Step 2: Create a Wholesale Customer

Now that we've set up a special discount rule for a group of customers, (tagged wholesale in the video above), the next step is to pick which customers get this special discount. 

There are several ways to create wholesale customer accounts.  We'll list a few of them below.  Choose whichever method you like, or try them all.

It's all about the Customer Tags

In order for the prices on your store to change to wholesale, or to see any wholesale functionality a tag on the customer account must match a tag that you are using for a discount rule in Wholesale Gorilla. 

Wholesale Gorilla recognizes a customer as 'wholesale' when a tag on their account matches a tag on a discount rule set in the app.  A customer account can be covered in tags, but until there is a match with a discount rule tag they will be treated as a regular retail customer.

There are three ways to create a wholesale customer account:

Existing Customers New Customers Wholesale Registration Form

If you already have a customer account set up in your Shopify admin, use this method to convert their account to a wholesale account.

1. Go to Shopify Admin and and click Customers on the left
2. Click on an existing customer to access their account.
3. Scroll down to the Tags section.
4. Type in the customer tag (e.g. wholesale) you set up when you created a discount in the previous step.
   
5. Click Save.

When this customer logs into your store, they will see the special price you set in the previous step.

To create a new customer account from the Shopify admin, follow these steps.

1. In your Shopify admin click Customers.
2. Click Add Customer.
3. Enter the customer contact details.
4. Add the customer tag you set for the discount rule in the previous step (e.g. wholesale).
5. Save.
6. Send the account invite: Next you will need to activate the customer account so you can create a password and log into your store as a b2b customer. In the upper right of the customer's profile page, click More Actions >  Send account invite > and follow the on-screen instructions to send the invite email.
7. Check the email address you entered for this customer, and click the link to set a password and log into your store.

Not seeing the account invitation email?  We can do our best to help, however these emails are generated by Shopify.  Learn more about customer accounts in Shopify.

You can also use a wholesale-specific signup page to create new customer accounts.  This can be a great self-serve way for buyers to get access to your b2b prices and features. 

Configure Sign Up Page

Note: For this Quick Start Guide we'll only be covering a few features of the signup form.  For a complete guide on the Sign Up Page see this article.

1. From the Wholesale Gorilla admin click Customers.
2. Scroll down to the Customer Sign Up section.
3. In the Activation Settings section, fill in the following inputs as needed (all are optional).
   1. Auto-tag customer: When a user signs up with this signup form this tag (or tags) will be automatically added to their account.  Here you can add the tag we set in the previous step.
   2. Taxes: Optionally mark these customers as tax-exempt or not.
   3. Auto-activation: If this is checked, customers that sign up through this form will be able to shop your store as a wholesale customer immediately after signup.  Keep this unchecked if you would like to review their account before granting them access to wholesale features and prices.

Create an Account with the Sign Up Page

1. Scroll up to the top of the Customer Sign Up section, and click See how it looks here to open the signup form.
2. Enter your information and submit the form.
3. Activate the account
   1. If you checked Auto-activation in the step above, your customer will instantly get an email allowing them to set a password and log into your store as a wholesale customer.
   2. If you left Auto-activation unchecked, the store owner will get an email alerting them to a new customer signup.  The store owner will then need to manually send an account invite to the customer.  To send an account invite:
      1. From the Shopify admin click the Customers tab.
      2. Open the new customer account.
      3. Scroll down to the Tags section, and add the wholesale tag you set when you created the wholesale discount rule.
      4. Save

Note!

Are accounts enabled on your store?  Accounts need to be either Optional or Required for Wholesale Gorilla to work properly. Learn more here.

Troubleshooting the Sign Up Page

For a complete guide on the sign up and log in pages, view this article.  here are solutions to a few common issues you may encounter:

• An account with this email already exists: Shopify does not allow multiple customers accounts with the same email address, so if you get this error message it means you already have a customer account set up with this email address.  Choose a different email address, or follow the steps in Create a wholesale account for an existing customer above.
  
• The Country or State/Province dropdown isn't working: Usually this means you don't have any Shipping settings configured in your Shopify admin.  If this is the case, set up some retail shipping rates and the dropdowns will populate with regions you have configured shipping for.
  
  
• Any other issues?  Get in touch by clicking the Help button in the Wholesale Gorilla admin, or by emailing [e-mail]
  

Up Next: Step 3: Test Your Configuration