PrestaShop renewals explained
Key points
With the Ciklik module, the recurring payments of a PrestaShop subscription are triggered by Ciklik at each due date: Ciklik checks the product and its price in PrestaShop, charges the customer’s card, then creates the order in PrestaShop if the payment succeeds. In Ciklik, each subscription shows its Renewal situation (up to date, blocked, payment being retried, closed for lack of payment, overdue or canceled) and a Timeline of attempts. When the shop does not respond or a product is out of stock, the renewal is blocked and then retried automatically the next day. A declined payment follows your site’s retry schedule: 4 charge attempts by default.
Ciklik gives you a complete view of each PrestaShop subscription’s renewal status: what’s blocking it, why, when the next attempt will occur, and a full history of every attempt.
Where to see the renewal status
Section titled “Where to see the renewal status”Open a subscription in Ciklik (Sales > Subscriptions, click on the subscription).
You’ll see two new panels:
- Renewal situation: current status and the cause of any block
- Timeline: complete history of attempts, payments, errors, and postponements
Renewal statuses
Section titled “Renewal statuses”Up to date
Section titled “Up to date”The subscription is active and in good standing. The next renewal will occur on the scheduled date.
Next action: Ciklik will renew automatically.
Blocked
Section titled “Blocked”The renewal failed and is blocked. Ciklik identified the cause and is waiting for action from you or an automatic fix (for example, stock replenishment).
The cause tells you what caused the block (see below).
Next action: Depends on the cause. If Ciklik can retry, a new attempt will happen tomorrow.
Payment being retried
Section titled “Payment being retried”A payment attempt is in progress or awaiting confirmation. Ciklik is retrying according to the schedule.
Next action: The next attempt will occur on the displayed date, or payment will be confirmed if 3D Secure is pending.
Closed for lack of payment
Section titled “Closed for lack of payment”No payment attempt succeeded after all scheduled retries. The renewal for this due date is closed, but the subscription stays active.
Next action: A new charge will take place on the next due date, shown in the next step.
Overdue
Section titled “Overdue”The subscription never failed but its due date has passed without a renewal attempt (rare situation). The subscription is active but not being renewed.
Next action: Contact Ciklik support to manually restart the renewal.
Canceled
Section titled “Canceled”The subscription was canceled. No renewal is planned.
Next action: None.
Causes of blocks
Section titled “Causes of blocks”When a renewal is blocked, Ciklik displays the exact cause:
Your shop did not respond
Section titled “Your shop did not respond”PrestaShop did not respond to Ciklik. This happens during maintenance, site protection (WAF, firewall) or server errors.
To check:
- Is your PrestaShop site accessible and active?
- The firewall or site protection is not blocking calls from Ciklik
- Ciklik’s IP is whitelisted if needed (see Rebill and PrestaShop site unavailability)
Fix: Once the site is back, Ciklik will automatically retry tomorrow.
A variation no longer exists in PrestaShop
Section titled “A variation no longer exists in PrestaShop”A variation (size, color, etc.) of one of the subscription products was deleted in PrestaShop since signup.
To check:
- Does the product or variation exist in PrestaShop?
- Have you changed the product attribute parameters?
Fix: Contact Ciklik support to retry with the current variation, or remove the product from the subscription and retry.
A product is out of stock
Section titled “A product is out of stock”One of the subscription products has no available stock.
To check:
- Check the product stock in PrestaShop
- Are the products enabled?
Fix: Restore stock for the missing product. Ciklik will automatically retry tomorrow.
The cart cannot be read
Section titled “The cart cannot be read”The subscription cart became corrupted in PrestaShop and Ciklik cannot read it. Ciklik has notified support.
Fix: Contact Ciklik support. We will recreate the cart and retry the renewal.
The customer no longer exists in PrestaShop
Section titled “The customer no longer exists in PrestaShop”The customer was deleted from PrestaShop.
Fix: Create the customer again or contact Ciklik support to retry with a valid customer.
Communication failed
Section titled “Communication failed”Communication with PrestaShop failed (network error, timeout).
Fix: A retry will happen tomorrow. If it persists, check PrestaShop stability and contact support.
Reason not identified
Section titled “Reason not identified”Ciklik could not classify the error. This is rare.
Fix: Contact Ciklik support with the subscription identifier: the technical detail of the error is only visible to the Ciklik team.
