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Important:
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How do Gift Subscriptions work?
Gift Subscriptions are a part of Cleeng’s Subscriber Retention Management. This feature allows one user (gifter) to purchase a subscription as a thoughtful present for another user (recipient).
Here's how it works for the end users:
- Buy a subscription and select the recipient: The user can choose a friend, family member, or anyone they'd like to surprise with your premium content.
- Choose delivery date and time: The gifter can pick a special date, like a birthday or anniversary, and the exact hour for the gift to be delivered via email.
- Add a personal touch: They can make it even more memorable by including a personalized message.
Billing periods
- Subscriptions with the following billing periods can be purchased as gifts: monthly, 3-month, 6-month, and annual.
- Weekly and seasonal subscriptions cannot be purchased as gifts.
Receiving multiple gifts
A current subscriber can receive multiple gifts (from multiple people) and apply (stack) them on their account to push the renewal date out for:
- as many years as Annual gifts they receive or OR
- as many months as Monthly gifts they receive
Cleeng uses offer tags to connect offers that represent the same entitlement with different billing cycles. In cases when the subscriber is on a Monthly plan and redeems a gift for the Annual plan the renewal date is pushed by the gift length (as long as both plans are marked with the same tag, e.g. Gold subscription).
For example:
- The broadcaster has 4 offers set up: Football Monthly, Football Annual, Volleyball Monthly, and Volleyball Annual. Cleeng doesn’t know whether these 4 offers are connected in any way – we don’t connect the offers based on the offer names.
- To be able to connect offers that represent the same entitlement type but with different billing periods, Cleeng is using offer tags. So if two offers have exactly the same tags (all tags must be the same), Cleeng knows that they are related to the same entitlement and can be stacked as gifts.
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How it works:
1. The user has the Volleyball Monthly subscription with a renewal date 20th June 2023.
2. The user receives and redeems a gift – Volleyball Annual.
3. Cleeng checks the tags of the two offers.
4. If the tags are exactly the same for both offers (all tags must be the same), the user’s renewal date is pushed to 20th June 2024 (by one year, as they received an annual subscription as a gift). The user’s subscription offer (and monthly billing period) stays the same - Volleyball Monthly.
Gift Subscriptions stacking rules
- One gifter is able to purchase* multiple gifts for a single giftee
- One gifter is able to purchase multiple gifts for multiple giftees
- One giftee is able to redeem multiple gifts from a single gifter
- One giftee is able to redeem multiple gifts from multiple gifters
*Each purchase is a separate payment process
Gifts and subscription upgrades/downgrades
Subscription switches are not possible for subscriptions created/extended by a gift. If a user tries to upgrade/downgrade from an offer that was purchased as a gift, they will receive the following error message: Subscription created/extended by gift can not be switched.
Benefits of Gift Subscriptions
Gift Subscriptions enable subscription businesses, particularly those in the media & entertainment industry, to offer a unique and engaging experience to their customers, drive growth, increase revenue, and maintain a competitive edge in the evolving subscription landscape.
Main Benefits for Broadcasters:
- Audience Growth: Gift subscriptions help broadcasters expand their viewer base by encouraging existing subscribers to introduce their network to others.
- Revenue Boost: Gifting creates an additional revenue stream for our clients, tapping into a new market segment. Run holiday promotions, Black Friday deals, or other special events to boost interest and income by promoting gift subscriptions.
- Customer Loyalty: The gift subscription feature fosters a sense of community and loyalty among viewers, reducing churn rates.
- Data Insights: Our system provides valuable data on gift subscription usage, enabling clients to refine their offerings and marketing strategies.
- Competitive Edge: Being at the forefront of the subscription management industry, broadcasters can stand out in a crowded market.
Enable selling an offer as a gift
To sell an offer as a gift, you need to complete two steps:
Step 1: Enable selling an offer as a gift using the Cleeng dashboard during the offer creation/edition process.
- In your Cleeng dashboard go to Offers & Coupons > Create offer/Edit
- Go to Step 3: Pricing > Purchasable as a gift and select 'Yes'
- 'Finish setup' (if you're creating a new offer) or 'Finish editing' (if you're editing an existing offer)
Step 2: Set up a checkout URL
On the delivery date, the recipient of the gift receives an email with a URL and a gift code. The recipient needs to click on the URL to redeem the gift.
As a Broadcaster, you need to add a checkout URL, which will redirect the recipient to the gift redemption screen, where they verify the gift code. In order to add the checkout URL:
- In your Cleeng dashboard go to Offers & Coupons > Gift Checkout
- Provide the checkout URL and click ‘Save’
Integration options
You can use the gift subscriptions feature with:
- MediaStore SDK Components (minimum version 5.4.0) – see Gift Subscriptions Setup via Components
- MediaStore SDK API - see Gift Subscriptions Setup via API
Gift Analytics
You can track and analyze the performance of gift subscriptions through:
- Gift Analytics dashboard
- Gift Report available as a data export
FAQ
Can a user buy an offer as a gift for someone else when they have the same offer themselves?
Yes. For example, when user A subscribes to Monthly Tennis, they can buy access to the same offer (Monthly Tennis) as a gift for user B. At checkout, they will have one delivery option available – Purchase as a gift. Purchase for myself will be inactive.
Can a user be refunded for a gift they purchased or received?
No, refunds for gifts are blocked by default. If a user requests a refund for an offer that was purchased as a gift, they will receive an error message.
Can I make an existing offer giftable?
Yes, every monthly, 3-month, 6-month, and annual subscription offer can be giftable. Existing ones can be edited as well.
Can a user send a gift the same day they purchased it? (Can the gift delivery date be set to today?)
Yes, if the gift delivery date is set to today, the email with the gift will be delivered to the recipient within an hour.
What time will the receiver get the gift if both the gifter and the receiver are in the same time zones?
If the delivery date is set for the next day, most probably the receiver will get the gift at 00.00.00. In some cases it can take up to one hour so the expected delivery time can stretch between 00.00.00 and 01.00.00.
What time will the receiver get the gift if the gifter and the receiver are different time zones?
Still, the delivery can take up to one hour, however we have to take into account the time zones. Let’s have a look at the following example to understand the situation better.
The gifter is in time zone GMT+1 and specified the delivery date for the next day - 07.03.2024 at 00:00:00 (in GMT+1). However, the recipient is in GMT +7, so he or she will receive the gift on 07.03.2024 between 07.00.00 and 08.00.00 of the local time (which is equivalent to 00.00.00 in GMT +1).
After the gifted subscription period ends and the recipient has enjoyed the free access, does the service automatically start charging them?
Yes, the gifted subscription is set to recur by default. If the recipient has added a payment method, they will be charged at the end of the billing cycle.
Is it possible to use a coupon to purchase a gift?
Yes, when the coupon is applicable on the offer the gifter purchases as a gift, they can use the coupon to buy it.
Can Passes be purchased as gifts?
No, the gift subscription feature works with offer type: subscription, and billing period: monthly, 3-month, 6-month, or annual.