Customer Account Basics

Overview

Individual Customer Accounts allow returning customers to:

• Retrieve their shipping and billing information
• View their order history
• Quickly re-order a past order. 

Payment information is not stored.

Creating Accounts

Customer-Initiated Sign Up

Customer-initiated accounts allow your customers to create an account with a user name and password of their choosing. 

Your customers will have the opportunity to create an account:

• On the Create an Account page
• During the checkout process when placing an order (retail accounts)

Customer-initiated accounts will automatically be added to your Accounts Manager.

Create Accounts Manually

Accounts can be created manually through the Site Manager.

1. Click "accounts" to access your Accounts Manager
   

   

2. Click "New Record"
   

   

3. Fill out the fields for the account. At minimum, you will need to fill in a user name and password, plus set Active to Yes.
   

   

4. Save.

Approving Accounts

Retail Customer Accounts

Customer-initiated retail accounts are automatically set to be active accounts and the customer may log into their account immediately. You do not need to take any action.

Wholesale Customer Accounts

If your site offers wholesale customer accounts, you will receive and email when someone signs up for a wholesale account. Depending on the specific requirements of your site, you may need to activate the account before the customer can log in.

To activate an account:

1. Click "accounts" to access the Accounts Manager.
   

   

2. Click "Edit" next to the account you want to edit.
   

   

3. Set Active to Yes.
   

   

4. Set the appropriate account group (if wholesale is enabled).
   

   

5. Save changes.

Logging In to An Account

Customers may log into their account using the Account Login link on the site.

Site owners can log into a customer's account from the Accounts Manager.

1. Click the "accounts" link to access the Accounts Manager.
   
   

   

2. Click "log in as customer"
   
   

   
   

Resetting Customer Passwords

To reset a customer's account password:

1. Follow the steps above to "Log In to a User Account" for the user whose password needs reset
   
2. Click "View/Update Account" link after logging in as the user.
   
3. Enter a password in the "Update Your Password" area that you will be temporarily setting the password to
   
   4. Notify the customer that their password has been reset and provide them with the new password. Be sure to tell them they can also change their password at anytime by clicking "My Account" and going to "View/Update Account" 

Disabling Accounts

To disable an account:

1. Click "accounts" to access the Accounts Manager.
   

   

2. Click "Edit" next to the account you want to change.
   

   

3. Set Active to no.
   

   

4. Save changes.

Password Retrieval

Passwords for an account can be retrieved by using the Forgot Password form.

The password will be sent to the email address on file for the account. If the email address for the account has changed, the customer may contact you to change the password.

Messages Related to Accounts

There are a number of items in your Messages Manager that are displayed on various accounts pages throughout your site.

To edit messages:

1. Click "messages" to access the Messages Manager
   

   

2. Click "Edit Message" for one of the following items (message contents show in red box).
   

   

• Intro for Account Log In Page
  

  

• Retail New Account Intro
  

  

• Retail Account Thank You
  

  

• Wholesale Account Request Intro
  

  

• Wholesale Account Thank You/Instructions