Using anchor and cutoff dates with subscription plans
Updated
by Tyler Yannes
Outline:
- Overview
- Setup instructions
- FAQs
Overview
TL;DR
- Skio allows subscriptions to be configured with anchor dates so that the order processes on a set day of the month or a specific day of the week
- Cutoff dates are designed to prevent subscribers who checkout with a new subscription from being double billed in close proximity
- Setting a set charge date with a cutoff date is optional (although it is highly recommended to use both)
What is a set charge date?
Typical subscriptions are set to recur based on the frequency selected by the customer on the product page of a merchant's storefront. If a subscriber checks out with a 30 day subscription, their next order will process 30 days after they initially checked out.
Using a set charge date allows merchants to have specific subscriptions (or all of them) process on a specific day of the month for monthly frequencies or specific days of the week for weekly frequencies. Adding in a cutoff date is a great way to ensure a good subscriber experience.
What is a cutoff date?
A cutoff date is a date that a merchant will select to prevent a subscriber from having their first recurring order process too closely after checking out. Cutoff dates are used with charge dates to create a smooth experience.
If a merchant wants all subscriptions for Product A to recur on the 15th of the month, they may want to use a cutoff date of the 1st of the month so that any subscribers who checkout between the 1st and the 15th of the month will have their checkout order ship immediately, but will not have their first recurring order process until the following month.
In this example, if I checkout with Product A on January 2nd, my checkout order will process and ship out immediately. My next order, my first recurring order, will process on February 15th because my checkout order on January 2nd was placed after my cutoff date of the 1st so I won't be billed twice in the same month.
Common applications of charge dates with cutoff dates are subscription boxes that alternate content each month. If I check out with January's box on January 2nd, I would not want to receive the same box on January 15th. This is the most common use case, but set charge dates and cutoff dates can be used for many other applications.
How to enable order dates and cutoff dates
Configuring set order dates and cutoff dates is done on the subscription plan for each variant in Skio. On the subscription plan, choose "order day of month" (for monthly frequencies) or "order day of week" (for weekly frequencies). For monthly frequencies, a merchant can setup a cutoff date of the month (1st, 15th, etc.) and for weekly frequencies, a merchant can configure a cutoff day of the week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.).
Example Setup
Charge date | Cutoff date | Checkout order date | 1st recurring order (order #2) |
15 | 1 | January 2 | February 15th |
15 | 1 | December 31 | January 15 |
15 | 1 | January 16 | February 15th |
