Accessing Customer Management

You can access the customer management interface in three ways from your admin panel:

  • Click the arrow button (→) on the "Active Shoppers" card at the top of your admin dashboard
  • Click the "Manage Customers" quick action button below the market status cards
  • Click the "Manage Customers" button in the "Customer & Orders" section
🔑 Access Required: Only market managers and superusers can access the customer management interface.
Why customer management matters: Great customer service keeps shoppers coming back and helps your local food community thrive. This tool gives you everything you need to support your customers quickly and professionally—whether they're checking their balance, renewing their membership, or need help completing an order.

Viewing Customers

The customer list provides a comprehensive view of all customer accounts in your market.

Customer List Features

  • Search: Search by first name, last name, or email address
    • Partial matches work (e.g., "Rob" finds "Robert")
    • Email domain searches work (e.g., "hotmail" finds all "hotmail.com" users)
    • Search one term at a time for best results
  • Filtering: Toggle between showing all users or active users only
  • Sorting: Sort by first name, last name, email, join date, or balance
    • Click column headers to sort
    • Click again to reverse sort order
  • Pagination: View 50, 100, 200, 500, or 1000 customers per page

Customer Status Icons

Quick visual clues to understand your customers at a glance:

  • Purple Shield: Another market manager (like you!)
  • Red Heart: Market volunteer who helps out
  • Green Leaf: Also sells as a grower
  • Yellow Star: Current member (not expired)
  • Blue Card: Payment method on file
  • Orange Alert: Negative balance (needs follow-up)
  • Gray Mail: Opted out of newsletters
đź’ˇ Tip: Hover over the payment card icon to see the last 4 digits of the saved payment method.

Customer Details Modal

Click any customer's name to see their full profile. Here you'll find everything you need to help them—from contact info and order history to balance adjustments and membership status.

🎯 Quick Actions Guide:
To do this...Look here...
Extend membershipMembership Status Section → "Add A Year/Month"
Complete customer's checkoutCart Items Section → "Place Order for Customer"
Update address"Edit Customer Info" button
Make account inactiveSpecial Information Section → Uncheck "Active Account"

Account Information Section

  • Username: Customer's login username
  • Email: Contact email (clickable to send email)
  • Phone: Contact phone number
  • Address: Full mailing address
  • Pickup Location: Assigned pickup location (if enabled for your market)

Payment Information

When you've enabled Stripe payments, you'll see:

  • Any saved payment methods (card type and last 4 digits)
  • If the customer hasn't saved a card, this section shows "No saved payment method"
  • Privacy Note: Full card numbers are never displayed for security

Membership Status Section

Manage customer membership (when membership is required):

  • View current expiration date or trial orders remaining (some markets allow new customers to place a limited number of orders before requiring membership purchase)
  • Add or remove time (months or years)
  • Set specific expiration date
  • Market managers and approved growers don't require membership

Recent Orders Section

View customer's order history:

  • Order date (clickable to view full order details)
  • Order price and applied balance
  • Membership purchase indicator
  • Scrollable list of recent orders

Cart Items

See what the customer has ready to order:

  • Each item's name, quantity, unit, and price
  • Total cart value
  • Place Order for Customer button (only shows when ordering is open)
Need to help a customer finish their order? If they're having trouble checking out, you can complete their order for them right from here. See "Place Order for Customer" below for details.

Account Balance Section

Manage customer account balance:

  • Current balance displayed prominently
  • Adjustment amount field (positive or negative)
  • Quick reason selection or custom reason entry
  • Apply to Open Orders: Check this to automatically apply the balance adjustment to reduce any outstanding balances on unpaid orders
đź’ˇ Understanding Negative Balances: When a customer's balance is negative, they owe the market money. This typically happens when:
  • They've used "pay at pickup" and haven't paid yet
  • An order was placed that exceeded their current account balance
  • A correction or fee was applied to their account

Recent Adjustments Section

View balance adjustment history:

  • Date, amount, and reason for each adjustment
  • Clickable dates to view adjustment details
  • Complete audit trail of balance changes

Grower Information Section

If the customer is also a grower, this section displays grower-specific information:

  • Grower name and approval status
  • Number of active products
  • Grower account balance

User Comments Section

View and manage internal notes about the customer:

  • Market manager comments visible only to administrators
  • Edit comments when editing customer information
  • Useful for tracking customer preferences or special circumstances
  • Automatic email notifications: The mail server automatically adds comments if email deliveries to the customer's address fail for any reason

Customer Management Actions

Edit Customer Information

Update customer account details:

  1. Click "Edit Customer Info" button
  2. Update any of the following fields:
    • First and last name
    • Email address (required)
    • Phone number
    • Complete mailing address
    • Pickup location assignment
    • Internal market manager comments
  3. Click "Save Changes" to update
  4. Success message appears when saved
⚠️ Required Fields: Last name and email address are required for all customer accounts.

