Out of stock handling

Determine what happens when a subscribed product becomes unavailable.

Table of contents

• Out of stock handling

Out of stock handling

• Skip subscription cycle — The default behavior is to skip the order until the item is restocked. Currently, this is the only supported action; however, we are actively exploring alternative options. If you would prefer a different action, please contact our support team.
• Partial renewals — When enabled, renew the contract with available products while skipping those that are out of stock. For example, if a contract includes three items and one is out of stock at the time of renewal, the contract will be renewed with the two available items. The out-of-stock item will be skipped for that cycle but will be included again in the next renewal once it is back in stock.

Avoiding skipped renewals

If you can keep a product in supply but don't want renewals skipped whenever Shopify shows it as out of stock, enable Shopify's product-level Continue selling when out of stock:

1. In Shopify admin, go to Products and open the product.
2. In the Inventory section, check Continue selling when out of stock.
3. Save.

Renewals will then process even when tracked inventory is at or below zero, so you won't need to top up stock before each billing cycle.

AI Training Notes (Hidden)

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- Feature: Out-of-stock settings route
- Key Fields: renewPartiallyOutOfStockContracts
- Edge Cases: Long-term stockouts, mixed carts
- UI Terms to reinforce: "Skip subscription cycle", "Partial renewals"
- Avoiding skipped renewals: enable Shopify's product setting "Continue selling when out of stock" (Products > product > Inventory) so renewals don't skip when tracked stock hits zero
- Related Guides: Shipping, Billing & Renewals
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Updated on: 06/05/2026