---
title: "Renewal order: definition, formula and example"
description: "A subscription order the subscriber didn't place by hand, billed by the subscription contract. Priced at the renewal price, without first-order-only costs."
url: https://offersuite.io/glossary/renewal-order
updated: 2026-10-13
---

# Renewal order

A subscription order the subscriber didn't place by hand, billed by the subscription contract. Priced at the renewal price, without first-order-only costs.

## In plain words

A renewal order is an order a subscription creates on its schedule, after the first. It is billed at the renewal price, usually the ongoing subscribe-and-save discount, and ships only the products that recur. Welcome gifts, inserts and samples were in the first box only.

Renewals decide whether a subscription offer pays. A first order discounted to win the subscriber often earns little or nothing, and the offer earns its money over the renewals the subscriber stays for.

## Formula

- Renewal margin = renewal price − costs of the recurring lines (first-order-only costs excluded)

## Worked example

The coffee subscription's first order at $32.00, with a mug, keeps $3.79. Each renewal at $36.00, bag only, keeps $11.68. At 85% retention a subscriber is worth $58.90 over twelve orders.

### The example order

A $40.00 bag of coffee, shipped free, every cost counted

Revenue $40.00 to contribution margin $15.36 (38.4%)

Revenue

$40.00

Cost of goods

−$12.00

Pick and pack

−$1.18

Packaging

−$0.50

Shipping label

−$7.50

Card fee per order

−$0.30

Refunds

−$2.00

Card processing

−$1.16

Contribution margin

$15.36

2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option

Computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from a $40.00 bag of coffee with a $12.00 unit cost.

## A renewal is not a repeat order

A repeat customer chose to buy again; a renewal was billed by a contract. They behave differently: renewals churn on a schedule, repeat orders depend on remarketing. Counting renewals as first orders overstates acquisition and hides the first order's real margin.

## Using it

Report renewals apart from first orders, per offer option. The first order tells you what it cost to win the subscriber; renewals tell you what the subscriber is worth. When a subscriber swaps or adds products, the renewal still belongs to the subscription that billed it, so the offer that won the subscriber keeps the credit.

## In Offer Suite

Offer Suite recognises a renewal from the order's source: subscription_contract, or anything starting with subscription_contract_, which is what Shopify's billing attempts send. A renewal is attributed to the option whose contract billed it and reported apart from first orders.

Source: Offer Suite's money definitions, checked against real Shopify orders.

## Related

- [Glossary **Glossary of offer economics** The terms behind offer profit, defined plainly with their formulas and a worked number: contribution margin, profit per visitor, break-even lift and more.](https://offersuite.io/glossary)
- [Calculator **Subscription first order vs renewal calculator** Margin on a subscription's first order and on each renewal, and the expected profit per subscriber over time at your retention, against a one-time buyer.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/subscription-first-order-vs-renewal)
- [Calculator **Bundle pricing calculator: shipping, subscriptions** Price a bundle against a single unit, one-time and subscribed, with the shipping and pick costs it saves, and the conversion it can lose and still earn as much.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/bundle-pricing)
- [Glossary **Subscribe and save: definition, formula and example** A standing discount for buying on subscription, often with a deeper first-order discount. Its cost has to be priced over the renewals, not the first order.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/subscribe-and-save)
- [Glossary **Retention rate: definition, formula and example** Of subscribers who received an order, the share who receive the next one. Each renewal's profit is weighted by it, so small changes compound quickly.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/retention-rate)
- [Glossary **Realized profit: definition, formula and example** The profit orders actually made: revenue net of refunds, minus the cost of every unit shipped, per offer and per option, first orders and renewals apart.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/realized-profit)