SubscriptionBridge: recurring billing and subscription management system - Documentation

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====== Products and Plans ======



===== Products =====

==== What a Product is ====

For a definition of what a //Product// is in the SubscriptionBridge system, please see the [[:glossary|Glossary]].

==== Adding a New Product ====

To add a new //Product// to one of your stores, do the following:

  * Click on //Stores// in the Merchant Center navigation
  * Select the //Store// that you wish to work with
  * Under //Packages//, select //Products//
  * Click on //Add New Product//

{{:merchant_guide:screenshot146.jpg|The Products page lists products within a certain SubscriptionBridge store}}

==== Main Product Properties ====

The following main properties are available on the //Add New Product// page.

{{:merchant_guide:screenshot145.jpg|The Add New Product page}}

  * **Product Reference Name** \\ This field is required. The Reference Name is the product's name within the SubscriptionBridge Merchant Center. It is not shown to customers. It helps you quickly identify the Product in the Merchant Center, so it does not need to be customer friendly, but rather useful to you and your staff (e.g. it could be an internal product code that you and your staff are familiar with).
  * **Terms Required** \\ This setting only applies if you are using the [[:simpleintegration:simpleintegration|Simple Integration]]. If you are using a [[cartintegration:cartintegration|shopping cart integration]], this feature has likely been built into the shopping cart integration and available to you as part of the shopping cart administration features. \\ You can specify whether customers should be asked to acknowledge and accept a "Terms & Condition" document when activating a subscription for a Package that includes this Product. Since the //Terms & Conditions// change depending on the front-end language chosen by the customer (assuming you have enabled multiple languages in your store), the //Terms & Conditions// document is not entered on this page, but rather on the Names & Descriptions page (see below), which supports multi-lingual entries.
<note important>Laws are different in different countries, but as a merchant you are typically required to obtaining specific consent from your customers to bill them on a recurring basis. So make sure that you include that language in your Terms & Conditions. E.g. "You agree that your credit card will be billed every..."</note>
  * **Is Product Shippable?** \\ This setting only applies if you are using the [[:simpleintegration:simpleintegration|Simple Integration]]. The settings allows you to indicate to the SubscriptionBridge shopping cart whether a shipping charge should be added to the subscription.
  * **Flat Ship Rate**  \\ This setting only applies if you are using the [[:simpleintegration:simpleintegration|Simple Integration]]. The settings allows you to indicate to the SubscriptionBridge shopping cart what the shipping charge should be. If you need a more complex kind of shipping calculation (e.g. dynamically retrieving shipping rates from UPS or FedEx), we recommend that you use an e-commerce system that supports SubscriptionBridge and that matches your needs. You can find a list under [[:cartintegration:cartintegration|Shopping Cart Integration]].
  * **Is Product Taxable?** \\ This setting only applies if you are using the [[:simpleintegration:simpleintegration|Simple Integration]]. The settings allows you to indicate to the SubscriptionBridge shopping cart whether the product/service is taxable. Taxes will be calculated as described under [[:merchant_guide:add-store#tax-settings|Tax Settings]]. If you need a more complex kind of tax calculation, we recommend that you use an e-commerce system that supports SubscriptionBridge and that matches your needs. You can find a list under [[:cartintegration:cartintegration|Shopping Cart Integration]]. 
  * **Active** \\ This field defines whether the Product is active or not.

==== Names & Descriptions ====

SubscriptionBridge supports a multi-lingual front-end (the Merchant Center, instead, is only available in English at this time). Therefore, you can add //Names//, //Descriptions//, and //Terms & Conditions// for your Products in each of the languages that you have activated for your store.

To do so, navigate to the Products page as described above, and then click on //Names & Descriptions//. On the page that is displayed to you, click on the "Add New Name/Description" button to add **Product Name**, **Description**, and **Terms of Use** (if needed) in each of the languages that you have activated for the selected Store.

On the Add New Name/Description page...

  * **Language** \\ Select a language from the list of active languages for the Store
  * **Name** \\ Enter a name for this Product in the Language you have selected. This entry is shown to customers in the SubscriptionBridge front-end (e.g. in the SubscriptionBridge Shopping Cart, Customer Center and in e-mail Notifications).
  * **Description** \\ Enter a description for this Product in the language you have selected. This entry is shown to customers in the SubscriptionBridge Shopping Cart only. Descriptions are not used in e-mail notifications.
  * **Terms** \\ Enter Terms & Conditions that customers need to agree to when subscribing to this product or service (if applicable). Terms are shown in the SubscriptionBridge Shopping Cart and linked-to from some e-mail notifications.

