ADvance release notes – March 2025

What’s new?

This release includes the much-requested ability to allow subscribers Apple Pay and Google Pay options (via Stripe payment portal). This is the first of a series of checkout enhancements coming in next few weeks. We’ve also included some quality of life improvements for variant management.

Allow subscribers to pay by Apple Pay and Google Pay (New checkout only via Stripe)

Reduce friction on the subscription flow and allow subscribers to pay in a way that is both familiar and straightforward.

In order to implement this new functionality, the following steps are required: 

1 - Update your Stripe account so that the checkout domains will accept Apple Pay and Google Pay

Here are some links to help with this: 

https://support.stripe.com/questions/enable-apple-pay-on-your-stripe-account

https://stripe.com/gb/resources/more/google-pay-an-in-depth-guide

https://stripe.com/gb/resources/more/how-to-accept-apple-pay

2 - Configuration on ADvance database

Contact Abacus to update this configuration setting so that Apple Pay and Google Pay are active.

Once these tasks have been successfully completed, this will enable card payments (both one-off and continuous) to be taken via Google Pay or ApplePay.  The option to pay using Apple Pay or Google Pay will only appear where the user has the digital wallet set up on their device.

If these payment methods are not activated, either in Stripe/ADvance or on the subscriber browser/device, they will simply see the usual card payment options:

However, if the criteria are met then the subscriber will see an option to pay by Credit Card/Digital Wallets (and the GPay or Apple Pay logo will be displayed):

Selecting this option will open up a further selection criteria, where the subscriber can select either card or Google/Apple Pay payment method:

Here is a view of Apple Pay on a mobile device:

And Apple Pay on a Mac:

And then they are directed to the Google/Apple Pay confirmation (with the option to select which card if there are multiple set up):

Once the transaction is completed, this will take payment from the card as usual and will show in the ADvance system as a payment by Credit/Debit Card.*

This functionality is limited to those clients who have already migrated to the new updated checkout flows. If you are interested in finding out more about this, and the significant conversion improvements seen by clients on the new checkout, please contact your account director.

Reporting functionality was made available via a patch on 9th April 2025.  In BI there is a new field called Wallet Type which is available in 2 folders:

• Orders > Payments

• Orders > Order Details

Possible values for the field are ApplePay; GooglePay; Masterpass; SamsungPay; VisaCheckout; Link

Improvements to the variant screen - managing price increases

The process of linking variants for continuous payment methods has been improved to provide additional clarity for the user. 

When linking to an offer which has several variants with similar names, it could be tricky to ensure that users select the correct one. 

This improvement brings the variant id into the flow which will help to eliminate any mistakes. The Product Variants page within an offer now lists the variant id:

The Variant ID can now be used as an additional reference when linking variants. The screen now has 2 options for selecting the linked variant with Variant ID being the new option:

It is still possible to select the offer from a dropdown and then select the variant:

You will notice that the Variant ID is listed for clarity.

It is also possible to simply add the variant id of the linked variant (add to the search box and either tab or click outside the box to execute):

This will select the exact variant.

New BI Library query - BIL_Live_Subscribers_by_Brand_OrderID 

This BI Library query  can be exported as a one-off file or exported via odata to form part of wider reporting and analysis.

It lists all live subscribers based on the dates in the filters and includes the order id in the export fields so that it will be possible to join this data to order information for more detailed analysis. 

This query forms the basis of the Live Subscribers pages on bespoke Power BI dashboards.

You can see information on this BI query here:BIL_Live_Subscribers_by_Brand_OrderID  as well as information on other BI Library queries.

Fixes and improvements

• Ensuring that the variable ##CustomerFirstName## works on ALL email text assets in the system.
• Remove option to extend orders which are paid by continuous payment method.
• Fixed issue with auto-association on corporate orders which contain products from different brands.
• Fixed reporting visual issue on orders where VAT has been exempted.
• Fixed issue where subscriber campaign efforts were not displayed in ADvance back end.
• BIL_List_Variants_in_Product_Offer now includes variants which are in Draft status.
• If a party does not have any active credentials for the brand where an autologin token is being output in BI, the token value will be output as blank.