Use the Kit unpacking Automate template to offer customers a kit containing multiple products. After the customer’s first order, each product automatically converts into an individual subscription.

This guide explains how to set up an automated Kit unpacking experience to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience and the flexibility to manage their subscriptions.

Before you start

• Automate is available to merchants on Recharge Pro or Custom plans. To learn more about eligibility and pricing, visit the Recharge Pricing page or contact a Recharge sales representative.

How it works

The Kit unpacking experience creates subscriptions for each product in a kit after the first order, letting customers manage them individually.

The Kit unpacking template uses the Conditional Branch node to start the experience based on the purchased product.

When you add a branch to the template, a subscription node is automatically assigned to each branch. The Subscription node unpacks kit products into individual subscriptions, delivered until canceled.

Example

A haircare company offers a shampoo, conditioner, and detangler kit. By analyzing their Cancellation reason insights, the company discovered that customers were canceling their detangler subscription more often than their shampoo or conditioner subscriptions, with "I have too much product" frequently cited as the reason.

The company uses the automated kit unpacking experience so that customers receive the full kit with their first order and are automatically subscribed to each product individually for subsequent deliveries, streamlining the customer experience.

The company now offers monthly subscriptions for the shampoo and conditioner, and the detangler subscription on a bi-monthly schedule, which has been proven to reduce customer churn.

Video walkthrough

Check out the video below for detailed setup instructions:

Step 1 - Create your products in Shopify and add subscription plans

Create the kit and individual products in Shopify, then add subscription plans in Recharge:

1. Log in to your Shopify admin and add the new product. Make sure to set the kit’s product price to reflect the cost to purchase all included products.
   • Tip: To prevent customer confusion, Recharge recommends keeping the product unpublished in Shopify until you’ve activated the automated experience.
2. After creating the product in Shopify, navigate to your Recharge merchant admin and select Products from the Products menu.
3. Locate the new kit product from the list of products, then add a subscription plan.

4. Add subscription plans to all individual products included in the kit if you haven't already.

You should now have your kit product and the individual products configured in both Shopify and Recharge.

In the kit's product description on Shopify, explain how subscriptions work, including the individual subscription price and frequency.

Step 2 - Create the automated experience

Set up the Kit unpacking experience in your Recharge portal:

1. From the merchant portal, click Products and select Automate.

2. Select Create from template under Kit unpacking, and click Get started!
3. Select Manage settings to add a title and a description.

You can now access the flow canvas and build the automated experience. This experience uses a standard template designed by Recharge. You cannot change the Trigger and Smart loop nodes by default. For more information on each node, see Flow nodes.

Step 3 - Configure the Conditional Branch node

Use the Conditional Branch node to assign customers to branches based on their subscriptions. The default template has two branches: Branch 1 and Else:

• Branch 1: This branch checks if the customer’s order contains a specific product. If the customer is subscribed, the automated experience is applied.

• Else: This branch checks if the customer’s order does not contain the specified product. If the customer is not subscribed, the automated experience is not applied.

Configure Branch 1 or add branches for multiple kits:

1. Select the Conditional Branch node on the flow canvas.
2. Click on the pencil icon next to Branch 1 to edit the branch.
3. Add a Branch name.
4. Select Line Item from the object dropdown menu.
5. Select Variant from the attribute dropdown menu.
6. Select Equals, Doesn’t equal, or Only equals from the operator dropdown menu.
7. Click + Add product to select the product that Recharge needs to look for when processing the order.
8. Search for the product, select it, and click Apply.
9. Click +Add branch and repeat the steps to add additional branches, or click Apply to save your configuration.

You should now have at least two branches configured on the template, one for customers who purchase the starter kit and one branch for customers who do not.

Step 4 - Configure the Subscription node

The Subscription node determines what happens after Recharge processes the kit order. Update the Subscription node to set the action for the automated experience:

1. Select the Subscription node on the flow canvas.
2. Choose the action. There are two available actions on the Subscription node:
   • Swap: Swap the kit product to a new subscription product. The customer no longer receives the kit, but a new product instead. Use this action on the first Subscription node so customers do not receive multiple kits.
   • Add: Add an additional product to the customer’s next order. The customer receives both the kit and the new product.
3. Click +Add product to select the new subscription product. This is the product that customers will be subscribed to on all recurring subscriptions.
4. Set the subscription properties, such as the order frequency, product price, quantity, and product and variant title. You can also add a frequency, order, or date-based delay to delay the charge date for the next recurring order, where the customer receives the new product for the first time.
5. Click Apply to save your node setup.

Optional - Add additional Subscription nodes

The number of Subscription nodes you need on your canvas depends on the products in your kit. For instance, if your kit includes three products and you want to automatically subscribe customers to each one, you'll need three Subscription nodes. The first node swaps customers from the kit to a subscription for one product, while the other two nodes add the remaining products as subscriptions to the customer’s recurring orders.

Use the Canvas actions menu to add additional Subscription nodes to the canvas:

1. Select Show to open the Canvas actions menu.
2. Click on the Subscription node and drag it onto the canvas.
3. Click the Subscription node to make changes.
4. Choose the Add action.
5. Click +Add product to select the new subscription product.
6. Set the subscription properties.
7. Click Apply to save your node setup.

Repeat these steps to add multiple Subscription nodes to the canvas.

After a customer purchases the kit product and starts the automated experience, the Subscription node swaps the kit product with the selected subscription product for the customer's upcoming order. Additionally, you can add additional Subscription nodes in the automated experience to add more products to the customer's upcoming order. These updates stay active until you or the customer change the subscription.

Optional - Add additional actions to the canvas

Review the list of additional nodes under Canvas actions to see how you can further customize the experience. For example, you can use the A/B test node to compare different products and determine which is most effective in reducing customer churn.

While these actions are not required, they can be beneficial. For example, using the Segment node and segmenting customers who enter a specific branch can help you monitor customer behavior and determine the effectiveness of the automated experience.

Step 5 - Set your products to active in Shopify

Update your products in Shopify so that customers can purchase the kit, and receive the individual subscription product on future orders:

1. Set the product status to Active.
2. Set the product to available on your online store.

Step 6 - Save and test the automated experience

You can test the automated experience before activating it to ensure it works as intended:

1. Click Save in the top-right corner.
2. Click the three vertical dot menu and select Test flow.
3. Select your test customer from the Target customer menu. This customer must already be subscribed to the initial kit.
4. Click Run flow and confirm that the flow performs as expected.

Step 7 - Activate the experience

Select Activate in the top right corner to enable the experience.

Once you activate the experience, Recharge will review all orders and apply the automated experience to eligible orders.

Considerations

Consider the following when using Automate:

Resources

Getting started

• Getting started with Automate

Additional template set-up instructions

• How to set up a Starter pack to refill swap automated experience
• How to set up an Ongoing sequence automated experience
• How to set up a Fixed sequence automated experience
• How to set up a Trial to subscription automated experience
• How to set up a Welcome offer automated experience
• How to set up a Scheduled quarterly shipments experience