Glossary

Product terms used throughout these docs. Reference this when a term in a guide isn't obvious from context.

Subscription basics

Subscription — a recurring arrangement between a shopper and your store: a plan, a payment method, and a schedule of charges. Each renewal produces a native BigCommerce order.

Plan — the merchant-defined template a subscription is created from: which product, the billing interval, pricing strategy, and options like trials or intro discounts.

Interval / cadence — how often a subscription renews (weekly, monthly, etc.). Set on the plan; some plans let the shopper pick.

Cycle — one billing period. "Cycle 0" is the initial purchase; renewals count up from there.

Cycle anchor — the timestamp a renewal is scheduled against. Retries of a failed charge keep the same anchor, so the next cycle never drifts.

Payments

CIT (customer-initiated transaction) — a charge the shopper actively participates in, like the initial checkout. This is when a card can be saved for later renewals.

MIT (merchant-initiated transaction) — a charge made later without the shopper present — every renewal is one. Requires a saved payment method.

Stored instrument / vault — the saved payment method, held by BigCommerce's payment vault, referenced by token. Raw card data never touches this application.

Price lock — a plan option that freezes the subscription's renewal price at what the shopper signed up for, even if the plan's price changes later.

Proration — a partial-period charge or credit when a subscription changes mid-cycle (for example, switching plans).

When charges fail

Dunning — the automated recovery process after a failed renewal charge: scheduled retries, subscriber notifications, and a final outcome if payment never succeeds.

Soft decline — a temporary failure (insufficient funds, issuer timeout). Retried automatically per your dunning policy.

Hard decline — a permanent failure (stolen card, closed account). Not retried; the subscriber must update their payment method.

Grace period — an optional window after retries exhaust during which the subscription stays serviceable before the final outcome applies.

Exception queue — the admin view of subscriptions needing human attention (exhausted dunning, data mismatches), with resolve/escalate actions.

Offers & variations

Trial — a free period before the first charge. The subscription is trialing until it converts.

Intro offer — a discount on the first N cycles, locked in at signup.

Loyalty ladder — an ongoing discount that deepens with subscriber tenure, read from the plan at each renewal.

Prepaid — a subscription paid up front for N cycles; deliveries continue without per-cycle charges until the balance runs out.

Gift subscription — purchased by one person, claimed and received by another. The recipient never enters payment details unless they choose to convert to a paid subscription when the gift ends.

Build-a-box — a subscription whose contents the subscriber composes from eligible products, editable each cycle within a customization window.

Integration

Widget — the storefront component that presents subscription options on a product page and captures the shopper's choice.

Webhook — an HTTP callback. BigCommerce sends them to this platform (orders, refunds); the platform can send its own to your systems (renewals, cancellations).

Sandbox — a test store + test payment gateway. Everything behaves like production, but no real money moves.