Customer accounts with Recharge Checkout on Shopify

Customers can manage their subscriptions via the customer portal. Recharge uses customer email address to associate the customer portal page with their Shopify account. 

This guide provides an overview of how Shopify customer accounts work with Recharge and how your customers can access and manage subscriptions.

Before you start

• Recharge is not compatible with Shopify's new customer accounts feature. If your store has this feature enabled, you must use classic accounts.

How customer accounts work

For every customer that uses the Recharge Checkout, a customer portal is created in Recharge that allows customers to access and manage their subscriptions. The customer portal can be accessed using a tokenized magic link that is sent to the customer in their email notifications.

Customers can also access their customer portal by logging into their Shopify customer account. They can view their Shopify orders and an access link to manage their subscriptions. If a customer is having trouble logging in, they can prompt an email to be sent to their account email address with a magic link. 

Customer account creation after checkout

When a new customer checks out with a subscription, Recharge creates a customer profile in Shopify with a record of the customer details and order history. Shopify customer accounts are not automatically created at checkout unless you require accounts. The customer must complete the Shopify account activation using the same email address associated with their Recharge account.

To encourage customers to create a Shopify customer account, you can opt to send an Account Activation notification from Shopify. Refer to the following steps to enable this notification:

1. Click Settings in your merchant portal and select Notifications
2. Click the toggle for Send account invite after checkout to activate the notification. 

Once the customer creates a Shopify customer account, they can log in through the Shopify account page and access their Recharge customer portal by clicking the Manage Subscriptions link.

If an existing customer is logged into Shopify prior to checkout, Recharge auto-populates their account information at checkout. If an existing customer does not log in prior to checkout but uses the same email address on file in Shopify, the Recharge subscription purchase will automatically be associated with this account.

Login to Shopify to manage subscriptions

Customers can access your storefront login page and enter their Shopify account credentials. Once logged in, they will be able to see their Shopify orders and a Manage Subscriptions link, which will open their customer portal.

If your customer has a Shopify customer profile but has not yet registered their account, they can click on the link under the login form. This will prompt the customer to enter their email address, and they will receive an activation link and a temporary customer portal magic link via email.

You can edit what a customer can modify within their customer portal by clicking Settings and selecting Customer Portal in your merchant portal. See Customer portal controls for more information.

Update billing and email information

Customer portal 

Customers can update their billing information via their customer portal.

1. Access the Billing information tab in the customer portal. 
2. Click on the email and billing address section to update the email address and/or billing information. Click Update.
3. Click the Card on file section to update the card information. Click Update card. 

Merchant portal

You can edit a customer's billing information in the merchant portal. 

1. Click Customers and search and select the customer.
2. Select Manage payment methods.
3. Expand the card you wish to update and then Click Edit to update the customer's billing details.

Update shipping information

Customer portal

Customers can update their shipping address via their customer portal. 

1. Access the Shipping addresses tab in the customer portal. 
2. Click on the shipping address you want to edit, add the updated information, and click Update shipping address. 

Merchant portal

You can update a customer's shipping address in your merchant portal. 

1. Click Customers, then search and select the customer.
2. Click the Actions dropdown on the address of the subscription you wish to update, and select Edit address.
   
3. Add the updated information, and click Update.

Troubleshooting

My customer cannot see their Manage Subscriptions link.

If a customer were to register with a different email and try to go to their manage subscriptions link on your store's page, they will receive an error notifying them that they currently do not have any subscriptions. Confirm with the customer which email address they are using and verify the email address on file in Recharge. If the customer is still experiencing issues, reach out to Recharge support.

I can't see the notifications in my settings - how can I edit the template?

If you are not seeing the Get account access notification or the Send account invite after checkout, reach out to Recharge support and a team member can enable these for you. 

My customer cannot find the account invite notification in their inbox.

Confirm if you have enabled the Send account invite after checkout in the Notifications section in Recharge. 

If enabled, check to see if the customer already has a registered Shopify account. This will be noted in their customer profile in Shopify.

If they have an existing account, the customer will not receive an account invite. The customer should try logging into their account on your Shopify storefront. In the event they are having trouble, they should use the Forgot password link to reset their password or use the Having issues managing your subscription? link. 

If the customer does not have a registered customer account, you can manually action the email to be resent by clicking Send account invite in their customer profile in Shopify.