Checkout Flows:

As we continue to optimize our checkout experiences, we have cleaned up duplicate code to ensure that we can deliver an exceptional checkout experience for current and future checkout features. We have also added the ability for buyers to enter a custom amount for purchase of an item or to use the + and - buttons to increase or decrease quantity. This ensures that buyers with larger orders can easily convert with their desired amount of items purchased.

Trial With and Without Payment:

In the months since we released Trial Without Payment, we continue to optimize and add new features to ensure that sellers have the best experience when creating free trials on the FastSpring platform. To support this, we have made the following changes:

Free Trials:

• Added support for sellers to run free trial transactions in test mode.
• Updated the CTA button to say “Start Free Trial”
• Added the ability for buyers to pay now or pay later in the account management portal during the trial period.
• Updated notification to include both buyer and seller when a free trial is started.
  Fixed an issue in which sellers were able to add a free trial under subscriptions that required a one-time setup fee.
• Updated our web storefront to ensure that when using a free trial in web storefront, buyers aren’t asked to save payment information.
• Updated free trials to ensure that buyers can easily update their payment information in the account management portal when moving to a paid trial.

Paid Trials:

• Optimized configurations to clarify the price of a paid trial when that trial is greater than zero.
• Changed display language for when a coupon would decrease the price of a paid trial to less than zero to say “Free”

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug in Popup checkout where cart quantity modifications were unlocked for products that were quantity locked.
• Cleaned up our pricing code to support more VAT use cases when stores are in NET mode and utilize our volume discounts.
• Clarified our Postal Code collection field for Canadian buyers. Previously we asked for "zip code" and now we ask for "postal code".
• Fixed a bug where the quantity field for custom order items was too small.
• Fixed a bug in which the state/region field was blank when copying an order to a new custom order.
• Fixed a bug where Digital Invoicing Quotes were displaying incorrect values after the trial period.
• Fixed a bug for very rare cases in which coupons were deducted from quotes twice.
• Fixed a bug where Tax Exemption ID wouldn't show on invoices for some orders.
• Fixed a bug for certain transactions where orders were attributed incorrectly to the wrong seller.
• Fixed a pricing bug affecting certain German transactions processed in USD.
• Fixed a bug where some renewal dates in the AM portal were displayed incorrectly.
• Fixed a bug causing certain Store Builder Library (SBL) payloads to throw an address validation error.
• Fixed a bug with NPE when triggering webhooks for API quotes.
• Fixed a bug within webhooks regarding tax calculation.
• Fixed a bug in which a 500 internal server error was returned when a POST call with a nonexistent subscription ID was called.
• Fixed a bug where the “Pay Now” button was incorrectly displaying VAT/Tax calculations in the account management portal with certain subscriptions.
• Fixed a bug in the Popup checkout where the Continue and Download button settings were not being applied.
• Fixed a bug in which the “Gift Purchase” checkbox was displayed incorrectly in certain subscription trial conversions.
• Fixed a bug for very rare cases in which Account Management was incorrectly handling taxes.

Free Trial Without Payment Method: We’ve continued to iterate on our Trial Without Payment Method features. In addition to updated support for payments in our web storefront, we now allow buyers to automatically convert from a manual subscription (needs payment entry on a monthly basis) to an automatic subscription renewal. This can be done by buyers saving their payment details within the account management portal or at purchase when entering their payment details in the web storefront by checking the “save payment details” box.

We have further enhanced Trial Without Payment so buyers can see their billing terms within the web storefront. This clarifies to buyers when their next billing date is and exactly how much they will be charged.

Embedded Checkout Embedded checkout beta is now live for select sellers! This gives them the ability to add an inline checkout to a seller-hosted webpage with support for both dark and light mode along with the full FastSpring checkout functionality including: Payment Methods, Localization, Risk & Fraud Protection, Global Tax Collection & Remittance, and PCI/PSD2 Compliance.

Payment Approvals: To continue to improve approval rates, we have migrated existing subscriptions based in the UK to our new merchant account in the UK.

