WooCommerce Subscriptions (extension plugin for subscriptions)

Now, until Woo EC Fes Japan 2021 starts, I'd like to introduce you to some extension plugins related to WooCommerce, although it will be irregular.

The first one is a plugin that allows you to make subscription purchases on the WooCommerce website, which is used by many in Japan.

WooCommerce Subscriptions

What is a subscription?

"You may have never heard the term "subscription" before, so we'd like to explain it to you first.

"The term "subscription" is used to describe a product that is purchased on a regular basis. It is also known as "hanpukai" in other languages.

So, what kind of products are subscription products? Well, you know the old (and probably the new, right?) You know the Yakult delivery service? That is also a subscription product. It is a system of distributing and selling specified products on a regular basis, with the possibility of occasional review.

In addition, recently there are some smartphone applications that sell paid functions such as an annual fee, but that is also a type of subscription.

Think about how to sell on a subscription basis rather than looking for products that are suitable for subscription.

So, with the above explanation, you may immediately think that your product is not suitable for subscription, but surprisingly, it is possible to buy a subscription in a different way. For example, you can create a subscription product (strictly speaking, a product selection service) by having a celebrity or shop send you a product recommendation every month for a fixed price.

One successful mail order company that has done this is Felissimo. Also, in the field of cross-border EC, services such as regular sales of Japanese sweets to overseas markets have been growing for several years.

Of course, for products that are relatively easy to repeat (e.g. coffee beans or contact lenses) you can introduce a subscription to retain customers and make a steady income. As a business, this is one way of selling that you should think about carefully.

WooCommerce Subscriptions

In this article, I will introduce the official plugins available at woocommerce.com. Other than this plugin, there are other plugins that can implement subscriptions, but this site will basically focus on the products in the official WooCommerce plugin.

WooCommerce Subscriptions

This product is currently priced at US$199.00 per year (as of September 2021). Incidentally, the official WooCommerce website also sells this product on a subscription basis. It's a rough estimate, but I think it translates to less than 2,000 yen per month. You can only purchase on an annual basis.

What you can do with WooCommerce Subscriptions

The first thing this plugin allows you to do is to create subscriptions within your WooCommerce site. To give you an idea of what type of subscriptions you can create, you can create the following types of subscriptions

  • Simple subscriptions (daily, weekly, monthly or yearly)
  • Subscriptions with variations (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)
  • Subscriptions with a trial period (e.g. the first month free)
  • Subscriptions that require an initial fee (e.g. 1,000 yen for registration)
  • Automatic payment support (must be supported by the WooCommerce payment plugin you are using)
  • You can also choose to make manual payments (as a whole. It is not possible by default for each product)
  • Downgrades and upgrades available for subscriptions with variations
  • It is also possible to unify the settlement date for subscriptions (pro-rata calculation is also possible)
  • You can also set a limit on the duration of your subscription (e.g. only 3 months)
  • It is also possible to set up a mid-term cancellation by the customer

There is much more to explain in terms of the detailed settings, but these are the features that can be outlined.

"Daily, weekly, monthly or yearly " can also be set to weekly or fortnightly.

Japanese language support

This plugin has been translated by several Japanese contributors, including myself. Once you have purchased and installed the plugin and activated it, the translated files will be downloaded with it. So you can use it without any worries.

By adding this plugin to your WooCommerce site, including as a new sales method, you may be able to generate a steady income for your business.

The author of this article

TanakaShohei

Experienced WooCommerce core contributor, and has been running e-commerce sites since 2000 in a managerial capacity.