# Memberships (/en/businesses/shop/memberships)
Memberships package ongoing value for regular customers. A membership can charge once or renew automatically, grant credits and session cards, adjust reservation prices and booking rights, and connect membership validity to physical access.
The guides in this section cover the membership product and the day-to-day member lifecycle. Start from the task you are working on.
## Plan the membership [#plan-the-membership]
## Configure billing and sales [#configure-billing-and-sales]
## Operate memberships [#operate-memberships]
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## How a membership works [#how-a-membership-works]
A membership has two layers:
* The **membership product** defines what new customers buy: price, validity or renewal terms, benefits, visibility, and integrations.
* The **member record** stores one customer's dates, payment state, recurring terms, and individual adjustments such as pauses or discounted periods.
This distinction matters after launch. Changes to benefits and membership reach generally affect current members because they belong to the product. Changes to price, duration, billing cadence, and contract terms apply to future members; existing member records keep the terms captured when they joined unless staff update them separately.
## Membership lifecycle [#membership-lifecycle]
```text
Membership product created
→ made visible, shared by direct link, or kept unavailable
→ customer purchases or staff adds a member
→ benefits become available during the member's validity
→ recurring memberships renew until cancellation or contract completion
→ membership expires, is removed by staff, or becomes restricted after unpaid renewals
```
Trials, introductory pricing, Goodwill pricing, and pauses add stages to this lifecycle without creating a different membership type. Physical access also depends on the connected provider and its membership integration.
