How to Create a Subscription Box Service in WordPress

A subscription box lets you turn one-time shoppers into recurring customers. Customers receive products on a schedule they choose, while you earn recurring revenue.

With WordPress and WooCommerce, you can create a subscription box service for almost any product, from weekly meal kits and monthly beauty boxes to recurring grooming supplies.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to create a subscription box service in WordPress, set up recurring payments, and start selling subscriptions.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this guide

Step 1: Set Up Your WooCommerce Store

To create and manage your subscription box business, you’ll need a WordPress website with WooCommerce installed.

You can choose any WordPress hosting provider that you want, like Bluehost or Hostinger. Both are officially recommended WordPress hosting providers and offer a free domain name for the first year.

For this tutorial, we used Bluehost, which automatically installed WordPress when we signed up, so we were able to log into our new site right away.

Once your WordPress site is ready, you can move on to setting up your online store and subscription box.

Step 2: Install WooCommerce and Your Subscription Plugins

You’ll need three free plugins to turn your WordPress site into a subscription box store, each with a specific job:

• WooCommerce handles your online store, including products, checkout, orders, and shipping.
• BoxBuilder for WooCommerce adds the box-building feature, allowing customers to choose which products go into their box.
• Sublium by FunnelKit handles recurring subscriptions, including automatic renewals, subscription management, and failed payment recovery.

Together, these plugins let you sell customizable product boxes and automatically charge customers for recurring deliveries.

Both Sublium and BoxBuilder have free versions, so you can get a working subscription box up and running without paying for anything beyond hosting. Both also offer paid plans with extra features if you outgrow the free versions. For example, the paid version of Sublium lets customers pause or skip a delivery themselves, which we’ll cover in Step 5.

If you don’t have a WooCommerce store yet, follow our step-by-step guide on how to start your online store. It covers how to install WooCommerce and set up the basics of your store.

Once WooCommerce is ready, install and activate BoxBuilder for WooCommerce, then install and activate Sublium. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Step 3: Create Your Subscription Box Product

A subscription box product needs two things: the products customers can choose from, which BoxBuilder handles, and recurring billing, which Sublium handles. You’ll set up both on the same product before it’s ready to sell.

Start by creating the product itself. Go to Products » Add new product in your WordPress dashboard. Enter a name for your subscription box, then fill in the usual WooCommerce fields, such as the description, image, price, and shipping information.

Configure the box in BoxBuilder

In the Product data panel, leave the product type as ‘Simple product’ since neither BoxBuilder nor Sublium requires a special product type.

Then, click the BoxBuilder tab and toggle ‘Enable BoxBuilder’ to turn this product into a customizable box.

Next, configure your box using these settings:

• Box Capacity: Set a fixed number of items, or a minimum and maximum if you want to let customers choose how many items to include.
• Pricing Model: Choose Fixed Price to charge the same amount for every box, or Per Item to charge based on the products customers select.
• Available Products: Let customers choose from all your products, a specific category, or a hand-picked list.
• Display Options: Use the default display settings or customize how products appear in this box.
• Item Limits: Choose whether customers can add the same product more than once, and set a maximum quantity for each product.

Click ‘Update’ to save your BoxBuilder settings before moving on to the subscription setup.

Create the Sublium subscription plan

Next, you’ll need to set up recurring billing. In Sublium, you do this by creating a subscription plan and then assigning it to your product.

In the Sublium dashboard in your WordPress admin area, you’ll see a setup wizard. Choose Subscribe & Save, which is designed for physical products delivered on a recurring schedule.

Click ‘Continue’ to set the billing frequency and interval to control how often the box renews and ships, such as every month.

Next, apply this selling plan to the product you created earlier. This is important because, without the plan, the product remains a one-time purchase. Linking the plan to the product makes the subscription option available at checkout.

After that, Sublium will ask you to connect a payment gateway. The free version supports Stripe, PayPal, and Square Credit Card. Pick one and follow the on-screen instructions to connect it.

When you finish the setup wizard, go to Subliums » Plans to review your subscription plan.

You’ll also find settings for discounts, free trials, signup fees, expiration dates, and other plan details. You can adjust these settings based on how you want to offer your subscription.

Once you’ve finished setting up the plan, turn it on to add the subscription box to your WooCommerce store.

Step 4: Add Your Subscription Box to Your Store

Now let’s look at what the experience actually looks like for your customers.

BoxBuilder appears automatically on the product page once it’s enabled, so you don’t need to create a separate page. If you’d rather feature the box builder somewhere else, such as a landing page, you can use the [boxbuilder id="123"] shortcode or BoxBuilder’s Gutenberg block. Just replace 123 with your product ID.

On the product page, customers can choose individual products up to the box capacity. The running total and number of remaining slots update as they add items. They won’t be able to check out until they meet the minimum item requirement.

Once the customer is happy with their box, they can proceed to checkout and complete their purchase using any of your available payment methods. After that, the subscription renews automatically based on the billing schedule you set in Step 3.

Step 5: Keep Subscriptions Running (Renewal Dates, Failed Payments & Skipped Months)

Getting your first subscriber is only the beginning. You’ll also need to make sure renewals, failed payments, and subscription changes are handled smoothly. Here are some tips:

Decide whether you want every subscriber billed on the same date. By default, each subscriber renews based on their own sign-up date, which can mean packing and shipping boxes across 28 different days instead of in one batch.

Publish a bill/pack/ship calendar with a two-day gap between when subscribers are charged and when boxes are packed. This gives you a buffer to handle failed payments before a box goes out the door.

Set up automatic payment retries and renewal reminders. These can help recover failed payments and give customers a chance to update an expired card before their subscription is canceled.

Sublium includes tools for recovering failed payments and managing subscriptions, so review these settings before your first billing cycle.

Give customers a way to pause or skip a month. This lets subscribers take a break when they don’t need a box without canceling their subscription completely.

With Sublium, customer-initiated pauses and skipped orders are paid features. The free version lets customers renew early or cancel, but not pause or skip orders themselves.

FAQs About Creating a Subscription Box Service in WordPress

Can I run a subscription box without WooCommerce?

Yes, if you’re only offering one fixed box with flat-rate shipping. In that case, a recurring payment form is enough, and you don’t need a full online store. See our guide on how to accept recurring payments in WordPress. If you offer multiple box options or need shipping to vary by size or destination, WooCommerce is the better option.

Do I need a membership plugin for a subscription box?

No. Membership plugins are designed for restricting access to content or perks, not for shipping physical products on a schedule. A subscriptions plugin like Sublium, paired with a box-building addon, is better suited for a physical subscription box.

Can customers choose what’s in their subscription box?

Yes. That’s what the box-building plugin is for. Customers can choose individual products or quantities from the options you make available. They can also use the default box you’ve set up if they don’t want to choose.

Can customers change or cancel their subscription after signing up?

Yes. Sublium gives subscribers a self-service portal where they can renew early or cancel without contacting you. Customer-initiated pauses and skipped deliveries are Pro-only features.

Do I need Stripe or PayPal for subscription boxes?

You need a payment gateway that supports automatic recurring charges. Stripe and PayPal both support this, but the important requirement is recurring payment support, not a specific provider.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to create a subscription box service in WordPress. Next, you may want to see our full WooCommerce tutorial for a deeper look at running your store.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.