Offer a pet food or household subscription in your Shopify shop
Pet food, cat litter and dishwasher tablets are used at a steady pace and should never run out. Loyalo helps pet and household brands match the rhythm to usage, recover failed payments and reward regular customers.
Why food and consumables ask for a subscription
A dog eats every day, and nobody likes carrying a twelve-kilo bag home from the store. Customers want it to simply be there. Yet they cancel when the subscription does not match what they use: a second pet arrives, the puppy grows, or the bag is still half full when the next one is on the doorstep.
The same goes for household products. Detergent and dishwasher tablets go at a pace that differs per household. A subscription works here when the customer is at the controls: more or less, more often or later, without having to email for it.
Kinds of subscription for pet food and household products
From a dog food subscription to detergent on a fixed rhythm: these are the forms a pet food or household brand can choose from.
| Kind of subscription | How it works | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Dog food or cat food subscription | The same bag or the same tins on the rhythm of use; the customer changes rhythm and quantity themselves | A regular food that must not run out |
| Consumables | Cat litter, detergent, dishwasher tablets or toilet paper on a rhythm per household | Products that are used up at a steady pace |
| Several products in one delivery | Products with the same rhythm that a customer orders at once end up in one subscription and are delivered together | Customers with more than one pet or a fixed shopping list |
| Prepaid | 2 to 12 deliveries paid at once, with a discount of its own | Customers who want to commit for a period |
| Standing order for businesses | A company gets the same order on a fixed rhythm and pays on account, in the Scale B2B plan | Boarding kennels, offices and cleaning companies |
How Loyalo solves this
Match volume and rhythm
Offer your product per weight or pack size, with frequencies that match usage. In the widget the customer sees what every frequency costs.
Change quantity and rhythm
A second cat? In the portal the customer raises the quantity or picks another frequency. They change the address there too.
Retries after a failed payment
When a payment fails, Loyalo tries again, by default after 1, 3 and 5 days. The customer gets an email with every attempt, so the delivery is not missed.
Points for regulars
Subscribers earn on every delivery and move up to a higher tier. They redeem their points on the next delivery.
What your subscriber sees
The portal shows the next delivery and the ones after it. The customer changes the quantity, skips a delivery when the bag is not empty yet, or adds a bag of treats once. Logging in works with a link from the email, or through the Shopify customer account.
Starting a pet food subscription: the choices first
Before you set anything up, you decide five things. They determine whether the new bag arrives on time and whether there is margin left.
| Choice | What to look at |
|---|---|
| Which products | Start with products that are used up at a steady pace and that customers already reorder |
| The rhythm | Work back from the contents and the use: a 12 kilo bag at 300 grams a day lasts 40 days |
| The quantity | Let customers change the quantity themselves in the portal, for when a pet joins or the household grows |
| Shipping costs | A heavy parcel costs more to ship. Include the shipping per delivery before you choose the discount |
| Payment | By card through the Shopify checkout, or with iDEAL for the first order and automatic collection after that through your own Mollie account |
How a pet or household brand sets it up
An example of settings that suit consumables. You set everything up without code and change it while your subscriptions are running.
| Part | Example |
|---|---|
| Frequencies | Every 2, 4 or 6 weeks, with a 10% or 5% discount |
| Swapping | All flavours and weights of one food in the same plan |
| One-time extras | Treats, waste bags or a refill, with a discount for subscribers |
| Product out of stock | Wait a few days and then try again |
| Cancellation reason 'still enough at home' | Offer: skip the next delivery |
| Tiers | On the number of items, because volume says more here than amount |
| Rewards | Free shipping as the first reward, or a donation to the shelter |
Live in four steps
- Plans per volumeCreate a subscription plan with the frequencies that match your pack sizes, and put the variants customers swap between in the same plan.
- Open the portalChoose what customers may do themselves: the quantity, the frequency, the address, skipping and rescheduling. Logging in works with a link from the email.
- Payment and retriesConnect Mollie if you want to offer iDEAL and choose on which days Loyalo retries a failed payment.
- Switch on points and tiersSet how many points a euro earns, which rewards there are and on what basis customers reach a tier.
What happens when
| Situation | Approach in Loyalo |
|---|---|
| A second pet arrives | The customer raises the quantity per delivery |
| The bag is still half full | The customer skips a delivery or moves the date |
| Usage changes | The customer picks another frequency within the same plan |
| A customer moves house | They change the delivery address themselves in the portal |
| A payment fails | New attempts on your schedule, with an email on every attempt |
| A flavour is temporarily unavailable | You choose: wait, skip or collect anyway; the customer can swap flavours themselves |
| A boarding kennel wants to order every week | A standing order on account, in the Scale B2B plan |
See how long customers stay
A subscription on pet food or detergent can run for years. How long it really runs, you see under Analytics. Per start month it shows which part of the subscriptions is still running after 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9 months, with the revenue per subscription.
Above it is the expected customer value: the average monthly value of a subscription times the expected lifetime. That tells you what a new subscriber may cost you.
Points that fit your brand
With the Customer Loyalty add-on you call your points whatever you like, 'paws' for example. Customers earn on every delivery, for a review and when a friend orders for the first time. You can base tiers on the number of items, and next to a discount or a free product you can offer a donation to a charity as a reward. The total all your customers donated together is shown on the loyalty page.
Launch checklist
- A subscription plan with frequencies per weight or pack size
- Variants customers swap between in the same plan
- The portal open for quantity, frequency, address, skipping and rescheduling
- The schedule for new attempts after a failed payment
- A choice for what happens when a product is out of stock
- For iDEAL: your Mollie account connected
What it costs
Subscriptions are in every plan: Growth costs € 99 per month up to 250 active subscriptions, Scale € 299 above that. Customer Loyalty, for points and tiers, is an add-on of € 199 per month. You pay nothing per order and try everything free for 14 days.
Frequently asked questions
How do you start a dog food subscription in your online shop?
Choose the food customers already reorder, derive the rhythm from the contents of the bag and the use, set the discount after shipping costs and put the subscription choice on the product page. Let customers change rhythm and quantity themselves in the portal.
Can a customer get food and consumables in one delivery?
Yes. When a customer orders several products with the same rhythm at once, they end up in one subscription and are delivered together. Products with a different rhythm get a subscription of their own.
Can a customer change the frequency themselves?
Yes. In the portal the customer picks another frequency within the same plan, without contacting your support team.
Can a customer change the quantity per delivery?
Yes. The customer raises or lowers the quantity in the portal. The change applies from the next delivery.
What happens when a payment fails?
Loyalo retries on your schedule, by default after 1, 3 and 5 days, and emails the customer on every attempt. You choose what happens when all attempts fail: pause, cancel or leave it.
What if a product is out of stock on the collection day?
You set that beforehand: collect anyway, wait a few days and then try again, or skip the delivery.
How do the points work?
Customers earn points per euro spent, on every delivery of their subscription too. They redeem the points for a reward: a discount, free shipping, a free product, store credit or a donation.
Can I deliver to businesses too, such as a boarding kennel or an office?
Yes. In the Scale B2B plan business customers place a standing order on account, at the prices of their catalog in Shopify B2B. Loyalo places the order on the agreed day.
Setting up subscriptions for pet or household products?
See in a demo how volume, payment retries and points work for your shop.
Request a demoReady to sell subscriptions inside Shopify?
No per-order fee, no redirect, no hassle. Just native subscriptions.