Creating a Digital Membership/Subscription

[vinylworld]

I sell digital products and I am wanting to do a monthly membership store, when a customer purchases it, they get access to download any product in the store at no additional charge for each month that they are a member, including any products that are continuously added. But I also want to have the same digital items where they can be purchased at a set price for those who do not wish to do the monthly membership. I am trying to figure out the easiest way to do this in shopify and make the process smooth and painless for my customers. Does anyone have any experience doing this sort of thing?

[Dani]

Hi @vinylworld,

Dani here from Shopify. Thanks for writing in!

I've found two apps that would work for you. The first option would be Bold Memberships. This would be the simplest way to go about this and would automate a lot of the process for you.

The second option is an app called Locksmith. With Locksmith, you can lock certain collections to only be accessible once your customers log in. You can make some collections available to only specific groups of customers. For example, those tagged with Membership. Locksmith is a great app so I wanted to mention it here, but may require a little more manual work than the Bold app would.

What kind of digital products are you selling in your store? I'd love to hear more about your business.

How has your store set up been so far? Have you taken advantage of any of our free courses available on the Shopify Academy yet?

All the best,

Dani

[DinnerAnswer]

Hi @Dani 

I'm trying to do something similar, but instead of access to content on my site, I want to sell access to an app.

Specifically, I would like to sell a monthly subscription to access an app. E.g. like the Spotify model where you purchase a subscription via their website and then can log into the app.

I can see Recurring payments and Bold seem to be good options for managing the payments side, but do they also manage the login and password?

[moksha1]

Were you able to come up with a solution to this?

[DinnerAnswer]

Hi, no unfortunately not

[ShopOwner2016]

Hi,

We've rigged up Shopify for years while hoping that they would support digital subscriptions better. It probably won't ever happen. You may want to switch platforms to something like Uscreen, Kajabi or other OTT platforms that handle this kind of business. We currently use a system called InPlayer that would probably also work for you. You can create an embed for each product within InPlayer. The person can either buy it as a one off product or purchase a package of all of the products. This would be completely separated from the Shopify customer and login unless you do an integration like we have.

If you want to try something with Shopify.... You could potentially use a subscription app like Paywhirl or Bold to get the user signed up for the subscription. Then you can tag the customer with something like "subscriber".  On your product page, I would add the file as a link in a metafield. Each product would have a metafield that shares the same global category (i.e. "files") and then a unique file download within the text box or data of the metafield. Within your product template, you can display that global metafield if the user is tagged "subscriber". This would be done using basic liquid code.  For users that you want to be able to buy one off copies, they could use the traditional add to cart function and checkout. Shopify has a digital download app that's free and will email the file to them when they complete the purchase. 

Hope that helps

[ShopOwner2016]

Another idea would be using a discount app. Maybe you can apply 100% discounts to anything that a customer purchases if they have the tag "subscriber".

Here is a related post:

https://community.shopify.com/c/shopify-discussions/apply-automatic-discount-to-tagged-customers/td-...

[DinnerAnswer]

Thank you!

In the end I went for a custom build. But thank you anyway for your very
considered reply!

[CP6]

Hey there, I know this thread is a bit old, but I had a similar question and figured it might require a custom build. Did you work with anyone in particular to do it that you would recommend? 

Thanks. 

[HaraldGe]

Me too. Thanks.

[Blitzspeed]

Hey!

Your post is exactly like my current thought.

Any updates on your situation?

Cheers.

[HaraldGe]

Hi Blitzspeed.
It turned out that Shopify is not the right system for that. At least in my case, the customization would be far too expensive (Minimum 2K+ per month.)

Best,
H

[Blitzspeed]

Hello HaraldGe!

Since doing a lot of search yesterday about subscription like mentioned in the post, looks like Shopify isn't the place to do as you mentioned it costs a lot.

I don't want to put a lot of money in something that doesn't hint you it will generate any revenue.

I have done Facebook ads and not a single purchase.

So what I have done is moved to Five rr or have to search other websites that to put my images for sale.

If you have any advice on what I should do please comment

Best regards,

Blitz

[eComInsider]

Hello Moksha1,

To set up a monthly membership store on Shopify where members can download digital products for free while also allowing non-members to purchase items individually, you can use a combination of apps and Shopify's built-in features. Here's a streamlined approach:

1. Membership Management: Use an app like "Bold Memberships" or "Recharge Subscriptions" to manage memberships. These apps allow you to create a subscription model where members pay a monthly fee for access.

2. Digital Product Access: For digital downloads, apps like "Sky Pilot" or "Digital Downloads" can help manage and deliver digital products. These apps can be configured to allow members to download products for free.

3. Product Pricing: Set up your products with a regular price for non-members. For members, use the membership app to ensure they can access and download products without additional charges.

4. Customer Experience: Clearly communicate the benefits of membership on your site, and ensure the checkout process is smooth. Consider creating a dedicated members' area where they can easily access their downloads.

By combining these tools, you can offer a seamless experience for both members and non-members, allowing flexibility in how customers choose to access your digital products.