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Subscriptions: Order Consolidation

Save on shipping costs by combining subscription orders that bill within days of each other into single shipments.

Daniel Andrade avatar
Written by Daniel Andrade
Updated this week

Order Consolidation helps you save on shipping by identifying customers with multiple subscriptions billing within days of each other, and aligning them to ship together.

How Order Consolidation Works

When a customer has multiple active subscriptions, their orders might bill on different days (e.g., one on the 5th and another on the 8th). This results in separate shipments and duplicate shipping costs.

Order Consolidation:

  • Detects subscriptions billing within your configured window (e.g., 7 days apart)

  • Shows you the potential shipping savings

  • Lets you align billing dates with one click so orders ship together

Enabling Order Consolidation

Order Consolidation is disabled by default. To enable it:

1. Navigate to Subscriptions > Order Consolidation 2. Click Settings in the top right 3. Set the Near-Miss Detection Window to your preferred value (1-14 days) 4. Configure additional options as needed 5. Click Save Settings

Configuration Options

Near-Miss Detection Window How close subscriptions need to be to show as consolidation opportunities. For example, if set to 7 days, a customer with subscriptions billing on the 1st and 5th would appear as an opportunity.

Auto-consolidate same-day orders When enabled, subscriptions that bill on the exact same day are automatically grouped for combined shipment.

Notify customers when aligning dates Send an email to customers when you align their billing dates.

Allow customer self-service alignment Let customers align their own subscriptions from the customer portal. When enabled, customers see a banner suggesting they combine orders to save on shipping.

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Finding Consolidation Opportunities

Navigate to Subscriptions > Order Consolidation to see the dashboard.

The stats banner shows:

  • Near-Miss Orders: Number of customers with alignable subscriptions

  • Customers Affected: Unique customers who could benefit

  • Potential Monthly Savings: Estimated shipping cost savings

  • Detection Window: Your current window setting

Below the stats, you'll see a list of opportunities sorted by potential savings.

Each opportunity shows:

  • Customer name

  • How many days apart their subscriptions bill

  • Each subscription's next billing date and value

  • Potential savings per order

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Aligning Billing Dates

To align a customer's subscriptions:

1. Find the opportunity in the list 2. Click Align Billing Dates 3. Select the target billing date (defaults to the earliest date) 4. Choose whether to notify the customer 5. Click Align Subscriptions

All subscriptions will be moved to bill on the selected date. Future orders will ship together, saving on shipping costs.

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Customer Self-Service

When Allow customer self-service alignment is enabled, customers with multiple subscriptions see a consolidation banner in the customer portal.

The banner shows:

  • How many subscriptions they have billing close together

  • Potential savings per order

  • A one-click button to align their subscriptions

This empowers customers to optimize their own orders without contacting support.

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Shipping Savings

The savings estimate is calculated based on an average shipping cost per order. When orders are consolidated:

  • You ship fewer packages

  • Customers receive fewer deliveries (more convenient)

  • Both parties save on shipping costs

The actual savings depend on your shipping rates, carrier agreements, and fulfillment process.

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Troubleshooting

No opportunities showing?

  • Check that your detection window is greater than 0 (disabled when 0)

  • Ensure you have customers with 2+ active subscriptions

  • Subscriptions must have different billing dates within your window

Customer self-service not appearing?

  • Enable "Allow customer self-service alignment" in settings

  • Customer must have 2+ active subscriptions with different billing dates

  • Customer account extension must be installed

If you need help, reach out via our Intercom chat widget or email us at [email protected].

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