Switching subscription apps might feel tricky, but here at Appstle we handle all the hard work for you. Keep reading for a step-by-step explanation of how we safely move your customers from your current subscription app to Appstle Subscriptions.
Step 1: Getting Secure Access to Your Shopify Store and Necessary Migration Data
To begin the migration, we’ll ask you to provide collaborator access to your Shopify admin. This allows our team to safely access what we need without full control over your store. Sometimes, we may need a bit more information depending on your setup — don’t worry, our support team will walk you through everything to make this easy.
Step 2: Setting up Your Subscription Plans Behind the Scenes
Next, you’ll need to create the subscription plans you want to offer inside our backend dashboard. This means deciding important details like:
How often customers get their orders (for example, every week or every month)
Which products will be part of these subscriptions
What subscription discounts you want to provide
This setup happens behind the scenes, so your customers won’t see any changes on your live storefront until you're ready!
Step 3: Running a Careful Test to Make Sure Everything Works Perfectly
Before moving your full customer list, we complete a “dry run” to check for any issues and ensure the migration will go smoothly.
3.1 Checking Your Data for Errors to Avoid Problems
We carefully review your existing subscription data to catch any errors or issues that could cause problems during migration. If we find anything that can’t be fixed automatically, we’ll let you know so you can decide how to proceed.
3.2 Confirming Our System is Ready to Handle Your Migration
Our technical team runs internal checks to make sure our system’s setup is ready to handle your store’s data quickly and without delays.
3.3 Test-Migrating One Customer and Verifying Billing Works Correctly
We migrate a single customer — the one with the next closest upcoming subscription order — as a test. You’ll pause this customer’s subscription on the old app to avoid charging them twice. This helps confirm the billing and migration process works perfectly before migrating all your customers.
Step 4: Migrating All Your Customers and Setting Up Your Store with Appstle
Once the test run goes well, it’s time to move the rest of your customers and finalize the switch.
4.1 Adding Our Subscription Widget to Your Product Pages
We add our Appstle subscription widget to your product pages, so new customers subscribe using our app. At the same time, we disable the widget from your old subscription app.
4.2 Temporarily Pausing Customer Access and Emails During Migration
To avoid any changes or confusion, we temporarily pause customer access to the subscription portal and stop all subscription-related emails during the migration. This usually lasts just 6–8 hours because we’ve already done the dry run.
4.3 Exporting the Most Up-to-Date Customer Data from Your Old App
We export a fresh copy of your latest subscription data from your old app to ensure nothing is missed or outdated during the migration.
4.4 Migrating All Your Customers and Asking You to Double Check
We move all your customer subscriptions into our system. Afterward, we ask you to review a sample of the migrated subscriptions to confirm everything looks correct.
4.5 Disabling Your Old Subscription App and Activating Your New Subscriptions in Appstle
You’ll uninstall or deactivate your previous subscription app so no duplicate billing can happen. Then, we activate all the migrated subscriptions in Appstle so billing starts through our system.
4.6 Turning Subscription Emails and Customer Portal Back On for Your Customers
We reactivate all subscription-related emails so your customers get important notifications again. We also enable the Appstle Customer Portal, where customers can manage their subscriptions easily.
4.7 Linking Your Subscription Plans to Migrated Customers (If You Request)
If you want, we’ll connect the subscription plans you set up earlier with the migrated customers based on the products they ordered and how often they subscribe.
What Happens After Migration?
With everything moved over, your customers will now be managed through our Appstle Subscriptions app, making it easier for you to handle subscriptions and grow your business. And our support team will be available to help with any questions or issues.
If you’re ready to get started or want to know more, just reach out! We’re here to make your subscription experience simple and successful.