How to Set up Single and Recurring Memberships – Glofox

Single vs. Recurring Memberships

A 'Single Membership' is a membership with a once-off payment for a specific period, for example, a day, a week, a month.

A 'Recurring Membership' also known as a 'Subscription' is a membership that continuously repeats for a duration set by you, for example, daily, weekly or monthly. The client authorizes the first payment via a debit card or credit card, and the payment is repeated thereon.

Please note:

Single membership charges will go through on the date of purchase, even if the start date is set in the future.

When and why you should use Recurring Memberships

'Recurring Memberships' are great for automatically collecting membership fees for loyal members who repeatedly purchase your memberships or class packages. When you enable a recurring payment for a client, the client is then described as having a 'Subscription' with your gym or studio.

Recurring payments offer numerous benefits to your business and to your clients;

By simplifying payments, you're making it easier to get paid
Recurring payments stabilize your cash flow as you are getting paid on time and can better map our projections
You can put an end to chasing up clients for payment, saving you time and effort

By making payments simple, you're helping your clients streamline their fitness regime
Clients won't have to worry about due membership fees or re-entering card details again and again, ultimately helping to make their experience with your business stress-free and more convenient

How to set up a Single Membership

To set up a single payment for a membership, follow these steps;

Navigate to the 'Manage' icon on the left sidebar and click 'Services'

To create a new membership, click 'Services+' in the top right and select new 'Membership'

Enter the Membership details

Click on the 'Plans' tab.

Set the payment frequency to 'Single'

Set the details, price and the duration of the membership e.g., a month

How to set up a Recurring Membership

To set up a recurring payment for a membership, follow these steps;

Navigate to the 'Manage' icon on the left sidebar and click 'Services'

To create a new membership, click Services+ and click new Membership. Enter the details for the membership.

Alternatively, to edit an existing membership, select the membership you wish to add a recurring payment to

Click on the 'Plans' tab.

Set the payment frequency to 'Recurring'

Set the details, price, duration, and the frequency for when payment is to be taken e.g., every month

You can add in a 'Subscription end date' and 'joining fee' if you wish, just toggle these settings on and fill in the details

What happens if a recurring payment fails?

If a clients' recurring 'Glofox Payment' (card or direct debit payment) fails on the first attempt, Glofox will attempt to take the payment three more times over the coming days, making it four attempts in total to take payment.

After the first failed payment, the client will not be allowed to use their membership until a successful payment has been made..

You can retry the failed payment manually or forgive the failed payment using the 'Retry' or 'Forgive' buttons on the right-hand side of the failed payment within 'Failed Reports' on the 'Report List' tab in 'Reports'. To see the 'Retry' and 'Forgive' buttons click the arrow on the right of the payment;

Glofox automatically continues collecting payments on the next payment cycle even if the membership has moved from ‘Overdue’ (a failed payment) to ‘Unpaid’ (all attempts to take a payment in the current cycle failed)

For example, if all attempts to take December’s payment fails Glofox will still automatically attempt to collect the next payment in January. As opposed to before when we would avoid an attempt at taking next month’s payment. When January's payment collection is attempted, the December amount owed is not included.

If your preference is for your customers to not to be continued to be billed for payments in future cycles you will need to pause or cancel their membership.

How to assign a membership from the Clients tab

The below steps outline how to add or assign a membership to one of your members.

Navigate to the 'Manage' icon on the left sidebar and click 'Clients'
Search to find the client you want to buy for
This will pull up your client's profile, click the 'Membership' tab;
- If the client has no existing membership you will see a button that says 'Add Membership+'
- If the client already has a membership and you are buying a 'Consecutive Membership' for them, you will see a button that says ' Add Next Membership+'
A list of available memberships will appear, select 'Purchase' on the one you want. For Recurring Memberships, you can select the start date of the membership here
Select the payment method, and assign a staff member if you wish
Click 'Proceed with Transaction'

How to pause a Recurring Membership

'Recurring Memberships' are often paused to prevent payments from occurring over a set period. For example, your client has informed you that they are going on holiday for two weeks, and they wish to pause their membership as they will not be using your facility during this time.

To allow for this pause, follow these steps;

Search for the client's name on 'Global Search' or find them within the 'Clients' tab
Click the 'Membership' tab on their profile
Click the green 'Pause' button
Enter the start and end date for the pause
Check details and then click 'Confirm Pause'

How to cancel Single and Recurring Memberships

When a 'Recurring Membership' is canceled, the client reverts to manual payments.

To cancel a 'Single' or 'Recurring membership', follow these steps;

Search for the client's name on 'Global Search' or find them within the 'Clients' tab
Click the 'Membership' tab on their profile
Click the 'Cancel' button

Please note;

When canceling a 'Recurring Membership', you will see a pop-up window asking if you want to cancel the membership and subscription or just the subscription. This is so you can disable auto-renew for your client if they no longer want their membership after the current payment period ends.
If you delete a client and that client is on recurring membership you must ensure that you cancel their subscription before deleting them. If you do not cancel the client's subscription, it will continue to charge them even after they have been deleted.

Next steps and additional support

Do you want to find out more about Memberships? Read the below articles;

For additional support, reach out to support@glofox.com, and we will be happy to assist you.