Adjust Account Balance

Add or subtract funds from a customer's account when they pay cash, receive a refund, or need a correction:

  1. Enter the adjustment amount
    • Positive numbers add money (like cash payments)
    • Negative numbers deduct money (like corrections or fees)
  2. Pick a reason from the dropdown, or type your own (this creates an audit trail)
  3. Check "Apply to all open orders" if this payment should cover pending orders
  4. Click "Adjust Balance"
  5. You'll see a success message, and the new balance appears immediately

Common Balance Adjustment Reasons

  • Customer Paid Cash: Customer made cash payment
  • Customer Paid Check: Customer paid by check
  • Promotional Credit: Marketing or promotional credit
  • Refund: Product issue or order cancellation refund
  • Correction: Fix billing or calculation error
  • Other: Custom reason entered by manager

Update Membership

Manage customer membership status (when membership is required):

  1. Select adjustment type:
    • Add A Year
    • Add A Month
    • Remove A Year
    • Remove A Month
  2. OR set specific expiration date using date picker
  3. Click "Update Membership"
  4. Membership status updates with confirmation

Update Special Information

Manage customer privileges and settings:

  • Market Manager: Grant or revoke admin access
  • Market Volunteer: Mark as volunteer (can help fulfill orders)
  • Wholesale Account: Enable wholesale pricing
  • Receives Mailings: Include/exclude from email newsletters
  • Active Account: Enable/disable account access
  • Line Position: Determines when customer's order is fulfilled if products sell out
    • Always first in line: Gets priority access to limited inventory (useful for volunteers or special cases)
    • First come, first served (default): Normal ordering—first to order, first served
    • Always last in line: Receives items only after other customers (rarely used)

Place Order for Customer

Sometimes customers need a helping hand. When the ordering window is open, you can complete their checkout for them—perfect for technical issues or assisting those who aren't comfortable with online checkout:

  1. Verify customer has items in their cart
  2. Click "Place Order for Customer" button in the Cart Items section
  3. Confirm the order placement
  4. Order is created with admin attribution in order comments
  5. Customer's cart is automatically cleared
  6. Order confirmation displays with order number
When to use this:
  • Customer's having trouble with the checkout button or payment processing
  • Customer added items to cart but can't complete the checkout
  • Last-minute help for customers who are stuck at checkout
  • Helping customers who need accessibility support with the checkout process
⚠️ Requirements:
  • Ordering window must be open
  • Customer must have items in their cart
  • Only admins can place orders for customers
  • Order comment automatically includes admin name for tracking
⚠️ Ordering Window Closed: The "Place Order for Customer" button only appears when your market's ordering window is open. If a customer needs to place an urgent order outside the normal window, contact your market administrator about temporarily opening ordering or using the manual order feature.

Delete Customer Account

Remove inactive customer accounts when appropriate:

Deletion Requirements

  • Account must be inactive
  • Customer must have NO orders in system
  • Customer must have NO prepayments

Deletion Process

  1. Ensure account meets all deletion requirements
  2. Delete Account button appears in modal
  3. Click "Delete Account"
  4. Confirm deletion (cannot be undone)
  5. Account is permanently removed
⚠️ Warning: Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Only delete accounts that meet all requirements.

Best Practices

Customer Service Tips

  • Be responsive: Quick replies to balance and membership questions keep customers happy
  • Document everything: Clear reasons for balance adjustments help everyone stay on the same page
  • Remember preferences: Use manager comments to note things like "prefers text messages" or "allergic to nuts"
  • Stay proactive: Check for negative balances weekly and reach out before they become an issue

Account Management

  • Verify customer information is accurate, especially email addresses
  • Keep pickup location assignments current
  • Monitor membership expirations and send renewal reminders
  • Use the active/inactive toggle rather than deleting accounts

Security & Privacy

  • Only share customer information with authorized personnel
  • Don't include sensitive information in market manager comments
  • Verify customer identity before making account changes by phone
  • Keep balance adjustment reasons professional and factual

Placing Orders for Customers

  • Before placing: Confirm cart contents and pickup location with customer
  • Check balance: Ensure customer has sufficient funds or note they'll pay at pickup
  • Place order: Click "Place Order for Customer" and confirm
  • Confirm with customer: Provide order number and let them know a confirmation email is on the way
  • Document if needed: Add notes about special circumstances to order comments

Common Tasks

Extend Membership for Loyal Customer

  1. Open customer details
  2. Go to Membership Status section
  3. Select "Add A Year" or "Add A Month"
  4. Click "Update Membership"
  5. Notify customer of the courtesy extension

Help Customer Complete Their Checkout

  1. Verify the customer has added items to their cart but is unable to complete checkout
  2. Find and open their customer details
  3. Review the Cart Items section to see what they're ordering
  4. Click "Place Order for Customer"
  5. Confirm when prompted
  6. Let the customer know their order is complete and they'll get an email confirmation

Fix Address for Customer

  1. Open customer details
  2. Click "Edit Customer Info"
  3. Update address fields
  4. Update pickup location if needed
  5. Click "Save Changes"

Mark Account Inactive

  1. Open customer details
  2. Go to Special Information section
  3. Uncheck "Active Account"
  4. Click "Update Special Info"
  5. Account is now inactive but preserved in system

Troubleshooting

Balance Adjustment Not Showing

  • Verify adjustment was saved (success message appeared)
  • Refresh the customer details modal
  • Check Recent Adjustments section for confirmation
  • Verify adjustment amount was entered correctly

Can't Place Order for Customer

If the "Place Order for Customer" button isn't showing up or isn't working, check:

  • Is ordering open right now? The button only appears during ordering windows
  • Does the customer have items in their cart? Empty carts can't be ordered
  • Do you have admin privileges? Only market managers can place orders for customers
  • Is the customer's account active? Inactive accounts can't place orders
  • Do they have a pickup location assigned? Some markets require this

Customer Can't Login

  • Verify account is marked as active
  • Check email address is correct
  • Send password reset link if needed
  • Check if account was accidentally deleted

Related Documentation

Explore these related topics to better manage your market: