How to View WooCommerce Subscriptions: A Beginner’s Guide
So, you’re running a WooCommerce store with subscriptions, and you need to see what’s going on, right? Maybe you want to check on a customer’s renewal date, understand why a payment failed, or just get a general overview of your subscription base. This guide will walk you through exactly how to view and manage your WooCommerce subscriptions like a pro, even if you’re just starting out.
Think of subscriptions like a recurring revenue engine for your business. Knowing how to manage them efficiently is crucial for long-term success. Let’s dive in!
Accessing Your Subscriptions Dashboard
The first step is, obviously, getting to the right place in your WooCommerce admin area. Here’s how:
1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. In the left-hand menu, find WooCommerce.
3. Under WooCommerce, you’ll see Subscriptions. Click on it.
That’s it! You’ve arrived at your subscriptions dashboard. This is where you’ll see a list of all your active, cancelled, pending, and other types of subscriptions.
Understanding the Subscriptions Table
The Subscriptions dashboard presents a table with key information about each subscription. Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll typically find:
* Subscription: Displays the subscription number (a unique identifier) and, if set, the customer’s name associated with the subscription. Clicking the subscription number takes you to the detailed subscription page (more on that later).
* Customer: Shows the customer’s name, email address, and billing address. It’s crucial to correctly identify the customer and their contact information.
* Status: This is a really important one! It tells you the current state of the subscription. Common statuses include:
* Active: The subscription is currently active, and payments are being processed. This is the *goal*!
* Pending Cancellation: The customer has requested cancellation, but it hasn’t taken effect yet.
* Cancelled: The subscription has been cancelled, and no further payments will be processed.
* On Hold: The subscription is temporarily paused, usually due to a failed payment.
* Expired: The subscription has reached its end date.
* Pending: The initial order is pending payment or processing.
* Next Payment: Indicates the date when the next payment is due. Keep an eye on this! You can use this information to plan for revenue projections.
* End Date: If applicable, shows the date when the subscription will automatically expire. Not all subscriptions have an end date (e.g., ongoing subscriptions).
* Total: Displays the total amount charged for the subscription so far.
* Actions: Provides quick action buttons to:
* View: Navigate to the detailed subscription page.
* Edit: Modify subscription details (e.g., product, quantity, shipping address).
* Cancel: Manually cancel the subscription.
Example: Real-Life Scenario
Imagine you sell a monthly coffee subscription. Let’s say a customer named “Alice Smith” is experiencing issues with her credit card.
1. You’d go to WooCommerce > Subscriptions.
2. You’d look for Alice Smith’s subscription in the table.
3. You might see her subscription status is “On Hold.”
4. You’d see the “Next Payment” date has passed.
5. Now you know Alice’s subscription has been paused due to a payment failure. You can contact Alice to update her payment information, or manually retry the payment. Without viewing your subscriptions, you would likely not know this customer is about to churn!
Diving Deeper: The Subscription Details Page
Clicking on a subscription (either the subscription number or the “View” action button) will take you to the detailed subscription page. This page is packed with information and tools for managing that specific subscription.
Here’s what you’ll find:
* Subscription Details: Shows the overall status, billing schedule, start date, end date (if any), next payment date, and billing address.
* Order Actions: Allows you to perform actions like:
* Resend New Account Email: Useful if the customer didn’t receive their welcome email.
* Process Renewal: Manually trigger a renewal payment (useful after a payment failure).
* Cancel Subscription: Manually cancel the subscription.
* Subscription Items: Lists the products or services included in the subscription. You can adjust the quantity of items if needed.
* Customer Details: Displays the customer’s contact information, shipping address, and billing address. You can edit this information directly from here.
* Subscription Totals: Provides a summary of the total cost of the subscription, including discounts, shipping, and taxes.
* Subscription Notes: This section allows you to add internal notes about the subscription. This is great for tracking communication with the customer or noting any special circumstances. For instance: “Called customer 2023-10-27 to confirm address change.”
* Related Orders: Shows all orders related to the subscription, including the initial order and all subsequent renewal orders. This is incredibly useful for tracking payment history.
Advanced Tips and Tricks
* Filtering Subscriptions: Use the filter options at the top of the Subscriptions dashboard to quickly find subscriptions based on status, customer, product, or date range. This can be a lifesaver when dealing with a large number of subscriptions.
* Sorting Subscriptions: Click on the column headers (e.g., “Next Payment,” “Total”) to sort the subscriptions based on that column.
* Bulk Actions: Select multiple subscriptions and use the “Bulk actions” dropdown to perform actions on multiple subscriptions at once (e.g., cancel multiple subscriptions). Be careful when using bulk actions!
* Automated Retry for Failed Payments: Consider using a plugin like WooCommerce Subscriptions’ built-in “Retry Failed Payments” feature or a third-party plugin to automatically retry failed payments. This can significantly reduce churn and improve revenue recovery. To access this, you would typically go to WooCommerce > Settings > Subscriptions.
* Subscription API (For Developers): If you need to access and manage subscriptions programmatically, WooCommerce Subscriptions provides a robust API. Here’s a very basic example in PHP for retrieving a subscription:
<?php // Get a subscription by ID. Replace 123 with the actual subscription ID. $subscription = wc_get_subscription( 123 );
if ( $subscription ) {
echo ‘Subscription ID: ‘ . $subscription->get_id() . ‘
‘;
echo ‘Status: ‘ . $subscription->get_status() . ‘
‘;
echo ‘Customer ID: ‘ . $subscription->get_customer_id() . ‘
‘;
echo ‘Next Payment Date: ‘ . $subscription->get_date_next_payment() . ‘
‘;
} else {
echo ‘Subscription not found.’;
}
?>
Important: Working with the API requires PHP knowledge and is generally for developers.
Conclusion
Mastering the art of viewing and managing your WooCommerce subscriptions is essential for building a sustainable and profitable business. By understanding the subscriptions dashboard, the subscription details page, and the available tools, you can effectively track customer subscriptions, troubleshoot issues, and optimize your subscription offerings. Happy selling!
