Set up subscription products for sale at POS

Use this process to let staff sell subscription products at the register, along with products that save the customer’s card to bill later. At checkout, staff save the customer’s card on a paired Square Terminal or through a card capture link. Renewals are charged to the saved card by the same subscription billing as for a subscription sold online. The register never charges a renewal itself.

For example, you can set up a product so that:

• A membership renews each month — the customer pays for the first month at the front desk, and each renewal is charged to the saved card.
• A membership has nothing to pay today — the customer joins and pays nothing at the register. The card is saved, and the subscription’s recurring billing charges it.
• A product is billed later from Salesforce — nothing is charged at the register, and the price stays on the order to bill from Salesforce later.

There is no store or POS setting to turn this on. What the register does is decided by settings on each product.

:::note POS card capture is a beta feature. Read Limits that affect setup before you rely on it. :::

How the product settings decide what happens

Two fields on the Product (Product2) control the register: Payment Capture Type (s_c__Payment_Capture_Type__c) and, for a subscription, Subscription Behavior (s_c__Subscription_Behavior__c).

Every subscription and every Save Payment Method Only product needs a customer on the sale. The register blocks an anonymous checkout.

Before you start

• For a subscription, the product is set up as a subscription product. See Add a subscription product.
• The product meets the minimum requirements for POS.
• At least one way to save the card is set up:
  • Square Terminal — a Square Terminal is paired to each register that sells these products, and mapped to a Square location for the outlet. Square saves cards on the terminal only for merchants in the United States, Canada, and Australia. See Square.
  • Card capture link — your store has an active web payment provider that can save a card: Stripe, Stripe ACH, or Square. Registers without a paired Square Terminal use the link.

Set up a product for sale at POS

1. Open the Product record.
2. Select Edit.
3. In the Product Information section, set Payment Capture Type:
   • Save Payment Method Only to charge nothing at the register and bill the saved card later.
   • Charge Immediately to charge at checkout. Use this for a subscription whose first payment is taken at the register.
4. If the product is a subscription, in the Subscription Information section set Subscription Behavior to Always Process, Always Charge or Always Process, Charge If Possible.
5. Select Save.

Staff can now sell the product at the register. At checkout the register asks for a customer, and staff save the customer’s card as described in Save a customer’s card for later billing at POS.

Example

A gym sells a Monthly Membership at the front desk. Members pay nothing on the day they join, and their card is saved for the monthly billing.

The administrator opens the Monthly Membership product, sets Payment Capture Type to Save Payment Method Only and Subscription Behavior to Always Process, Always Charge, and saves. A Square Terminal is paired to the front desk register.

When a member joins with nothing else in the sale, the register shows nothing due and opens the Save card for subscription screen. The member swipes their card on the terminal, and the membership’s recurring billing charges it.

Limits that affect setup

POS card capture shipped as a beta. These limits apply now, and several are being fixed:

• Square Terminal only at the register — the terminal step works only with a paired Square Terminal. Registers with other card terminals use the card capture link.
• Capture page provider list — the card capture page lists every active web payment provider. Choosing one that cannot save a card, such as Adyen, NMI, or eWAY, fails with a general error. Some providers’ forms show a “Pay Now” button even though nothing is charged, and a Google Pay button can appear. Tell staff which provider to choose.
• Save-card products that are not subscriptions — a Save Payment Method Only product that is not a subscription never gets a card capture link, and gets the terminal step only when nothing is due today. Staff need to sell it on a register with a paired Square Terminal, in a sale with nothing else due today.
• Unbranded capture page — a customer who scans the QR code sees a plain card form with no store branding or explanation.
• Stores with a store path — if your store’s URLs include a store path (for example, shop.example.com/fabulous-wines), the card capture link and QR code do not work. Pair a Square Terminal to each register that sells these products.
• Customized themes — if your theme has customized copies of the layout, Content Security Policy, or payment snippets, the capture page shows inside the full storefront layout, and the card form on the register can be blocked from loading. Stock themes are not affected. Update the theme to allow the page to be framed by the same site.