Overview
Every registered Website user is assigned to at least one Customer account (with a unique Customer Code). Most Customer Codes are associated with specific customer accounts and may be from your ERP. There is also at least one default Customer Code, usually that assigned to B2C users for self-registration purposes. And depending on your business requirements, there may be Customer Codes for staff users. Apart from accounting purposes, assigning users to Customer Codes is critical for determining a user's access to features, functions, and even prices (and more) when they are logged onto your site.
When a user is created on the Customer Self Service eCommerce Platform, they must be assigned to at least one Customer Code. If they are linked to a single Customer Code, this will automatically be set as their default Customer account. If they are linked to more than one Customer account, one of these must be set as the default. Setting or changing the default Customer for a user is done by users with the Administrator role.
When a user logs onto your site, they are automatically taken into their default Customer account. (If they have other Customer accounts, they can switch accounts at any time.)
Setting the default Customer for self-registered users
Your administrative staff can manually add or bulk upload users and assign them to Customer accounts. These methods are used most often to populate B2B users for your website.
A visitor to your website can also initiate user account creation. This is done by filling in the form on the Register page or by opting to create an account when an order is submitted.
Both processes will trigger the system to create a new user account. When a new user is created this way, the system automatically assigns the default Customer Code for B2C users to all new users. Unless a custom change was made to your site, this Customer Code is 'WEBSALES'.
More about assigning the default Customer account...
B2C Users
B2C users are standalone purchasers who are purchasing for a business. If your site allows purchases by Guest users, they remain unregistered. If they sign up for a user account, a new user account is created and they are assigned to the default Customer Code 'WEBSALES'. The standard practice is for this Customer Code to remain their default Customer account, although this can be changed to suit business practices.
B2B Users
B2B users are trade purchasers and so the Customer Codes assigned to B2B users are connected to business Customer accounts. When a B2B user self-registers on your website, the standard registration form is supplied with a field to enter the Customer Code. This is for users whose businesses may already be in the system and the new user knows the Customer Code. If they do not enter a valid Customer Code in this field or leaves it blank, their user account will be created with the initial default B2C Customer Code 'WEBSALES'. This serves as a placeholder default Customer Code that administrative staff can change manually in the CMS.
Step-by-step guide
This guide provides instructions on changing the default Customer account for a User.
- In the CMS, navigate to Users → Website Users.
- Use Search to find the user and click Edit.
In the Edit User page, the current default Customer account is displayed in Default Customer Account. To change it, select an alternate from the dropdown list.
1. As Administrator, login to your website.
2. From the Account Selection menu, select Customer Maintenance.
3. In the Search For box, enter one or more letters and numbers and click Search.
3. The Customers matching the search criteria will be listed. Find the correct one.
To save this change, click Save & Exit. If the new default Customer account did not exist in the Customer Details section, it will be added upon saving.
Delete a default Customer from a user
Customer Codes assigned to a user can be deleted by ticking the Delete? checkbox in the Customer Details section when editing the user.
IMPORTANT - A default Customer Account cannot be deleted. Change the default Customer account and then delete the old default Customer.
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