How do selection sections and paid add-ons work?

Selection sections split your menu into separate groups — for example Main meals and Snacks & add-ons — each with its own selection limit and counter on the storefront. Optionally, the add-ons section can be charged separately: each add-on is then billed at its own product price on top of the plan price, at first checkout and on every renewal that includes it.

Steps

1. Open Menus, then open the Settings tab.
2. Turn on Enable selection sections and set the labels customers will see for the Main and Add-ons groups.
3. Optional: turn on Charge add-ons separately if add-ons should be billed at their own product price instead of being included in the plan price.
4. Click Save sections.
5. In Meal Plans, set each variant's selection limit for the Add-ons section. With Charge add-ons separately on this is optional — leave it unset and customers can add as many as they like, since each one is paid for. With it off a limit is required, because the section is covered by the plan price. Either way, a limit of 0 hides add-ons for that variant.
6. In your menu editors, assign each product to a section. Customers then see one counter per section on the storefront.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to set a limit for the add-ons section?

Only when it is included in the plan price. With Charge add-ons separately on, an add-on is paid for individually, so leaving the limit unset means no limit — customers add as many as they want and each one is charged. With it off the section is part of what the plan price already covers, so we cannot show it until you say how many a customer gets; until then it stays hidden. Setting the limit to 0 hides the section for that variant either way.

Where does an add-on's price come from?

From the product itself in Shopify — the price on the add-on product's variant. Change the product price and new charges use the new price automatically. There is no separate price field in the app.

How is a paid add-on charged on a subscription?

At the first checkout, add-ons appear in the cart as their own priced line items next to the subscription plan. On renewals, the app adds the add-ons the customer selected for that delivery to that billing cycle's charge, so the payment is plan price plus that week's add-ons. The subscription's base price itself never changes.

Do customers have to pick add-ons?

It depends on how the section is priced. With Charge add-ons separately on, add-ons are optional: an empty or partly-filled add-ons section never blocks saving or checkout. With it off the section is covered by the plan price, so it is part of what the customer already paid for — once they start a delivery, every plan-priced section (Main meals and the add-ons section) has to reach its limit before they can save or check out, and a section still at 0 blocks just like a half-filled one. A delivery left completely untouched is always allowed; auto-assign fills it at renewal.

What do customers see on the storefront?

Each add-on card shows its own price when Charge add-ons separately is on, so customers always see what they are adding to the order total before they select it. Checkout and the order confirmation show the add-ons as regular priced lines in the store's currency.

What happens if I turn Charge add-ons separately off later?

New charges go back to the included behaviour: add-ons count against their selection limit but are covered by the plan price. Charges that already happened are not affected.