Adding and managing B2B customers

You can add a new or an existing customer to a company and a company location. You can also customize and send the B2B access email notification.

After you create a catalog and a company, customers for that company access catalogs by logging in to their profile in your online store. When the customer logs in, they're prompted to enter a six-digit verification code that is sent to their email address.

Adding a customer to a company

You can add an existing customer to a company and then select the locations to which the customer has access, or add the customer to a location directly. If you add a customer to a location, then that customer will only have permissions for the specific location that you add them to. Customers can be added from your list of existing customers, or created on the Companies page.

When you assign a customer to a company or create a new B2B customer profile, you select one of the following permissions to assign to them:

  • Ordering only - The customer can make purchases for the company location and view the list of orders that they have placed.
  • Location admin - The customer can make purchases for the company location and view the list of orders that all customers have placed for that location and can edit billing and shipping addresses from their account page.

Add a customer to a company from a company page

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
  2. Click the company that you want to add a customer to.
  3. In the Customers section, click ⋮.
  4. Click Add customer.
  5. Add an existing or a new customer to a company location:
    • To add an existing customer to a company location, click the search bar, and then select a customer.
    • To create a new customer profile, click the search bar, and then click Add new customer.
  6. Select the company locations that you want to add a customer to, and then select company permissions next to each company location.
  7. Optional: To migrate your customer's order history to a company location, select Add customer's orders to this location.
  8. Optional: To notify your customer that they can start placing B2B orders, select Notify customer that they can start placing B2B orders.
  9. Click Save.

Add a customer to a company from a company location

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
  2. Click the company.
  3. In the Locations section, click a company location that you want to add a customer to.
  4. In the Customers section, click ⋮.
  5. Click Add customer.
  6. Add an existing or a new customer to a company location:
    • To add an existing customer to a company location, click the search bar, and then select a customer.
    • To create a new customer profile, click the search bar, and then click Add new customer.
  7. Select the company locations that you want to add a customer to, and then select company permissions next to each company location.
  8. Optional: To migrate your customer's order history to a company location, select Add customer's orders to this location.
  9. Optional: To notify your customer that they can start placing B2B orders, select Notify customer that they can start placing B2B orders.
  10. Click Save.

Add a customer to a company from a customer profile

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers.
  2. Click the customer that you want to add to a company.
  3. In the Customer section, click ⋮, and then click Add to company.
  4. Add a customer to an existing company or a new company:
    • To add a customer to an existing company, click the search bar, and then select a company.
    • To create a new company, click the search bar, and then click Add new company.
  5. Select the company locations that you want to add a customer to, and then select company permissions next to each company location.
  6. Optional: To migrate your customer's order history to a company location, select Add customer's orders to this location.
  7. Optional: To notify your customer that they can start placing B2B orders, select Notify customer that they can start placing B2B orders.
  8. Click Save.

Removing a customer from a company

You can remove a customer from a company or revoke a customer's persmissions from a specific company location.

If you migrated a customer with D2C orders, then you have an option to remove your customer's migrated orders when removing a customer from a company.

Revoke a customer's permissions for a specific location

You can revoke a customer's permission for a specific company location.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers.
  2. Click the customer that you want to remove from a company location.
  3. In the Permissions section, click Manage.
  4. Deselect the company location that you want to remove the customer from. To remove customer permissions from all locations, deselect all locations for that company. The customer's permissions display in the Company page as No access.
  5. Click Save.

Remove a customer from a company

You can remove a customer from a company. When you delete a customer from a company, the customer's profile isn't deleted.

Steps

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers.
  2. Click the customer that you want to remove from a company.
  3. In the Company section, click ⋮, and then click Remove from company.
  4. Optional: To remove customer's order history from a company, select Remove customer's orders from company.
  5. Click Remove from company.

Customizing and sending the B2B access email notification

When you assign a customer to a company or create a new B2B customer profile, you can send an email to them indicating that they can submit B2B orders on behalf of the company. This notification is optional and can be customized.

Customize the B2B access email notification

You can customize the email notification template that informs your customers that they have access to B2B in your store.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Notifications.
  2. Click Customer notifications.
  3. In the Accounts and outreach section, click B2B access email.
  4. Customize the notification template.
  5. Click Save.

Send the B2B access email notification from a company page

After you have customized your email notification, you can send the email to any new customers you add to a company. You can send the notification to existing customers by performing the following steps:

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
  2. Click a company,
  3. In the Customers section, click Send B2B access email.
  4. Select the customers that you want to send the B2B access email to, and then click Preview email.
  5. Preview the email, and then click Send email.

Send the B2B access email notification from a company location page

You can also send the email notification through a company's location page.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
  2. Click a company.
  3. In the Locations section, click a company location.
  4. In the Customers section, click Send B2B access email.
  5. Select the customers that you want to send the B2B access email to, and then click Preview email.
  6. Preview the email, and then click Send email.

Allow store access to B2B customers only

If you have a dedicated B2B store, then you can restrict access to your store.

Steps:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to Online store > Preferences.
  2. In the Restrict store access section, check Restrict access to B2B customers only.
  3. Click Save.

After you click save, B2B customers must log in before they can visit your store's pages. Direct-to-customer (DTC) customers won't have access to the store.

GDPR and US state privacy laws data requests

The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and US state privacy laws are laws that affect how you manage your customer's data, including the right of a customer to request their personal data or to request that their data is deleted.

The data related to B2B customers also includes the following data from the company that the customer purchases for:

  • Orders
  • Email addresses
  • Shipping and billing addresses
  • Phone numbers

You can update your privacy policy to clarify how customer information is shared.

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