In e-commerce, it's essential to know your customers. This is the only way to tailor your online shop to them and process their inquiries efficiently. A structured overview that provides insight into individual data and purchase histories is therefore indispensable.
A major advantage of Shopify as a commerce platform is its natively integrated customer management system. You don't necessarily need external CRM software to create and manage your customer profiles. In this guide, we'll give you a complete overview of the most important customer management options in Shopify that you should know about.
Our e-commerce expert Adrian has already helped numerous brands launch on Shopify. In his book, Shopify for Dummies, he provides retailers with all the essential information they need to navigate Shopify ( view on Amazon / view at your local bookstore ).
1. What is a CRM system?
A CRM system, short for "Customer Relationship Management," helps online retailers manage their relationships with customers. Shopify, for example, integrates options for storing important information such as contact details and purchase history.
You can then use this data to, for example, optimize your customer support, sharpen your marketing, or even better tailor your store to the needs of your target audience. Your brand benefits enormously from the relationships each person maintains with you, your brand, and your products. Therefore, it's essential to address each customer personally and appropriately. If you know exactly what someone has previously purchased, you can provide expert advice and support without any detours.
Overall, a CRM not only helps you keep track of all important information, but also builds stronger relationships and helps you understand your customers better.
1.1. When is an external CRM solution worthwhile?
In our experience, small to medium-sized online stores are quite satisfied with Shopify's in-house CRM system. This applies especially to basic tasks, such as managing contacts, tracking orders, and simple communication. For stores whose primary focus isn't on complex customer interaction strategies, we believe this system offers a solid foundation.
However, we've noticed that when it comes to specific and advanced requirements, Shopify's native customer management features reach their limits. This is especially true when it comes to automating complex marketing campaigns, detailed analytics, segmentation, or integrating with other sales channels.
Then we recommend external solutions with in-depth functions and more flexible customization options to meet your individual needs.
2. Managing Customers in Shopify: An Overview
In the Shopify backend, you'll find the "Customers" menu item. This is the area where you'll find all the important functions related to customer management for your online store.
You will then receive an overview with information about your customers:
- Customer name: Here you can find the first and last names of your customers.
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Email Subscription: This section shows whether the person has opted in to receive email marketing from you. There are three status options:
- Unsubscribed: The person does not want to receive email marketing from you.
- Subscribed: The person has agreed to receive email marketing from you.
- Pending: The person has shown interest but has not yet confirmed the final confirmation email.
- Location: This information includes the person's primary delivery address, which consists of city and country.
- Orders: This number indicates how often the person has already shopped in your online store.
- Amount spent: This displays the total amount of all previous orders the person has placed in your online store.
3. Create customer profiles in Shopify: How it works
Shopify automatically creates customer profiles in the background under the following circumstances:
- When someone places an order in your online store.
- When someone adds a product to their shopping cart and enters their contact information at checkout, but doesn't complete the purchase.
- When someone decides to create a customer account in your online store, regardless of whether a purchase is made or not.
An existing profile does not necessarily mean that the person has already purchased from you.
Customer profiles in Shopify are identified by their email address. If a purchase is made using the same email address, all corresponding orders will be assigned to the same customer profile. However, if the same person uses different email addresses for different orders, Shopify treats each address as a separate person and creates individual profiles accordingly.
However, you can also create customers manually in Shopify. This could be relevant, for example, for telephone contact or brick-and-mortar stores. To create a customer profile yourself, simply click the "Add Customer" button in the "Customers" section. This will open an input screen where you can enter all the necessary information for the customer profile yourself.
3.1. What information can you store in a customer profile on Shopify?
What data can you collect and display about your customers in Shopify? We'll give you an overview:
- General metrics: At the top of a customer's profile, you can see the most important metrics at a glance. Here you can see how many orders have been placed and how much money has been spent in total. This gives you a first impression of whether they're a new or a loyal customer.
- Last Order: Directly below the key figures, you'll find details about the customer's last order. You can view the order number and the purchased products, along with additional details. If you want to review older orders, simply click on "All Orders." Here, you also have the option to manually create a new order for the customer.
- Contact information: Here you can find detailed contact information for your customers, such as: email address, preferred language for notifications, default delivery address, marketing preferences and any tax exemptions.