Once you have added //names//, //descriptions//, and //terms// in multiple languages, the //Names/Descriptions// page will present them using a tabbed layout where each tab corresponds to a different language. To edit any of the entries, click on the tab that represents the language that you need to edit, and click on the //Edit// icon ({{:merchant_guide:edit.gif|Edit Icon}}).

==== Viewing and Editing Existing Products ====

To view all the Products that are associated with a certain store in your SubscriptionBridge Merchant Center, do the following:

  * Click on //Stores// in the Merchant Center navigation
  * Select the //Store// that you wish to work with
  * Under //Packages//, mouse over //Products//. The system will display a preview of the products you added to that store. Click on the link to load the list of Products.

On the page that lists all Products under the selected Store you can:

  * Click on any column heading to sort the table by that column
  * Click on the //Edit// icon to edit main Product properties
  * Click on //Names & Descriptions// to view and edit the product name and descriptions used in the SubscriptionBridge front-end pages (SubscriptionBridge Shopping Cart and Customer Center) and in e-mail notifications sent by the system.
  * Click on //Packages// to view and edit existing Packages for the selected Product.


==== Deleting Products ====

Products that are not currently used within a //Package// can be deleted. To delete a product:

  * Click on //Stores// in the Merchant Center navigation
  * Select the //Store// that you wish to work with
  * In the //Packages// section, mouse over //Products//. The system will display a preview of the //Products// you added to that store. Click on the link to load the list of //Products//.
  * Check the checkbox in the right-side column of the //Product(s)// you wish to remove, and click on the //Delete Selected Records// button to remove the selected products. Please note the following:
    * Products can only be deleted when not used in a //Package//.
    * When a //Product// is used in a //Package//, the checkbox is not shown.
    * When no //Products// can be deleted, the //Delete Selected Records// button is not shown on the page.

===== Plans =====

==== What a Plan is ====

A plan defines the billing arrangement (see the [[:glossary|Glossary]]). 

Plans are not product-specific. The same Plan (e.g. monthly payment, with a free 2-month trial) could well be shared across different subscription-based products and services.

==== Payment Gateways and Supported Payment Plans ====

Different payment gateways have different requirements and limitations with regard to the billing plans that they can support. For example, Authorize.Net does not support a billing period that is shorter than 7 days.

SubscriptionBridge is setup to enforce these requirements/limitations when you create a new plan, depending on which payment gateway you have selected. So if Authorize.Net is the payment gateway selected for a certain //store//, and the billing period is "days", then the number of days that can be selected will start at 7. 

Authorize.Net also requires that the standard billing and trial billing periods share the same billing unit (days vs. months) and frequency. Therefore - if Authorize.Net is the selected payment gateway - only the total number of trial occurrences can be set. 

==== Adding a New Plan ====

To add a new Plan, do the following:

  * Click on //Stores// in the Merchant Center navigation
  * Select any of your //Stores//
  * Under //Packages//, select //Plans//
  * The page will display a list of available Plans. Click on //Add New Plan// to add a new one.

{{:merchant_guide:screenshot149.jpg|A list of available Plans in a SubscriptionBridge Merchant Center}}

On the //Add New Plan// form you will find the following fields:

