Exploring “All Access WooCommerce Plugin Bundles”: What’s Included, and How to Handle Upgrades

In a recent Business Bloomer Club Slack thread, the topic of “All Access Plugin Bundles” sparked a discussion on whether these bundles provide access to all existing and future plugins or just the current ones at the time of purchase.

WooCommerce users and developers shared various insights and potential approaches for managing such bundles, including handling upgrades and sync options for customers.

What Does an All Access Bundle Typically Include?

For plugin providers, an “All Access Bundle” may be offered either as a subscription or a lifetime deal (LTD). Here’s a general breakdown:

• Subscription Model: Most often, this includes access to all current and future plugins as long as the subscription remains active.
• Lifetime Deal (LTD): Usually, LTDs grant access to the plugins available at the time of purchase but may not include future additions.

Handling Upgrades for Lifetime Deal Customers

If customers purchase an LTD bundle, they may question how to handle newly added plugins post-purchase. Here are two approaches:

1. Bundle Sync Option: Customers pay the difference to upgrade their existing bundle to include new plugins. This ensures they don’t have to repurchase the same plugins they already own. From a coding perspective, this can be achieved by:
   • Tracking the original bundle price paid by the customer.
   • Calculating the difference based on the updated bundle cost.
   • Allowing customers to add only the plugins they don’t yet own via a custom WooCommerce function.
2. Repurchase the Latest Bundle: Customers buy the latest bundle each time, which may be more suitable for smaller bundles. However, this could be frustrating for customers who don’t want to repurchase plugins they already own.

Automating the Bundle Sync Process

Manually managing upgrades can be challenging as plugin inventories grow, so automating this can streamline the process. Here’s a quick outline:

• Track bundle purchase details and dynamically calculate an upgrade price.
• For WooCommerce, create a function that checks each plugin the customer owns and generates an order that only includes new items.

Conclusion

Whether an “All Access Bundle” covers future products or only the current ones depends on the provider’s model, but providing a “bundle sync” option may offer a customer-friendly solution for managing LTDs. As plugin providers expand their offerings, this can help retain loyal customers without forcing them to repurchase plugins.