjenoppta» (Resume) – restarts a paused subscription.
• «Kanseller ved slutt» (Cancel at end) – the subscription runs to the end of the period (or the commitment period) and then ends. You can enter a reason.
• «Kanseller umiddelbart» (Cancel immediately) – ends it straight away, and the customer loses access. Any remaining commitment period is not charged. Cannot be undone.
• «Angre kansellering» (Undo cancellation) – removes a cancellation that has not yet taken effect.
• «Forny nå» (Renew now) – charges the customer for the current period straight away. A period that is already paid is never charged again. Not available for Vipps, where renewals are always scheduled in advance.
• «Oppdater pris» (Update price), «Legg til bindingstid» (Add commitment period) and «Legg til rabattkode» (Add discount code) – change the price, the commitment period or give a discount on a number of renewals.

To change the price of many subscriptions, select them in the list and use «Oppdater priser» (Update prices).

Set up retries and dunning

1. Go to «Innstillinger» (Settings) → «Tjenester» (Services) → «Abonnement» (Subscription).
2. On the «Gjenforsøk og dunning» (Retries and dunning) tab, set:
   • «Maks antall gjenforsøk» (Max retries) – default 3.
   • «Gjenforsøk etter (dager)» (Retry after, days), for example «1, 3, 7».
   • «Kanseller automatisk etter (dager)» (Cancel automatically after, days) – default 14.
3. Under «Valg» (Options), decide whether customers can pause themselves («La kunder sette abonnementet på pause») and cancel themselves («La kunder si opp abonnementet selv»), and whether dunning emails are sent.
4. Edit the email texts on the «E-postmaler» (Email templates) tab.
5. Save.

What happens when a payment fails

1. The renewal fails. The subscription gets the status «Forfalt», and the customer receives an email saying the payment failed.
2. Cmerce tries again after the days you have chosen. If it fails again, the customer receives an email saying when the next attempt will be.
3. If the bank requires the customer to confirm the card themselves, the customer instead receives an email saying action is required.
4. When all retries are used up and the number of days in «Kanseller automatisk etter (dager)» has passed since the unpaid period began, the subscription ends as «Utløpt» and the customer is told.

The emails are only sent when «Send purre-e-poster (dunning)» (Send dunning emails) is on.

If the customer pays in the meantime, for example by adding a new card on «Min konto» (My account), the subscription returns to «Aktiv».

Good to know

• The customer's own page: On «Min konto» in the webshop, the customer can see their subscriptions, pay an overdue period, change card, and pause or cancel if you have allowed it.
• The customer stops the payment agreement in their bank or the Vipps app: The customer is automatically asked to add a new payment method. Under «Kunden har stanset betalingsavtalen» (The customer has stopped the payment agreement), choose what happens at the next renewal if the deadline passes: «Faktura» (Invoice), «Sett på vent» (Put on hold) or «Ettergi» (Waive). «Faktura» can only be used once you have confirmed that your terms describe the commitment period and later invoicing.
• Cancelling must be easy. If you switch off self-service cancellation, you must offer a simple way to cancel some other way. Consumer rules usually require cancelling to be as easy as signing up.
• Vipps renewals are created a few days before they are due, and Vipps takes the money on the due date.
• Subscriptions can also be started and changed at the till. See Selling subscriptions at the till.

Frequently asked questions

The customer wants a pause during the commitment period. Is that possible?

Yes. The commitment period is extended by the length of the pause. A subscription that has been cancelled during its commitment period must have the cancellation undone before it can be paused.

Why is «Forny nå» greyed out?

The payment method does not support on-demand charging, for example Vipps. The renewal then happens automatically on the due date.