Subscriptions

Introduction

The Subscriptions module on the CloudBlue Connect platform enables business partners to streamline and systematize product arrangements to specified marketplaces. Therefore, Connect users can track, review and manage subscriptions by using one convenient and comprehensive module.

This module automatically generates a subscription object once a customer buys your product or service. Subscriptions contain required product purchase data and allow partners to consolidate order fulfillment workflow by managing subscription (fulfillment) requests. Consequently, Vendors can activate subscriptions by approving purchase requests, change subscriptions by approving change requests, and so on.

Note that the Subscription module allows accessing and reviewing billing information via a billing requests that can be submitted by Vendors or Distributors. Thus, this module can be also increasingly helpful for partners that require a systematic way to consolidate billing data for each product arrangement.

Subscription Module Workflow

The following diagram illustrates a typical workflow of the Subscription module and correlation of the Subscription, Fulfillment Request and Billing Request objects on the CloudBlue Connect platform.

First, customers purchases a product that is listed within a specific marketplace and that is registered on the Connect platform. Note that Connect supports any type of product, whether it is physical goods, on-demand software licenses, or any other service.

Next, the CloudBlue Connect platform automatically collects information about purchased SKUs (Items), customer/ reseller insights, and other purchase-related data. Thus, the Connect platform generates a new subscription and a new fulfillment (subscription) request.

Once Vendors approve this fulfillment request, the system activates a subscription. Therefore, a new billing request can be generated via this active subscription.

In case a subscription is successfully activated, customer receives purchased items via the marketplace. Note that the Connect platform can also be used to monitor and manage cancelled, changed or suspended subscriptions. If customers decide to cancel their subscription or change the number of purchased items, Connect generates corresponding fulfillment requests to update the subscription object.

Refer to the Fulfillment Requests documentation to learn more about other fulfillment scenarios.

General Features & Benefits

The following outlines how this module can be beneficial for your organization and how it can help Vendors and Distributors simplify communication.

• The Subscription module registers all product arrangements on the platform. Connect also prompts to fill out required parameters to create or activate a subscription.
• Flexible selling motion. The module supports perpetual purchases, recurring subscriptions, and pay-as-you-go arrangements. Provided subscriptions directly reflect your product configuration on the Connect platform.
• Use fulfillment requests to consolidate the subscription state with your partner.
• Vendors can customize subscription flow and various phases by adding product parameters.
• In addition to tracking new purchase requests, use the module to monitor and consolidate any subscription changes, cancellations or suspensions.
• Vendors and Distributors can create billing request to consolidate billing information with their partner.
• Manual subscription creation. In case Distributors don’t have a commerce or front end engine but want to leverage the subscription management capabilities of the Connect platform, Distributors can create subscriptions manually. Vendors can also create preview subscriptions to test out their product arrangement configuration.

More Information

Learn more about subscription API, fulfillment requests, subscription states, and module user interface by accessing corresponding documentation articles on the CloudBlue Connect Community page.