Introduction

Subscription settings in circuly allow you to control how subscriptions are created, activated, renewed, cancelled, and managed. By adjusting these settings in the circuly Hub, you can streamline operations, automate customer journeys, and stay compliant with local regulations.

This article gives you a complete overview of the subscription-related settings available in circuly, what they do, and when you should use them.

Feature Overview

The subscription settings cover areas like:

• Subscription creation logic (e.g., auto-activation, unpaid orders)
• Renewal rules (e.g., auto-renewal, max duration)
• Cancellation policies (e.g., early cancellation, refund automation)
• Return and reactivation flows (e.g., pending return, reactivate if not returned)
• Customer communication (e.g., cancellation reasons, notice periods)

These settings give you granular control over how subscriptions behave throughout their lifecycle.

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Settings and Their Functions

1. Subscription Metadata

• Purpose: Add custom fields (e.g., driver’s license, plate number) during subscription creation.
• Default: 0 (No additional fields)
• Where to find: Settings > Subscriptions > General > Subscription meta data.

2. Subscription Start Date

• Purpose: Automates the default start date when creating a subscription.
• Default: 5 (start date = today + 5 days)
• Use case: Matches your delivery window to subscription activation.
• Note: Only applies to manual subscription creation.

3. Allow Start Date in Past

• Purpose: Enables creating subscriptions with a past start date.
• Default: Disabled

4. Allow Unpaid Subscriptions

• Purpose: Allows creating subscriptions even if the initial payment hasn’t been collected.
• Default: Disabled
• Use case: For businesses that delay the first charge manually or use invoicing workflows.

5. Auto Activate Subscriptions

• Purpose: Automatically creates a subscription when an order is marked as completed.
• Default: Disabled
• Use case: For fulfillment flows where you want to skip manual subscription creation.
• Dependent on: Auto Activate Offset

6. Auto Activate Offset

• Purpose: Defines the start date for auto-activated subscriptions.
• Default: 0 (start date = today)
• Use case: Add buffer time between order completion and subscription start.

7. Auto Renew Subscriptions

• Purpose: Automatically renews subscriptions at the end of their duration.
• Default: Disabled
• Options:
  • Renew by original subscription duration
  • Renew by a custom duration (requires enabling below setting)

8. Custom Auto-Renew Subscription Duration

• Purpose: Enables setting a custom duration for renewals (e.g., monthly renewal instead of annual).
• Default: Disabled
• Use case: Align with consumer protection laws that restrict long-term renewals.

9. Custom Auto Renew Duration

• Purpose: Specifies the number of months for custom renewals.
• Default: 1 (One month)

10. Maximum Duration

• Purpose: Sets an upper limit on how long a subscription can be extended through renewals.
• Default: No limit
• Use case: Comply with legal or product lifecycle constraints.

11. Early Cancellation Period

• Purpose: Defines the window in which customers can cancel without a reason.
• Default: No value
• Use case: Mandatory for EU compliance (e.g., 14 days for Germany).
• Affects: Self-service cancellation flows and refund automation.

12. Auto Refund Immediately Cancelled Subscriptions

• Purpose: Triggers refunds automatically when customers cancel within the early cancellation period.
• Default: Disabled
• Use case: Avoid manual refunds for legal right-of-withdrawal cases.

13. Notice Period

• Purpose: Sets how many days before the end of a subscription a cancellation request must be made.
• Default: No value
• Example: If set to 7, cancellations must be made at least 7 days before the end date.

14. Return Until Period

• Purpose: Specifies how many days the customer has to return a product after cancellation/swap.
• Default: 14 days
• Triggers: Reminder emails and return status tracking

15. Reactivate Subscription

• Purpose: Reactivates a subscription if the product hasn’t been returned within the return period.
• Default: Disabled
• Use case: Prevent revenue loss from unreturned items.

16. Reactivate Subscription Period (Days)

• Purpose: Defines how many days after the Return Until period a subscription should be reactivated.
• Default: 7 days

17. Cancellation Reasons

• Purpose: Allows customers to select a reason when cancelling via the Self-Service Portal.
• Default: Empty list
• Types: Normal and Extraordinary cancellations
• Use case: Understand customer churn and improve retention strategies.

Final Notes

These settings give you full control over your subscription logic. You can combine multiple settings to automate processes like:

• Subscription activation after order completion
• Enabling early cancellation with automatic refund
• Managing unreturned products through reactivation flows
• Controlling renewal behaviour to stay compliant

Make sure to align these configurations with your fulfillment capabilities, legal obligations, and customer experience strategy.

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