Customer Management

Search for and edit existing customers or create a new customer. Creating new customers in store administration is useful when HostedStore is used as an order processing application for phone, mail order, and retail based sales. Even though the customer did not place the order via the Web, they will have access to all of the features in the customer account area.

In addition to basic contact information, customer records also contain preferences for whether or not the customer's wish list is publicly searchable, whether or not the customer is subscribed to the store newsletter, and whether or not the customer is approved to purchase using a purchase order (assuming, of course, that purchase orders have been specified as a valid payment option in the store configuration). Customer membership creation and expiration dates can also be adjusted if memberships have been enabled for the store.

Access to an interface for emailing customers is also provided. Email a single customer, all customers, or all newsletter subscribers using a browser form. For stores with a large number of customers it is recommended that mailing list software is used for sending email to a large number of recipients. This interface is just provided as a convenience. Specialized software should be used for regular mailings.