Use this article to set up the Switch to Subscription Pop-up, a product page widget that opens right after a shopper adds a one-time purchase to the cart and offers to switch that item to a subscription. It covers creating and installing the Switch to Subscription Pop-up, customizing its text and timing, what happens when a shopper accepts or declines, and what to check when the pop-up does not open.
The Switch to Subscription Pop-up only works on products that have a subscription option, so your subscription app must be connected to Rebuy first, through Shopify selling plans or Recharge. If it is not connected yet, follow Enabling Subscription Integrations before you start.
How the Switch to Subscription Pop-up works
The Switch to Subscription Pop-up opens on a product page after a shopper clicks Add to Cart on a one-time purchase of a product that has a subscription option. The one-time item is already in the cart when the pop-up opens, and the pop-up shows the same product with its subscription price and delivery frequencies.
When the shopper accepts, Rebuy removes the one-time line from the cart and adds the same variant back, at the same quantity, as a subscription with the frequency the shopper selected. Any line item properties on the original line carry over to the new subscription line.
When the shopper declines, the Switch to Subscription Pop-up closes and the one-time item stays in the cart.
The subscription price the Switch to Subscription Pop-up shows comes from the discount set on the product's subscription plan in your subscription app.
The Switch to Subscription Pop-up offers the switch at the moment a shopper adds from the product page. To let shoppers switch an item that is already in the Smart Cart, turn on the Smart Cart's own Switch to Subscription setting, covered in Smart Cart: Switch to Subscription.
Which products the Switch to Subscription Pop-up appears for
The Switch to Subscription Pop-up has no Data Source. It decides when to open from the product page it is installed on, and it opens only when all of the following are true:
The shopper added the item from a product page where the Switch to Subscription Pop-up is installed, and the item added is that page's product.
The shopper added the item as a one-time purchase. Adding the product as a subscription, at any frequency, does not open the pop-up.
The product has a subscription option that Rebuy has synced from your subscription app.
The shopper has not reached the view limit, when Limit number of views is turned on.
To show the Switch to Subscription Pop-up on only some of your products, install it only on those products' pages. The manual installation steps below show how to do that with a product tag.
Create a Switch to Subscription Pop-up
The Switch to Subscription Pop-up is created on the Create New Widget page, starting from the Add to Cart Subscription Upsell (Popup) card.
In the Rebuy admin sidebar, click Cart & Merchandising and then Widgets. On some plans the sidebar shows a single Merchandising Widgets entry instead, which opens the same Widgets page.
Click Create New.
Find the Add to Cart Subscription Upsell (Popup) card. To find it quickly, type subscription into the search bar, or click the Grow Subscriptions goal button above the cards.
Click Create on the Add to Cart Subscription Upsell (Popup) card.
The widget editor opens with your Switch to Subscription Pop-up created. Rebuy does not ask you to choose a location for this widget, because the Add to Cart Subscription Upsell (Popup) card offers only one location, Product Page. The goal buttons, the location picker, and the Your Widgets table are covered in Widget Dashboard Page: Create a Widget and Manage the Ones You Have.
Install the Switch to Subscription Pop-up with an app block
Installing the Switch to Subscription Pop-up on your product page template is what lets it detect Add to Cart clicks there. The recommended way is the Rebuy Widget app block in the Shopify theme editor.
In the widget editor, click Install in the top bar.
Follow the instructions to add the Rebuy Widget app block to your product page template and enter your widget ID in the block's Widget ID field. The full app block walkthrough is in Installing Rebuy Widgets via App Blocks in 2.0 Themes.
Leave Enable Product ID checked on the app block. Enable Product ID passes the page's product to the Switch to Subscription Pop-up, which uses it to confirm that the item the shopper added is this page's product, added as a one-time purchase.
Save the theme.
Back in the widget editor, confirm Live Mode is on, then click Save.
To check the result before shoppers see it, use Rebuy Preview Mode and add a subscription-eligible product to the cart as a one-time purchase.
Customize the text in the Switch to Subscription Pop-up
The text in the Switch to Subscription Pop-up is set on the widget editor's Language screen. The table below lists the Language fields that change the pop-up, the text each one starts with, and where that text appears.
Language field | Starts as | Where it appears in the Switch to Subscription Pop-up |
Super Title | Switch to Subscription | Small heading at the top |
Title | Save more and unlock the convenience of auto delivery! | Main heading |
Description | empty | Text under the heading |
Add to Cart | Add to Cart | The accept button that switches the item to a subscription |
Adding to Cart | Adding... | The accept button while the switch is in progress |
Added to Cart | Added! | The accept button after the switch finishes |
Decline Offer | No Thanks | The decline button |
Sold Out Label | Sold Out | The accept button when the variant is out of stock |
Delivery Frequency Label | {{frequency}} {{interval}} | Each option in the delivery frequency dropdown, for Recharge subscriptions only |
Change Add to Cart to wording that describes the switch, such as Switch to Subscription, since that field is the label shoppers click to accept. Click Save after editing.
Set when and how often the Switch to Subscription Pop-up appears
The timing of the Switch to Subscription Pop-up is set on the widget editor's Widget settings screen, in the General group.