The subscription timeline
Section titled “The subscription timeline”The timeline displays all events in most-recent-first order:
- Orders: date and status of each renewal attempt
- Payments: success or decline, with the reason for decline (for example, “Insufficient funds”)
- Renewal errors: exact cause of the error and next scheduled attempt
- Postponements: each time the renewal was postponed automatically or manually
Each event shows the date and author (automatic or Ciklik user).
Payment declines
Section titled “Payment declines”When a payment is declined, the timeline and renewal situation panel show the exact reason:
- Insufficient funds: low balance on the card
- Payment declined by the customer’s bank: standard network decline
- Payment blocked on suspicion of fraud: bank fraud system
- Payment not allowed with this card: usage restriction
- Card expired: expiration date passed
- Card reported lost or stolen: advise the customer
- Customer authentication required: 3D Secure pending (customer must confirm)
- Temporary payment gateway error: payment processor issue
- Payment declined: reason not specified
Fix: Ask the customer to update their card (link available in the customer record).
Available actions
Section titled “Available actions”Postpone the next payment
Section titled “Postpone the next payment”Edit the subscription’s Next Billing field (see Modify the next payment date of a subscription). Do not use the Postpone Payment action: it does not work on a PrestaShop subscription.
Cancel the subscription
Section titled “Cancel the subscription”Cancel the subscription immediately (see Modify the status of a subscription).
Send the customer the link to resume the payment
Section titled “Send the customer the link to resume the payment”Send the customer the Retry link of their pending order: it lets them complete 3D Secure and pay without logging in (see Send a payment link to a customer). If their card is expired or blocked, send them a card update link instead (see Send a credit card update link).
The daily error report
Section titled “The daily error report”If Ciklik detects renewal errors, a daily report is sent to your site’s managers.
The report lists errors with their cause in clear business terms (instead of raw API messages). It also includes a link to the Blocked renewals lens to filter and export blocked subscriptions.
Filter blocked renewals
Section titled “Filter blocked renewals”In Sales > Subscriptions, choose the Blocked renewals lens: list of all PrestaShop subscriptions whose renewal is currently blocked.
Available filters:
- By cause of block (select a cause to see affected subscriptions)
- By site
Columns:
- Customer and site
- Cause
- Products concerned
- Days since block
- Number of postponements
- Next attempt
Export: Export the list to an Excel file with all columns. Useful for reviewing all issues at once.
Common use cases
Section titled “Common use cases”A subscription has been blocked for several days
Section titled “A subscription has been blocked for several days”-
Open the subscription and read the block cause
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Follow the fix for that cause (see above)
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Manually retry or wait for the automatic retry tomorrow
Find all subscriptions blocked by out of stock
Section titled “Find all subscriptions blocked by out of stock”-
Go to Sales > Subscriptions, Blocked renewals lens
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Filter by cause “A product of the subscription is out of stock”
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Export the list
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Update stock for the products shown
Ask the customer to update their card
Section titled “Ask the customer to update their card”-
Open the customer record (Sales > Users)
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In the actions menu, choose Send Payment Update Link
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Ciklik emails the customer the link (valid 10 days)
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The new card is used for the next charges of their subscriptions
Contact support about a blocked renewal
Section titled “Contact support about a blocked renewal”Open the subscription and copy its identifier (ID field). The technical detail of the block (raw API message) is only visible to the Ciklik team: with the identifier, support finds it. Write to support@ciklik.co.
Frequently asked questions
How do recurring payments work with PrestaShop and Ciklik?
At each due date, Ciklik checks in PrestaShop that the subscription products exist and at what price, charges the customer's card, then creates the order in PrestaShop if the payment is approved. If it fails, no renewal order is sent to PrestaShop.
How many retries after a declined payment?
By default, 4 charge attempts are scheduled, and you can change their number and the delay in days between them. If none succeeds, the due date is closed for lack of payment, but the subscription stays active and a new charge takes place at the next due date.
What happens if my shop is in maintenance on the renewal date?
The renewal moves to Blocked with the cause Your shop did not respond. Ciklik retries it automatically the next day, and this incident does not count as a payment failure.
How do I find every subscription whose renewal is blocked?
In Sales, Subscriptions, choose the Blocked renewals lens: you can filter by blocking cause and by site, then export the list as an Excel file.
What should I do when the customer's card has expired?
Open their customer record and choose the Send Payment Update Link action. The link, valid for 10 days, lets them save a new card, which is used for the next charges of their subscriptions.