One of the first considerations you will need to make when you make repeated bookings is how customers will pay for them. If you have been using WooCommerce Bookings for a while, this may not have been an issue, as typically your customers pay for a booking each time. When offering recurring bookings, this becomes a little more tricky.
But don’t worry – Recurring Bookings for WooCommerce has almost every scenario handled!
From offering deposits, to using payment plans or even using automatic recurring payments, this article will hopefully give you a range of options so you can give your customers payment flexibility.
Customers Pay a Deposit and the Remaining Balance Later
Recurring Bookings for WooCommerce integrates with WooCommerce Deposits. This means that when a customer makes a repeat booking, they can be offered the chance to pay a deposit (usually a percentage of the total) and then come back later to pay the remaining balance.
This method is really useful where you have a fixed number of bookings such as a 5-week training course. Being able to take a deposit gives you some financial security should the customer not attend the course, while also giving the customer some financial freedom by not having to pay upfront.
This may not be suitable where the total cost of the bookings would be high, or where there is no end-date.
Customers Pay using a Payment Plan
You can also use WooCommerce Deposits to offer your customers a payment plan. This is where they can pay in instalments, for example, 20% of the total price each month, for 5 months. You can even combine this with a deposit, such as an initial 20% followed by ten further payments until the remainder is fully paid.
This method is really useful where the total price is too high to require a deposit followed by the payment of the remainder. It offers your customers a gentler means to pay over time.
However, this method is still not recommended where there is no fixed end point. For that, we suggest the next integration.
Customers Use a Subscription to Make Bookings
Recurring Bookings for WooCommerce integrates with WooCommerce Subscriptions. This plugin allows you to accept recurring payments using WooCommerce. Depending on your needs, you can set Recurring Bookings up in different ways to take advantage of it’s features.
Unlike other plugins where you are required to make the recurring bookings a subscription, with Recurring Bookings for WooCommerce you can ‘link’ one or more subscriptions to a product. Why is this better? You may already be using WooCommerce Subscriptions to offer a good or service. Think about a monthly gym membership. Your customers may already subscribe to get access to the gym facilities. You now want to offer a spinning class, and allow customers to make repeat bookings. With other plugins, you would have to issue them with another subscription that provides the bookings, with a separate cost attached. With Recurring Bookings for WooCommerce, you simply link the existing gym membership to the booking product.
To use the integration, first ensure you have WooCommerce, WooCommerce Bookings, WooCommerce Subscriptions and Recurring Bookings for WooCommerce installed and active. Make sure you have set up your recurrable booking product (see this article).
In the booking product settings you should see a new section under the ‘Recurrable’ tab. First, tick the box to activate the Subscriptions integration on this booking product.
Let’s look at the different types of integration, and also demonstrate the advantages, disadvantages and possible use-cases of each.
Exclusive
When a subscription-linked booking is exclusive, not having an active subscription will prevent a customer from going any further. But if they do, they can make as many bookings as they want, with the cost included in their subscription.
Think about a snooker and pool club with a whole bunch of tables to play on. Once a fully-fledged member, you can book a table whenever you want and at no further cost.
Instructions
First choose the subscription product(s) you want to link to. Next, set the Subscription Behaviour to ‘Active subscription only (booking costs removed)’.
Finally, update the product to save your settings.
What happens when a customer tries to book?
If the customer does not have an active subscription to the product they are trying to book, they will be presented with an error and not be able to go any further. If they do, they will be able to make the recurring bookings they require. On the bookings screen, in the cart, and at checkout, they will see the booking at zero cost and a message that the bookings are included as part of their subscription.
Chargeable
When a subscription-linked booking is chargeable, not having an active subscription will prevent a customer from going any further. But if they do, they can make as many bookings as they want, and will pay the normal price for the bookings.
Think about a private member’s club, where you need to be a member to get through the door. An active membership gives you access to the conference room, which you then pay for separately.
Instructions
First choose the subscription product(s) you want to link to. Next, set the Subscription Behaviour to ‘Active subscription only (booking costs apply)’.
Finally, update the product to save your settings.
What happens when a customer tries to book?
If the customer does not have an active subscription to the product they are trying to book, they will be presented with an error and not be able to go any further. If they do, they will be able to make the recurring bookings they require. On the bookings screen, in the cart, and at checkout, they will see the cost of the booking as set up in your booking settings.
Discountable
When a subscription-linked booking is discountable, customers without an active subscription can still book. But if they do have a subscription, they receive a discount on the price of the booking.
Think about an annual membership to a local museum. Your subscription gives you access to reduced rates at the many events and lectures, that are also open to the general public.
Instructions
First choose the subscription product(s) you want to link to. Next, set the Subscription Behaviour to ‘Active subscription applies discount’.
You will then need to choose the discount you wish to apply to the bookings if the customer has an active subscription. For maximum flexibility, you can select different discounts for the initial booking and then each recurring booking. This means you could charge full price for the first (to cover the costs of on-boarding the customer) but discount subsequent bookings.
Finally, update the product to save your settings.
What happens when a customer tries to book?
With this method, customers are not immediately prevented from making a booking if they don’t have an active linked subscription. They can go ahead and book normally and will not see anything different. However, if a customer tries to book with an active linked subscription, they will see a discounted price, based on the settings you have chosen.
Preventing Bookings after End of Subscription Period
The last option (that works with any of the methods above) is to limit the bookings to the subscription period. If you tick this box in your booking product settings, the customer will only be able to make bookings up to the end of that billing period. This means that their recurring payment must have been successful before they can make bookings for the next month, year or whatever booking period you have set. For more guidance on billing periods, please see that plugin’s documentation.