Subscription Purchase Events

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Overview

Upstack automatically generates subscription purchase events for stores using subscription apps like Recharge, Bold Subscriptions, Skio, or native Shopify Subscriptions. These events help you measure subscription acquisition, retention, and recurring revenue.

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Event Types

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How It Works

When a subscription order is processed, Upstack analyzes the order metadata:

1. Order received — Shopify sends a purchase webhook to Upstack
2. Subscription detection — Upstack checks for subscription app tags and order properties
3. Classification — The order is classified as initial or recurring based on the subscription data
4. Event generation — The appropriate subscription event is generated
5. Forwarding — Events are sent to your configured destinations

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Detection Methods

Upstack identifies subscription orders through:

• Order tags from subscription apps (e.g., subscription_first_order, recurring_order)
• Order properties and line item properties containing subscription metadata
• Subscription app-specific identifiers in the order data

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subscription_initial_purchase

Generated when a customer signs up for a new subscription. This is the first order in a subscription sequence.

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Use Cases

• Measure subscriber acquisition — Track how many new subscribers you’re acquiring
• Calculate subscriber CAC — Understand the true cost to acquire a subscriber
• Optimize acquisition campaigns — Train ad algorithms to find subscription-likely customers
• Attribution for LTV — Attribute the full potential LTV to the acquiring campaign

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subscription_recurring_purchase

Generated for each recurring subscription renewal. This includes all orders after the initial subscription purchase.

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Use Cases

• Track subscription retention — Monitor recurring revenue from existing subscribers
• Measure churn impact — Understand when recurring purchases decline
• Attribution for retention campaigns — Track which campaigns drive continued engagement
• Revenue forecasting — Use recurring purchase data to predict future revenue

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Properties

Both events include all properties from the original purchase event:

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Destination Mapping

Subscription events are forwarded to destinations as:

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Metrics Available

In the Upstack dashboard, you can view:

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Subscription vs. SaaS Events

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Related Events

• purchase — The base purchase event
• nc_purchase — New customer purchases
• rc_purchase — Returning customer purchases
• all_purchase — All purchases
• SaaS Events — SaaS subscription lifecycle events