Customer accounts
This page is for the store manager and the owner. It covers the running store: knowing how your checkout treats guests and account holders, answering account questions, and keeping the customer data tidy. The choice between guest and account checkout is explained on Customer accounts and guest checkout for businesses.
Know your setup
How the shop collects customer data is decided by the shop account handler, settings/shopaccount.ini [AccountSettings] Handler, shipped as ezuser (same page):
| Handler | What your customers experience |
|---|---|
ezuser (shipped) | Everyone fills a form at checkout; guests buy without an account; signed-in customers find their details filled in |
ezdefault | Customers must sign in; visitors are sent to the login page and back to the basket |
ezsimple | Customers are sent to shop/register for their data |
bcusauser | The ezuser form with a US address model |
Ask your partner which one your store uses and write it into your store notes. The Store dashboard's "How your shop works" section also names it (Store dashboard and order statuses).
The customer list
Store > Customers (shop/customerlist) shows who bought, and the customer order view
(shop/customerorderview) lists one customer's orders, found by customer and e-mail address
(kernel/shop/module.php). Both need shop/administrate. The dashboard counts new, returning and all-time customers.
Warning
The customer list and order views show names, addresses and order histories. Give shop/administrate only to
people who need it, each with their own account (Store security checklist).
Account questions from customers
| Question | Who answers | How |
|---|---|---|
| "I forgot my password" | The customer | The site's own password reset (Accounts and sign-in) |
| "I never got the activation mail" | Store manager or administrator | Check the account in Users; see Accounts and sign-in |
| "Change my e-mail address" | The customer in their profile, or an administrator | Account editing |
| "Stop sending me offers" | The customer, by the link in the mail or the preferences page | E-mail preferences |
| "Delete my account and data" | Owner decides, administrator acts | GDPR requests |
| "Can I buy without an account?" | Store manager | Yes with ezuser; not with ezdefault |
Tidying accounts
Users > Check user accounts (user/hygiene) lists accounts nobody uses, accounts that are disabled or locked,
accounts that lost their user object, and accounts that share an e-mail address
(Check user accounts).
- To do: Quarterly: look at the list with the owner and decide what to do with long-unused customer accounts, in line with your retention rules (Data export and erasure).
- To do: Staff accounts of people who left are disabled the same day.
- To do: Removing a user is final: user objects do not go to the trash (same page). Check open orders first.
What accounts give your customers
From Customer accounts and guest checkout for businesses: signed-in customers get their address filled in, a wishlist (Wishlists and baskets), discount groups (Discounts), and their receipts without the link. Guests get none of these, but can keep their receipt link if permanent receipts are on (Invoices and receipts).
Related pages
- Customer accounts and guest checkout for businesses
- Accounts and sign-in
- GDPR requests
- Check user accounts
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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