Display Type and Popup Trigger start as Popup and Add To Cart. Keep both, since the switch replaces the item the shopper just added and only runs from an Add To Cart trigger.
Popup Delay is the number of seconds between the item being added and the pop-up opening. It starts at 0.
Limit number of views stops the Switch to Subscription Pop-up from showing again once a shopper has seen it a set number of times. Set the count in Max View Count and how long Rebuy remembers it in Every, in days. An Every value of 0 remembers the views for 30 minutes.
Add to Cart Redirect sets where the shopper goes after accepting: Redirect to Cart, Redirect to Checkout, Close modal, or None (Stay on Current Page). It starts as None (Stay on Current Page).
The Timer group adds a countdown to the Switch to Subscription Pop-up. Turn on Enable Timer, then set Timer Title, Minutes, Seconds, and the Action taken at zero: Dismiss Widget, Redirect to Cart, Redirect to Checkout, or Stop Timer.
The Screens group sets the layout for large, medium, and small screens. Keep Display Style on an option other than None for every screen size, since None hides the Switch to Subscription Pop-up on that screen size.
Preview the Switch to Subscription Pop-up with a product
The widget editor's preview loads a random product from your store when you open a Switch to Subscription Pop-up. To preview the pop-up with a specific product, click Simulate Product in Widget in the preview pane and search for a product that has a subscription option. The simulated product only changes the editor preview, not the widget's settings or your storefront.
Change the design of the Switch to Subscription Pop-up
The colors and styling of the Switch to Subscription Pop-up are set on the widget editor's Display screen. Choose Custom in Theme to edit individual colors, or add styling in the CSS box. CSS in that box applies to the whole page, so start each selector with #rebuy-widget-XXXXXX, using your widget ID, to style only this pop-up. The CSS hub is Enhance Widget Styling Using Custom CSS Code.
To change the layout of the Switch to Subscription Pop-up beyond what the editor offers, use a custom widget template, described in How to Create a Custom Template for a Rebuy Widget. Rebuy Support does not build or troubleshoot custom templates, so a custom template is your own developer's work.
Fix a Switch to Subscription Pop-up that does not open
When the Switch to Subscription Pop-up does not open after Add to Cart, or Preview Mode shows the widget as hidden, work through these checks in order.
Confirm Live Mode is on at the top of the widget editor. With Live Mode off, the Switch to Subscription Pop-up shows only in Rebuy Preview Mode.
Test by adding the product as a one-time purchase. Adding it as a subscription never opens the Switch to Subscription Pop-up.
Confirm the product has a subscription plan in Shopify and that Rebuy has synced it. If you recently added or changed the plan, resync your selling plan and product data as described in Smart Cart: Switch to Subscription, which relies on the same synced subscription data.
If Limit number of views is on, test in a new incognito window. A shopper who has reached Max View Count does not see the Switch to Subscription Pop-up again until the Every period ends.
Under Widget settings, then Screens, confirm Display Style is not set to None for the screen size you are testing on.
Check how your theme adds to cart. The Switch to Subscription Pop-up opens when your store sends Shopify's add to cart request in the background, without reloading the page. If your theme's Add to Cart button reloads the page or sends the shopper straight to the cart page, the pop-up cannot detect the add and does not open on that theme. The same applies to a headless storefront that does not use Shopify's add to cart request.
Frequently asked questions
Can the Switch to Subscription Pop-up appear on a collection page?
No, the Switch to Subscription Pop-up is a product page widget, so a collection page is not a supported placement for it. The pop-up installs on your product page template and checks the item added to the cart against that page's product. Items shoppers add from a collection page can still be switched to a subscription in the cart when the Smart Cart's Switch to Subscription setting is turned on, as covered in Smart Cart: Switch to Subscription.
Where is the Data Source for the Switch to Subscription Pop-up?
The Switch to Subscription Pop-up does not use a Data Source, so the widget editor shows no Data Source box for it. The pop-up always offers the product the shopper just added, and you control which products it appears for by choosing which product pages it is installed on.
Why doesn't the Switch to Subscription Pop-up open when a shopper adds a subscription?
The Switch to Subscription Pop-up opens only when the item is added as a one-time purchase, so it stays closed whenever a shopper adds the product as a subscription, whichever subscription frequency they choose. The pop-up exists to switch one-time purchases, and an item that already has a subscription plan has nothing to switch.
How can I tell whether a subscription sale came from the Switch to Subscription Pop-up or the Smart Cart?
Switch to Subscription Pop-up sales and Smart Cart Switch to Subscription sales both record the attribution Rebuy Switch to Subscription, so the Sales Attribution by Type report counts them together. To separate them, download the Performance Report CSV, filter Rebuy Line Item Attribution to Rebuy Switch to Subscription, and read Rebuy Line Item Widget ID: rows carrying your Switch to Subscription Pop-up's widget ID came from the pop-up, blank rows came from the Smart Cart, and rows carrying a different widget ID were added by that widget and then switched in the Smart Cart. The full walkthrough is in Reporting Analytics FAQs.