  * **Reference Name** \\ This is an internal name for the //Plan//. It is not shown to customers.	
  * **Billing Period** \\ Select the billing interval from the following selections: __day__, __week__, __month__, __year__. You can use the //Billing Frequency// field to "adjust" the //Billing Period//. __For example__, to create a //Quarterly Billing Period//, choose //Month// here and then enter 3 under //Billing Frequency//.
  * **Billing Frequency** \\ Select how often the subscription will be billed, based on the interval selected under //Billing Period//. __For example__, if you are selling a bi-weekly subscription, you will select "Week" under the Billing Period and enter 2 under "Billing Frequency" (the subscription will be charged every 2 weeks). Note that some payment gateways have restrictions on the frequency. For example, [[payment-gateways:authorize.net|Authorize.Net]] requires that the billing interval be between 7 and 365 day (i.e. you can't have a subscription shorter than a weekly subscription, if you are using Authorize.Net).
  * **Total Billing Cycles** (//Bill until canceled?//) \\ Enter the total number of billing cycles. For an ongoing subscription (a subscription that never ends), answer "//Yes//" to the question "//Bill until canceled?//", or enter //0// if there is an input field. If the subscription does end after a certain number of billing occurrences, then enter that number here. __For example__, if you wanted to sell a 2-year subscription that is billed quarterly, you would enter:
    * Month under Billing Period
    * 3 under Billing Frequency
    * 8 under Total Billing Cycles (4 quarters a year, times 2 years).
  * **Currency Code** \\ Select the currency used by your store. 	
  * **Is there a Trial period?** \\ Indicate whether there is a //Trial// period or not. Note that a //Trial// does not have to be a "Free Trial". In fact, the trial amount could be higher than the regular subscription amount (e.g. it may include an initial setup fee). You will specify the trial amount at the //Package// level.
  * **Trial Billing Period** \\ Select the billing interval (e.g. "Month") for the Trial period. __NOTE__: with **Authorize.Net**, this is not supported: by default the Trial Billing Period is the same as the Billing Period.
  * **Trial Billing Frequency** \\ Select how often the subscription will be billed during the trial, based on the interval selected under //Trial Billing Period//. __For example__, if you want to offer a 3-month trial at a discounted price, you will select "Month" under the //Trial Billing Period//, enter 1 under "Trial Billing Frequency", and enter 3 under //Trial Total Billing Cycles//. __NOTE__: with **Authorize.Net**, this is not supported: by default the Trial Billing Frequency is the same as the Billing Frequency.
  * **Trial Total Billing Cycles** \\ Enter the total number of billing cycles for the //Trial Period//. For a free 1-month trial, you would enter 1 here, 1 under //Trial Billing Frequency//, and "Month" under //Trial Billing Period//. __NOTE__: with **Authorize.Net** the Trial Billing Cycles ("Trial Occurrences" in the Authorize.Net documentation) are counted as part of the Total Billing Cycles ("Total Occurrences" in the Authorize.Net documentation).
  * **Subscription Starts Immediately?** \\ In most cases, you will answer "Yes" as the subscription will start at the time it is ordered. If there is a //Trial Period//, the subscription will start with the trial. Otherwise, if the subscription is set to start in the future (e.g. the first of January of the following year) select a //Start Date// in the corresponding field.
  * **Start Date** \\ Enter a //Start Date// if the subscription is not set to start immediately (i.e. at the time it is ordered). If there is a //Trial Period//, the //Trial// will start on the //Start Date//.

{{:merchant_guide:screenshot150.jpg|The Add New Plan page}}

==== Viewing and Editing Existing Plan ====

To view all the Plans in your SubscriptionBridge Merchant Center, do the following:

  * Click on //Stores// in the Merchant Center navigation
  * Under any of the stores, locate the //Packages// section and mouse over //Plans//. The system will display a preview of the plans you added. Click on the link to load the list of Plans.

On the page that lists all //Plans// under the selected //Store// you can:

  * Click on any column heading to sort the table by that column
  * Click on the //Edit// icon ({{:merchant_guide:edit.gif|Edit Icon}}) to edit the //Plan//'s properties
  * Click on //Packages// to view and edit existing //Packages// that use that //Plan//

<note important>If you edit a //Plan//'s properties (e.g. you decide to edit the billing cycle), this will affect new subscriptions that are created in the SubscriptionBridge system for any of the Packages that use that Plan, but it will __not__ affect existing subscriptions.</note>

==== Deleting Plans ====

Plans that are not currently used within a //Package// can be deleted. To delete a Plan:

  * Click on //Stores// in the Merchant Center navigation
  * Select the //Store// that you wish to work with
  * In the //Packages// section, mouse over //Plans//. The system will display a preview of the Plans that you added to that store. Click on the link to load the list of //Plans//.
  * Check the checkbox in the right-side column of the plan(s) you wish to remove, and click on the //Delete Selected Records// button to remove the selected Plans. Please note the following:
    * Plans can only be deleted when not used in a //Package//.
    * When a Plan is used in a //Package//, the checkbox is not shown.
    * When no Plans can be deleted, the //Delete Selected Records// button is not shown on the page.