Common use cases for Workflows by Recharge

This guide covers some examples of common Workflow use-cases. These use-cases are only examples, but you can follow the instructions to modify your own workflows.

Before you start

We recommend reviewing the following guides if you are not familiar with the Workflows tool:

• Workflows by Recharge
• Troubleshooting Workflows
• Workflows FAQ

Swap products

The Workflows tool is useful for swapping a subscription product between the initial checkout charge and the subsequent recurring charge. You will primarily rely on the variant ID of the new product to accomplish a product swap. 

1. Set the Conditions. These are the parameters that must be met by a product to trigger the workflow.
2. Set the Search parameter. In this example, the workflow is set to search for all subscriptions with the product title Free trial.
3. Set the actions(s) that should be taken following the trigger. In the case of a product swap, you would want to swap the original Shopify variant ID. This will ensure that the subscription will use this product when the next order is created in Shopify.

To locate the shopify_variant_id, visit Finding and exporting Shopify variant IDs.

All the additional parameters of the swapped product (product title, SKU) would need to be added as Workflow actions. If the price of the swapped product is different than the original product then the price action must be used so that the new price can be implemented.

15-day free trial 

This use-case demonstrates how to create a 15-day free trial on your store. A prerequisite for this set-up is that the product needs to be set to $0 in Shopify.

1. The Recharge Checkout on Shopify uses the auto-renew product to create the initial subscription at checkout. For this use case, you can set the auto-renew product to be $0 in Shopify which will display the full price on the product page. If you want the product page to reflect the trial price, you would change the price of the original product and the auto-renew product to be $0.
2. Set the condition to match with that product by using the product_title or another identifier like product_id.
3. Set the actions for charge_delay and recurring_price.
   • Charge_delay sets the number of days from the initial charge at checkout and the first recurring charge (second overall order). Following that order, the charge frequency will reflect the settings in your product's subscription rules. This action will only apply to the first recurring order after the customer checks out.
   • Recurring_price changes the price of the product. In this example, recurring_price will change the price of the subscription from $0 to $10. This price will then remain at $10 for subsequent charges.

Offer free shipping on recurring orders

Create a recurring checkout workflow using the following actions:

• shipping_rate_price – This is how much you will charge for shipping on the recurring subscriptions. In this example, it is set to 0 for free shipping.
• shipping_rate_title – This will be the title of your shipping rate. In this example, it is titled Free.
• shipping_rate_code – This is used internally and not seen by the customer. It can normally be set to the same text as your shipping_rate_title.

Recurring workflows

Multiple workflows can be stacked to implement a gradual decrease or increase in price or any other workflow parameter. For example, if you would like to offer a discount on the 2nd and 3rd charges of your subscription, you could set up two workflows that can be then triggered for these specific charge sequences. 

1. Create the first workflow
   • Set the trigger to initial checkout.
   • Add a condition to find the product either by product_title or product_id.
   • Set the action for subscription_recurring_price or price to change the price to the first discounted amount. In the example, this is set to $10.
     
2. Create the second workflow
   • Set the trigger to recurring order #1
     
   • Use the same condition as the first workflow
   • Set the action for subscription_recurring_price or price to change the price to the next amount. In the example, this is set to $8.
     
3. Turn on both workflows.