Recipe: Premium membership with perks

This recipe shows how to create a simple, paid membership that delivers clear value through storewide discounts and free shipping (modeled after the classic Barnes & Noble membership structure).

This model works best for merchants with repeat customers who want predictable savings and a frictionless experience.

Overview

• Membership type: Paid
• Billing cadence: Annual
• Primary benefits:
  • Always-on percentage discount
  • Free standard shipping
• Best for:
  • Books & media
  • Apparel & lifestyle brands
  • Consumables or replenishable products

What Members Get

• A fixed percentage discount on eligible products
• Free standard shipping on all orders
• Optional access to member-only pricing or promotions

The key to this model is simplicity: customers should instantly understand how they save money.

When This Model Works Best

✅ High repeat purchase rate
✅ Predictable margins
✅ Customers who buy multiple times per year

When It Doesn’t

❌ One-time purchase businesses
❌ Very low-margin products
❌ Heavy discount stacking already in place

Reference Model

Attribute	Barnes & Noble membership
Price	$39-49/year
Term	Annual, automatic renewal
Discount	10% off eligible products
Shipping	Free standard shipping
Access	Member-only pricing & offers

Step 1: Create the product listing

1. Go to Products in the Shopify admin
2. Create a product to sell access to your membership:
   1. Name: “Premium Membership” (or similar)
   2. Price: (optional) $39-$49
   3. Turn off inventory tracking + “physical product” settings
   4. Add any marketing copy or images to sell the membership

Step 2: Create the Membership Plan

1. Go to Zendra → Plans
2. Click Create plan
3. Configure:
   • Name: “Premium Membership” (or similar)
   • Type: Membership
   • Product: Choose the listing you’ve just created
   • Merchandising: Enable subscriptions
   • Billing plan: Configure your default cycle ($39-49) to renew every year
     • You can optionally add monthly billing or other intervals (the minimum cycles setting is helpful to force at least a few renewals)

Step 3: Perks > Add Storewide Discount Benefit

1. Scroll to the membership plan’s Perks section
2. Add a Purchasing discount perk
3. Configure:
   • Type: Percentage discount
   • Amount: 10%
   • Applies to: All products (or exclude loss leaders / select specific collections)
   • Dates: Start now, and leave end date unset

This discount will:

• Apply automatically at checkout
• Require no coupon codes
• Be clearly visible to members

Step 4: Perks > Enable Free Shipping for Members

1. Add a second perk under Shipping rates & discounts
2. Create a perk for Free shipping
3. Configure:
   • Checkout label: What members see as the shipping rate title
   • Countries: Choose specific countries where free shipping should be available, if desired

This is a critical perk! For many customers, free shipping alone justifies the membership. Members will automatically see this rate offered at checkout.

Step 5 (Optional): Perks > Member-Only Pricing or Offers

If you want to go beyond Barnes & Noble’s core model:

• Add members-only products for exclusivity
• Create exclusive sales visible only to members by adding time-limited purchasing discounts
• Gate specific collections behind membership access

This is optional, but effective for:

• Seasonal promotions
• Overstock clearance
• Loyalty-driven drops

Common variations

• Offer a monthly option
  • $5 / month alternative
  • Same perks
  • Useful for price-sensitive customers, or those hesitant to commit annually
  • Consider a minimum number of cycles before allowing cancellation (e.g. 3 months)
• Tiered Upgrade
  • Base: 10% off + free shipping
  • Premium: 15% off + early access

Only add tiers if your margins support it.

Summary

This membership configuration succeeds because it’s:

• Easy to understand
• Easy to calculate ROI as a customer
• Easy to operate as a merchant

It’s one of the lowest-friction paid membership models you can launch with Zendra! This is a great starting point for a new program.