[intro]The Customer Login feature is a functionality that allows your customers to create accounts on your EKM online shop. This allows customers to make Wish Lists of your Products and you can create offers in the Discount Management feature that are specific to customers who have logged into their accounts. [/intro]

[summary]

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The Customer Login feature is an excellent choice to encourage customer loyalty and give your customers more control over their orders. Customers can create an account on your EKM online shop, where they can amend their details, view previous orders, duplicate previous orders and create Wish Lists of Products they’re planning to purchase in the future which they can share with friends.

[remember] This functionality is only available to shops on the Basic, Standard, Advanced and Pro Tiers; Legacy shops will need to upgrade to be able to receive this functionality. If your shop is on a Basic, Standard, Advanced or Pro tier and the Wish List button is not visible Product Page, your EKM online shop may be in Custom Mode. Please contact our Customer Support Team who will be able to resolve this for you. [/remember]

Installing Customer Login

1. To install the Customer Login feature, click Features on the left-hand menu:

2. Click the Feature Library tab:

3. Scroll down to the Shop Management Features and click the View More button:

4. Click the Customer Login icon:

5. Click the green Install Feature button:

6. Click the green Launch button on the top right-hand side:

7. You’ll now see the first page of the Customer Login feature:

8. Now you have installed the Customer Login feature, customers can create and log into accounts on your EKM online shop. Where and how they do that depends on the settings within the feature itself.

  • Enable Checkout Customer Login - This offers customers the opportunity to create an account on your EKM online shop on the Checkout Flow.
  • Enable Guest Checkout - This is so that customers who don’t have accounts will not be forced to create an account to complete their purchase.

[remember] Whilst enabling Checkout Customer Login is ideal for some kinds of EKM online shops, it is not for others. If you use an express Payment Gateway - such as Paypal Express for example - these payment methods direct customers away from your Checkout flow, which will prevent them from logging into their account that way. To combat this, you need to ensure that the Customer Login fields are elsewhere on your EKM online shop too.[/remember]

How Customers Create Accounts

Homepage Login

At this point, it is worth opening a separate browser tab, visiting your EKM online shop via its domain name and looking for the Customer Login fields. Most Themes will already have the element for Customer Login added and once the feature has been installed, you’ll see the Custom Login symbol on the homepage. For example, using the ‘North’ responsive Theme on my test shop, you’ll see the Customer Login symbol on the top right of the homepage:

Checkout Flow Login

There are two prompts for customers on the Checkout Flow. When a customer has entered the Checkout Flow to pay for their order and they enter their email address in the first field provided, you’ll see the ‘Already have an Account?’ link beneath the field. The customer can then add their password if they already have an account, or click No and create an account at the second prompt:

The Email Address field will search the database, so if a customer has already created an account with that email address, they will be notified. The second prompt - if the customer did not log into an existing account at the first prompt - is on the Order Complete page which is displayed after the customer has paid for their order:

Adding Customers Manually

You can add customers to your EKM online shop manually if for whatever reason they are unable to create an account themselves, or for example, you have obtained their details and written consent in paper format and need to convert these details into a shop account.

[caution] Creating accounts manually for your customers involves you having to adhere to GDPR legislation, as you will be collecting personal data from your customers and processing it to create an account. To do this, you need to ensure that the customer has expressed their consent for you to create an account for them, and this consent should be recorded and stored safely in your records. Whilst this Support Guide is for guidance, any personal information contained within our customer's EKM online shops is their responsibility. We have taken security measures to ensure that our customers are protected against loss, alteration or misuse but GDPR compliance is the sole responsibility of the website/business owner.[/caution]

1. To manually create a customer account on your EKM online shop, you need to click Orders on the left-hand menu:

2. Then click Customers from the drop-down options:

3. Click Add Customer in the top right-hand corner:

You will then see the fields displayed for you to add your customer's details before you press the green Save button on the top right:

[tips]It’s also a good idea to click within the Note area too and record how you obtained the customer details, when you created the account and how the customer gave their consent for your own GDPR records.[/tips]

4. When you’ve pressed the Save button, the page will update, so you can see what information you have saved for this customer so far. Click the Send Email button to prompt your customer to set up a password for their account:

5. The email that the customer receives from your shop will look something like this:

6. When the customer has clicked the link within the email, they will go to this page to set up the password for their account:

Orders

1. For customers who have created an account on your EKM online shop, when they log into their accounts, they will be presented with this page. Click the Order button:

[remember]To allow your customers to create Wish Lists within their accounts, you need to install the Wish List feature by following the steps in this Guide.[/remember]

2. This will list all of the items previously ordered. Using the three buttons to the right, customers can click to see all of the details of an order (such as the shipping and billing addresses, etc.), place the order again or contact the shop directly about the order:

Account

1. Click the Your Account Tab:

2. Customers can amend their Name, Email Address and Password from this page:

[more]

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[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Ecommerce Expert or the Customer Support Team, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions Board. If you have a non-account-specific question to ask the EKM Team, join us in the EKM Community. [/contact]