- Customer History: Similar to the Orders section, your customer history is also displayed in a history. Here you can view all past activities, such as placing orders, receiving order confirmations, and creating an account. You can leave comments here, which can be especially useful when handling customer service requests and having made certain agreements.
- Customer tags: Tags are a useful tool in Shopify for identifying products, orders, or customers. These tags not only help you filter and structure your data, but also help you find customers more quickly and create segments. You can learn everything about tags in Shopify in our blog.
- Notes in customer profiles: Notes are another way to note important information in a profile. These can be added by both you and apps and are often useful because they are easier to read than comments on the timeline.
3.2. Making effective use of customer profiles - How to do it:
When using Shopify, you have many features available to help you work effectively with customer profiles. Here are some of the options you can access using the "More Actions" button:
- Send an account invitation: Customers have the option to create a profile in your online store. If someone doesn't know how to set up an account, you can send an invitation directly from their profile in the admin area. To do so, click "Send account invitation" under "More actions." The person will then receive an email from Shopify with a link to create an account. You can customize the notification in the Shopify settings under "Settings -> Notifications -> Account Invitation."
- Merge customer profiles: If a person has placed orders using multiple email addresses but wants to see all orders in a single customer profile, you can merge the profiles. To do so, select "Merge Customers" under "More Actions."
- Request customer data: According to GDPR regulations, customers have the right to access the data collected. If you receive such a request, you can access the data directly from the customer profile. To do so, select "Request customer data" under "More actions."
- Delete personal data: Customers can also request that their personal data be deleted. Shopify allows you to technically fulfill this request. To do so, select "Delete personal data" under "More actions."
- Delete customer profile: If you want to completely delete a profile, you can do so by selecting "Delete customer" under "More actions." Please note that this step is final and cannot be undone.
4. Filter customers in Shopify
Similar to orders or products, the Shopify Admin makes it easy for you to filter your existing customers in the overview and search for specific criteria. Two options are available: predefined templates and custom filters.
4.1. Filter customers using predefined templates
To use a predefined template, simply select "Template." A selection of predefined logics will then appear on the right side of the screen.
These logics allow you to quickly select specific customer groups and view their customer profiles. They are particularly useful for identifying which customers meet certain criteria. For example, these could be people who recently placed an order and activated email marketing, or people who recently spent a large amount.
4.2. Create your own filters for customer profiles
While the predefined templates are handy for getting started quickly, they may not cover exactly what you're looking for. In such cases, it's helpful to set your own filters. Simply click on the "Filter" term in the page header, which will open a variety of filter options for you to use.
With these filters, you can, for example, search specifically for profiles that contain certain tags, or display all clients from a specific city. There are many other options, giving you plenty of room to experiment.
4.3. Save customer groups & segments
If you've discovered interesting filter options and characteristics in Shopify that you'd like to use regularly, you can save them as a corresponding customer segment. To do so, simply click "Save Segment" under your defined logic. Give your new segment a name, and it will be visible and accessible at any time in the "Segments" section of your store backend.
These segments allow you to quickly tag many customers with identical characteristics, facilitating communication and deeper analysis. While these features may seem unspectacular at first glance, in our experience, they help you organize your customer structure and better understand it.
5. The most important customer-related actions in Shopify
5.1. Exporting customers
If you need customer data once and want to export it, you can easily do so in Shopify. Click the "Export" button to specify details in the input screen that appears. Shopify will then create a CSV file and export the customer profiles for you.
5.2. Search for customers
If you're specifically looking for a specific customer, perhaps because they contacted support, simply use the search function. Click on the search bar with the magnifying glass icon and the label "Search Customers." Enter the person's name, and all matching profiles will be displayed.
5.3. Importing customers
If you want to add profiles to your online store, for example, after an event or from another system, click "Import." Then upload your CSV file. Make sure the CSV file complies with Shopify's specifications. Shopify offers a sample CSV file for download that you can use as a template.
If you receive error messages during upload, it may be due to the formatting of the CSV file. In the US, comma-separated values are common, while semicolons are often used in Germany. To avoid errors, we recommend using tools like Google Spreadsheets, which allow you to save the file directly in the American format.