Webhooks: We now provide additional card data in the webhook and API for declined transactions.

Here is an example:

If the payment method is CC and the decline reason is “do not honor”, then the webhook and API will send the following additional information:

“Expiry”: “12/25”

“cardEnding”: “1234”

“cardType”: “VISA”

Platform Pricing Logic: General improvements to platform pricing logic and stability.

Free Trial Without Payment Method: Available now, Trial Without Payment Method extends all the FastSpring subscription management functionality to free trials without requiring collection of a payment method. To further support free trials, we also offer a paid trial feature that allows businesses to offer a paid trial that can automatically convert into a full subscription at the end of the trial period.

Documentation is available here

Popup Cart Quantity Field: We have updated the quantity field in the Popup Checkout Cart to allow numbers to be entered as well as the ability to use the + and - buttons to increase and decrease quantity respectively, thereby improving the customer experience for buyers purchasing a large quantity of items. A maximum value of 9999 can be entered into the quantity field.

GA4: Google Analytics 4 is replacing Universal Analytics. On July 1, 2023, standard universal Analytics properties will no longer process data. As such, we now support GA4 codes within our Google Analytics integration. Customers should only enter their GA4 property IDs when they are ready. For more information, here is a migration guide from Google: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10759417?hl=en&ref_topic=10737980

Bug Fixes:
Fixed a bug causing some buyers to receive duplicate order and subscription emails in certain cases.

• Fixed an issue where select subscriptions were pushed into dunning prematurely in certain cases.
• Fixed an issue with PayPal where certain buyers were redirected to the Account Management Portal instead of the order completion page.
• Fixed an issue with setting the default payment method in the Account Management Portal.
• Fixed an error when localizing price through Store Builder Library (SBL), where an invalid zip resulted in errors.
• Fixed an issue with webhooks firing in certain tax refund situations when they shouldn’t.
• Improved retry logic for bank transfers.
• Fixed a pricing bug in our DI quoting tool that misapplied net pricing (tax exclusive) as gross pricing (tax inclusive).
• Fixed an error that occurred in certain cases when a buyer attempted to create a quote directly from the Popup Checkout.
• Fixed an issue where some iDeal orders were not completing automatically.
• Updated translations for test emails.

Bug fixes:

• Outbound bcc: We’ve removed the "Outbound bcc address" option.

Changes based on your feedback:

• Short paid orders: Historically when buyers delivered a payment that was less than the full amount due, the order would not be automatically completed, which caused several issues like delayed or stalled fulfillment. This was often related to wires where an intermediary bank was involved and charged an unforeseen fee. The default minimum is $20 or 2%, whichever is lower, but sellers can also define how much they are willing to accept below the full order value in order to streamline their operations and keep fulfillment on time and automated. We will allow this at the company level - this can be updated in the Account Summary > Product Ordering Terms section. The Order Details page will now show a Settlement Amount and a Settlement Discrepancy amount when there is a discrepancy.

Bug fixes:

• German language: Improper capitalization of "Alle" in German popup. This has been fixed.
• Duplicate emails: Certain buyers cited receiving duplicate order and subscription emails. This has been fixed.
• iDeal transactions: Fixed a bug causing iDeal orders from completing automatically. One-time setup fee: One-time setup fee was shown on some manual renewal orders. This has been fixed.
• Coupon: When a coupon discount duration is 3, sometimes the periods were not honored and extra discounted charges were made. This has been fixed.
• PayPal button in Popup Checkout: The “Pay” button was grayed out when PayPal was selected by buyers in Canada.
• Resuming a paused subscription: We fixed a but causing an error message that said, "Next subscription charge is not due yet" when trying to resume a paused subscription.

Features:

• Revenue Overview analytics dashboard beta release: This is an initial release that is not yet broadly available. If you have interest in getting early access, please reach out to [email protected].

Changes based on your feedback:

• Subscription reports: Sellers can now create subscription history reports.