Subscription products work differently from one-time purchases. When you A/B test prices, ABConvert creates duplicate products or variants behind the scenes. Subscription apps rely on stable product references, so a few extra steps are required to avoid broken subscriptions or canceled renewals.
By the end of this article, you will know what to do when you start a price test and how to end it safely without disrupting active subscribers.
What to do when you start a price test
When launching a price test using duplicate product or variant method, you must make sure your subscription app recognizes the duplicate products or variants created by ABConvert.
If this step is skipped, customers may not be able to subscribe to the test variant.
Step 1: identify the duplicate product or variant
Go to Shopify Admin → Products
Open the product used in your price test
Find the duplicate product or the duplicate variants
Copy the product ID or variant ID from the URL
In a price test, products with multiple variants will have an asterisk added to the option value to indicate the test group (e.g. * for Test Group 1, ** for Test Group 2).
For single-variant products, test groups are labeled using symbols in order: -, ., *, and +.
Step 2: add duplicates to your subscription app
Each subscription apps has their own steps, but they all follow similar logic. Contact support team if you encounter any difficulties.
Open your Subscription app
Check the selling plan used by your original product, and add duplicate products / variants into the product mapped
This allows customers in the test to successfully create subscription orders.
What to do when you are about to end a price test
You should never stop a subscription price test without performing a product swap.
Why can't I end the test directly
During a price test, duplicate variants or products are created to ensure that customers can purchase at different price points. Our app carefully manages these duplicates.
When a test is stopped, the duplicates are either deleted or moved to draft status to prevent any impact on your store. However, this can disrupt subscription orders, potentially preventing them from continuing.
To ensure that subscription orders function normally after a test ends, we need to perform a product swap within your subscription app.
What exactly is product swap
A product swap is a process used in subscription apps to change a subscription order's product(s). This allows you to change the variant, SKU, or product in selected orders.
By performing a product swap, we ensure that subscription orders using the test price remain intact after the price test ends.
How to perform a product swap
To perform a product swap, you first need to identify the subscription orders you want to modify. You can filter these orders by product ID or variant ID.
Also, the ways to perform product swaps will differ from your price testing method. See "how to get my price testing method" section below for more details.
Product swap guides by app
Below, we provide instructions on how to perform a product swap in different apps.
For the most up-to-date information, please refer to each app's official documents.
Recharge
There are two ways to perform a product swap in Recharge:
Swap products using the Multi-select tool
Export a set of subscription orders, and use bulk update by uploading CSV file
Using the Multi-Select Tool In Recharge
Use the duplicate product ID or variant ID to filter out the Recharge order
Use the multi-select tool to select one or more orders and click
ActionsSelect Swap product and follow the instructions
Check progress in
Bulk updates > Processing status
Using the Import Tool In Recharge
You can also export the orders with the product that needs to be swapped, and create a CSV file that specify order with which product (variants) should be swapped for one another.
Loop Subscription
In Loop Subscription, we can perform product swaps for individual orders in Loop Admin Portal.
For Pro plan users, it will be more effective to swap products for a large amount of subscription orders by using the Bulk Actions feature.
Swap subscription products from the Loop Admin Portal
Please refer to the official Loop Subscription Swap Product guide.
Swap subscription products using bulk actions
Go to Subscriptions > Bulk actions panel
Click on Create new bulk action
Select subscriptions by filtering with product id(s)
Decide actions > select Swap product(s) and select products to be swapped
For Duplicate Variant method users, you will need to add an action for each variant
Old product: Select duplicate variant
New product: Select original variant
For Duplicate Product method users
Old product: Select duplicate product
New product: Select original product
Don’t know which testing method you are using? Please refer to "How to get my price testing method" section above
Save the action
Go back to Bulk actions panel, and click on Run action for the added actions
Skio Subscription
In Skio Subscription, we can perform product swaps effectively with Bulk Operations.
Using bulk operations in Skio Subscription
Go to Tools > Bulk Operations
In Conditions panel, click on Add a condition and select Product based > Contains products
After the second condition has shown up, click on Add products
Select products that need to be swapped by filtering with the product names
For Duplicate Variant method, select duplicate variants of the products
For Duplicate Product method, select only the duplicate product
Don’t know which method you are using? Please refer to "How to get my price testing method" section above
In Actions panel, click on Add an action
For Duplicate Variant method, select Product based > Swap product variants, and follow step 6-1
For Duplicate Product method, select Product based > Bundle expansion, and follow step 6-2
6-1. In Swap product variants, select the variants to be swapped
Old product: select duplicate variant
New product: select original variant
6-2. In Bundle expansion, select the products to be swapped
Product to remove: select duplicate product
Products to add: select original product
7. Click on Start operation
Seal Subscription
In Seal Subscription, we can use automatic product swap feature to update subscription orders efficiently.
Perform an automatic product swap in Seal Subscription
Go to Automations > Product Swap and click on Create product swap
For Apply swap options, select Immediately on existing subscriptions
Click on Show advanced options, then click on Select products to filter out subscriptions by product id
In Remove these products from subscriptions,
For Duplicate Variant method, select duplicate variant of the product
For Duplicate Product method, select the duplicate product
Don’t know which method you are using? Please refer to"How to get my price testing method" section above
In Add these products to subscriptions,
For Duplicate Variant method, select original variant of the product
For Duplicate Product method, select the original product
Click on Save product swap
Smartrr Subscription
In Smartrr Subscription, you can update a subscription’s products directly from the admin panel.
Perform a product swap in Smartrr Subscription
Navigate to Subscriptions in the left-hand menu
Use the Filter option to locate subscriptions with the product that needs to be swapped
For Duplicate Variant method, select duplicate variant of the product
For Duplicate Product method, select the duplicate product
Don’t know which method you are using? Please refer to"How to get my price testing method" section above
Click on the blue subscription ID number to access the subscription details page
In the product list, locate the target product
Click Swap Product next to the product you want to replace
In the pop-up window, choose the original product to complete the swap
For Duplicate Variant method, select original variant of the product
For Duplicate Product method, select the original product
Shopify Subscriptions
In Shopify Subscriptions, you can update a subscription’s products in the Contracts panel.
Perform a product swap in Shopify Subscriptions
Navigate to the Contracts panel in the left-hand menu
Locate the contracts containing the test product(s)
Open the contract details and click on Edit under Subscription Details
Use the search function to add the original variant or product:
For Duplicate Variant method, select for original variant of the product
For Duplicate Product method, select the original product
Don’t know which method you are using? Please refer to"How to get my price testing method" section above
Remove the duplicate variant or product from the subscription details
Update the price if needed
Click Save to finalize the updates
Appstle Subscription
First, use Add products to add the original variant or product:
For Duplicate Variant method, select for original variant of the product
For Duplicate Product method, select the original product
Don’t know which method you are using? Please refer to"How to get my price testing method" section above
Then, use Delete Product to remove the duplicate variant or product from the subscription details.
Kaching Subscriptions
In Kcahing Subscriptions, you can update a subscription’s products in the Subscriptions panel.
Perform a product swap in Kaching Subscriptions
Navigate to the Subscriptions panel in the left-hand menu
Locate the subscriptions containing the test product(s)
Open the contract details and click on Edit under Subscription Details
In Edit Subscription, click on Change subscription products
Use the search function to add the original variant or product:
For Duplicate Variant method, select for original variant of the product
For Duplicate Product method, select the original product
Don’t know which method you are using? Please refer to"How to get my price testing method" section above
Remove the duplicate variant or product from the subscription details
Update the price if needed
Click Save to finalize the updates