Pause limits

Pause limits decide how a pause ends, and how soon a subscription can be paused again.

• Indefinite pause leaves the subscription paused until someone reactivates it.
• Automatic reactivation pauses it until a date Awtomic calculates, then turns it back on.
• Cooldown blocks another pause until a set time after that reactivation.

Reasons, and which of those reasons customers see, are set in Pause options. Both sections are on the same page.

Before you start

If you don't see Pause limits under Cancel mitigation, this feature isn't on for your store yet. Contact Awtomic support.

A timed pause is a real pause. The subscription status becomes Paused on the day it is paused. Billing and new orders stop until the reactivation date. To keep the subscription active and only move one order, use Skip or edit the next order date.

Where to find Pause limits

1. In Awtomic, open Settings.
2. Open Customer portal.
3. Open Cancel mitigation.
4. Use the Pause limits section.

1. Indefinite pause

Turn indefinite pause on to let customers choose Indefinitely. The subscription stays Paused until the customer or a staff member reactivates it. The portal tells them they can reactivate at any time.

Turn indefinite pause off when every customer pause should have an end date. Then turn on automatic reactivation and add at least one length. Those lengths are the only choices customers see.

2. Automatic reactivation

Turn on automatic reactivation and add the lengths customers can choose. Each length is a number of days, weeks, or months. For example, 2 weeks and 1 month, or 1, 2, and 3 months.

Awtomic will not save automatic reactivation until the list has at least one length.

What the customer chooses

On Pause subscription, the customer picks one of those lengths. Indefinitely is an extra choice when indefinite pause is on.

The pause starts that day. A length of 1 month reactivates about one month from the day they pause.

The portal tells them the subscription will be reactivated on that date. In the admin, the last step of Pause subscription is Reactivate on, and the screen shows Reactivates on with the same date.

Staff can pause from the admin and set the reactivation date on that subscription. The date can be any future date. It does not have to be one of the lengths customers see.

What happens on the reactivation date

Awtomic turns the subscription back to Active on the reactivation date, at your store's renewal billing time. See Set a Preferred Billing Time.

The next order is scheduled so the customer still gets the upcoming-order reminder before they are charged. The wait is the lead time in your email settings. See Update Awtomic Emails Timing and Content. On a plan that bills on fixed dates, the next order is the next date on that schedule after the subscription is active again.

The customer can get your paused-subscription email when the pause starts. Before the first order after reactivation, they get the upcoming-order email. Shopify Flow also receives Subscription Contract Reactivated.

Subscriptions that were already paused

Subscriptions that are already paused stay paused. Turning automatic reactivation on leaves them without an end date until someone reactivates them.

Subscriptions that only had their next order date moved stay active on that date. This setting does not rewrite those dates.

3. Cooldown

The cooldown is the waiting period after a subscription is reactivated before it can be paused again. It starts on the day the subscription actually comes back:

• On the automatic reactivation date, when Awtomic turns it back on.
• On the day someone reactivates it early, when a customer or staff member reactivates it before that date.

The window is a stretch of time from that day, such as 30 days. It is not a calendar year.

What the customer sees

During the cooldown, Pause subscription is unavailable. The portal shows Pause unavailable until and the date the cooldown ends.

What staff can do

Staff can still pause during the cooldown. The admin opens Cooldown period in effect and shows the end date. Continue stays off until the override is checked and a note is entered.

The subscription timeline records that pause as a cooldown override from the admin, with the reason, the note, and any feedback.

Customers cannot override the cooldown.

4. Pause and reactivate from the admin

On the subscription, open the status badge and select Pause subscription. The flow collects a reason when Pause options require one, then optional feedback, then Reactivate on.

To bring a paused subscription back, reactivate it from that same badge and choose the date it should become active. If a cooldown is set, the cooldown starts that day.

The basic location of pause and reactivate on the subscription is also covered in Pausing a Subscription. With Pause limits on, an admin pause can end on a date. It stays open-ended when you pause indefinitely or when automatic reactivation is off.

What customers and your tools see

• Status Paused means orders and billing are stopped. Status Active means the schedule is running again.
• Shopify Flow receives Subscription Contract Paused and Subscription Contract Reactivated.
• A customer drops out of a subscribers-only membership while their only matching subscription is paused, and qualifies again when it is active. See Memberships overview.
• Tags follow the status. A customer with no active subscription and at least one paused subscription can be segmented as paused in email, Flow, and POS.
• Cancel mitigation uses these same lengths. See Pause options.