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Customer Lists in B2C Commerce
A customer list identifies a set of customers that are assigned to one or more sites. This topic applies to B2C Commerce.
Only customers in the customer list for a site can be included in A/B tests, added to customer groups, or managed using active merchandising. Any customer that registers in the storefront is added to the customer list for the site. A customer list can be assigned to multiple sites. However, a site can only use one customer list. Customer lists are defined for the organization and managed in the Business Manager Administration module under Sites.
Use Business Manager to:
- Create Customer Lists
- Delete Customer Lists
- Delete Customers from a Customer List
- Import and Export Customer Lists
Benefits of Shared Customer Profiles
If you maintain a single customer list for all your sites, then customers don't have to create separate profiles for each site. Shared profiles generate less data to retain, validate, and manage.
Shared profiles require unique customer numbers and logins, which make it possible to aggregate data reliably across sites. Aggregated customer data gives you a comprehensive view of your customers, and better options for customer relationship management.
Limitations of Shared Customer Profiles
Sharing customer profiles doesn't allow for single sign-on. Customers have to log in on each site. Checkout, order history, and active data are still site-specific. Customers lose payment method information if they have duplicate accounts and used different payment methods for different sites.
Customer Data Shared Across Sites
The following customer data is shared across sites when a customer list is assigned to multiple sites:
- Customer number: including the customer number sequence
- Credentials: login and password
- Profile data: including all profile custom attributes
- Stored payment instruments: including all payment instrument custom attributes
- Data retention preferences: the number of days that payment data is stored is specific to a customer list rather than a site
Site-Specific Customer Data
The following customer data must be maintained for each site individually:
- Customer
- Wish lists and gift registries
- Basket - the checkout process is still site-specific
- Active data - data is still collected per site
- Orders - customers must still view their order history on each site separately
- Customer groups and assignments from customers to customer groups
- Storefront session and cookies - including the Remember Me status of a registered customer.
Customer Groups on Sites That Share Customer Lists
Customer groups remain site-specific means that groups are created and maintained for each site separately. However, any customer in a shared customer list can be a member of any group on any site that shares the customer list. It also means that the restrictions on the total number of groups that can be created remain in place.
Active Data on Sites That Share Customer Lists
Active data remains site-specific. If you want to aggregate data about customers across sites, you must export it, aggregate it, and add it to an active data feed. Shared profiles require unique customer IDs, which make it possible to aggregate data reliably across sites.
