Recurring flower orders on Shopify: subscriptions, regulars and office flowers

Valentine’s and Mother’s Day are exciting, but they’re also exhausting and unpredictable. Recurring orders are the opposite: the same customers, the same days, every week or month. They make your income steadier, your buying easier and your quiet months less quiet.

There are three kinds worth setting up on Shopify, and each needs a slightly different approach.

1. Flower subscriptions for home customers

A weekly, fortnightly or monthly bouquet, paid automatically. This is what most people mean by a “flower subscription”.

The free option: Shopify Subscriptions

Shopify has its own subscriptions app, Shopify Subscriptions. It’s free, made by Shopify, and covers the basics well:

• Weekly, monthly or yearly plans, charged automatically
• an optional subscribe-and-save discount, for example 10% off
• customers can skip, pause or cancel themselves, which saves you admin
• it works in your normal Shopify admin and on Shopify POS

The catch for florists: each renewal is charged on the same date the customer first subscribed. Several reviews mention that you can’t move everyone to a fixed day. If you only deliver subscriptions on, say, Thursdays, you’ll need a clear rule (“we deliver on the next Thursday after your renewal”) or a more flexible app.

When a paid app is worth it

Paid subscription apps such as Recharge or Appstle cost a monthly fee but give you more control. Depending on the app and plan, that can include:

• fixed delivery days for everyone
• prepaid gift subscriptions (“3 months of flowers” as a present)
• letting customers swap the bouquet size or style

Check the current features and prices on each app’s listing before choosing, as they change often.

Make the subscription easy to say yes to

• Keep the choice simple: one “florist’s choice” bouquet in two or three sizes is easier than a full menu.
• Say exactly when it arrives: delivery day, delivery area and how to skip a week.
• Show the saving next to the price, not hidden in the description.
• Add it to your best-selling products as an option (“Deliver once” / “Every 2 weeks”), not just on a separate page.

2. Regular office, restaurant and hotel flowers

Business customers often want the same arrangement every week, paid by invoice, not card. That’s different from a home subscription.

• Start simple: for a handful of clients, take the first order on your website, then set up a repeating invoice in your accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent all do this). You don’t need a complicated system for five offices.
• Use a dedicated page for “Office & restaurant flowers” with what’s included, how often, the areas you cover and a short enquiry form. It also helps you show up for searches like “office flowers [your area]”.
• Shopify’s B2B features (company accounts, price lists, payment terms) exist, but check which plan includes them before you build around them; they’re aimed at larger businesses.

3. Occasion reminders: the easiest “recurring” order

Not everyone wants a subscription, but almost everyone has birthdays and anniversaries they forget. Occasion reminders turn a one-off order into a yearly one:

1. At checkout or after the order, ask: “Want a reminder next year?”, with the date and who it’s for.
2. Store it in your email platform (Klaviyo can do this with a date field on the customer’s profile).
3. Send a short, friendly email two weeks before: “Lucy’s birthday is on the 14th. Want the same again?”, with a link straight to the bouquet.

For most florists this brings in more repeat orders than a subscription page, because it fits how people actually buy flowers.

What to check before you launch

• Your delivery set-up handles it. If you use a delivery date picker app, check it works with subscription orders. Some only apply to one-off orders.
• Your stock and buying. Plan subscription bouquets around what you buy anyway, so each one is profitable.
• The emails customers get. Renewal reminders and “your flowers are on the way” messages should sound like you, not like a template.
• How customers manage it. Test skipping, pausing and cancelling yourself, on a phone.

In short

• Home subscriptions: start with Shopify’s free app; move to a paid app if you need fixed delivery days or gift subscriptions.
• Business customers: a clear page plus repeating invoices is often all you need.
• Occasion reminders are the simplest way to turn one-off buyers into yearly regulars.

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Want help setting this up? Recurring orders and occasion reminders are part of my Get found & grow package for florists. Or send me your shop for a free Fix Friday video review.