The Product Catalog: Quick Wins Playbook
Use this playbook to find your quickest wins when using Stay AI’s Product Catalog.
For step-by-step setup and UI-level instructions, pair this with the Managing the Product Catalog and Product Carousel help article.
Play 1: Give subscribers early access to an Unlisted product
What this does
Give subscribers exclusive access to new or seasonal products. Draft and Unlisted products can be added to the Catalog and shown only to subscribers in the Customer Portal (and via links you send them).
Best for
VIP flavors / limited runs
Early access to new products
Special access to certain products meant only for subscribers
How to set it up
In Shopify
Create the product as Draft or otherwise keep it hidden from your public storefront (e.g., Unlisted / not on your main collections).
Sync to Stay AI
Sync your new product to Stay AI so it appears in the Product Catalog.
In Stay AI: add it to the Product Catalog
Go to Product Catalog and add the product.
Active, Draft, and Unlisted products are all supported.
Set how subscribers can buy it
Open the product’s detail page.
Enable the product/variants for Subscription and/or One-time in the Customer Portal (whichever you want to offer).
Surface it to subscribers
Add it to the Customer Portal Carousel so it’s always visible when subscribers manage their orders.
Build a Quick Action in URL Builder that pre-loads the product as a one-time add-on or swap, and use that link in a promotion email to subscribers.
Example
You want to launch a dragon fruit soda flavor to subscribers before it’s released publicly.
Keep the product Unlisted on your site.
Add it to the Product Catalog and enable it as a one-time add-on in the Customer Portal.
Email subscribers a “Try it first” campaign that links to a Quick Action.
Subscribers can add the early access flavor in one click—driving add-on revenue and making them feel like the MVPs they are.
Play 2: Give subscribers a better price on one-time add-ons
What this does
Treat subscribers like VIPs by offering them a deeper discount on one-time products within the Customer Portal, exclusive to subscribers, than what non-subscribers see on your main storefront.
You’ll use Product Catalog pricing to set a special one-time discount that only applies when a subscriber adds that product through the customer portal.
Best for
Low-frequency extras (e.g., accessories, equipment, merch)
“Nice-to-have” items that boost AOV
Giving subscribers a special perk, treating them like the VIPs they are
How to set it up
Add it to the Product Catalog
Add the product to the Product Catalog if it isn’t already there.
Configure one-time pricing for subscribers
Open the product’s detail page.
Under pricing, keep your standard subscription settings as-is (or leave subscription off if this is a one-time-only product).
Set a One-time Discount for the Customer Portal—for example, 30% off.
Control where it shows up
Enable One-time in Customer Portal so subscribers can add it as a one-time item.
Optionally add it to the Customer Portal Carousel so it’s always in view as an easy add-on.
Example
You want to encourage subscribers to add Pineapple Soda (one of your best sellers for one-time purchases but lower for subscriptions). So you decide to enable one-time discounts to just subscribers!
In the Product Catalog, you set:
One-time Discount in Customer portal: 30% off
Customers to your site will continue seeing Pineapple Soda at regular price. Subscribers see it inside their customer portal with a special subscriber discount of 30% off!
Play 3: Use the Product Carousel in the customer portal to highlight your best products
What this does
Uses the Carousel tab plus Catalog visibility to keep a curated set of products in front of subscribers—perfect for:
The Unlisted “early access” products from Play 1
The subscriber-exclusive one-time deals from Play 2
Any evergreen best-sellers you want to push as add-ons
Best for
Featuring best-sellers as easy add-ons
Rotating in seasonal or new products
Highlighting subscriber-only products
How to set it up
Prepare products in the Catalog
Make sure the products you want to feature are:
Added to the Product Catalog, and
Enabled for subscription and/or one-time in the Customer Portal (only these can be added to the Carousel).
Build the Carousel
Go to the Carousel tab.
Add the products you want to feature.
Drag and drop to set the order (e.g., lead with your hero SKU, then your new flavor, then your accessory deal).
Check the minimum
Confirm you have at least three products assigned.
The Product Carousel only displays if it has three or more eligible products.
Advanced Workflow Examples
These examples combine Workflows + Product Catalog to go beyond quick wins. They’re powerful but more advanced, so treat them as “next step” plays once you’re comfortable with the basics.
Workflow Example 1: Offer a deeper discount after the first order (price change)
Starts subscribers at one discount (e.g., 10% off) and then automatically moves them to a deeper discount (e.g., 20% off) after the first order—without manually editing individual subscriptions.
Best for
Rewarding subscribers for sticking around after their first order
Upgrading your base offer (10% → 20%) for existing subscribers
Avoiding manual price updates at scale
How to set it up
In this example, the product is purchased at $18 (10% off) and then, via workflow, price-changed to $16 (20% off).
Create a selling plan using a First Order Policy
First order: priced at 10% off.
Recurring orders: will eventually move to 20% off.
Create a workflow to update the price
Trigger: after the first order completes (or at your chosen time).
Action: update the subscription line item price to the 20% off price.
Align the Product Catalog price
Add the product to your Catalog with the post-change price (the 20%-off value).
This keeps your Merchant Portal / Customer Portal pricing consistent after the workflow runs.
Workflow Example 2: Swap a trial product to a full-size product automatically
Let customers start on a trial product, then automatically swap them to the “after-trial” product (with its own discount) after their first order.
In this example, the first order is a trial product at $5. The recurring product is a full-size item at $20 (25% off its standard price).
Best for
Low-cost trials that roll into full-size products
Sample → full-size flows where you don’t want customers stuck on the trial SKU forever
How to set it up
To build this out, you'll set up the correct products in the Product Catalog, then create the corresponding Selling Plans, and finally, set up a Workflow to automate the swap.
Create a selling plan using a First Order Policy
First order: static price of $5 (the trial product).
Recurring orders: set to $20 (25% off the “after-trial” product price).
Create a workflow to swap products
Trigger: after the trial order completes / at the end of the first cycle.
Action: swap the trial product to the after-trial product and set the recurring price to $20.
Add the after-trial product to your Catalog
In the Product Catalog, add the after-trial product with the post-swap price (the 25%-off price).
This keeps portal pricing aligned with what the workflow is doing.