A Complete Guide to Shopify Customer Import

Welcome to our guide to Shopify customer import. If you have a customer list that you want to use in Shopify, you’ve come to the right place. If you want to export a customer list, edit it, and then re-import it to your e-commerce website, you will find out how to do that below. It is also possible to use a customer CSV template to build a new customer list. You will lern that below. 

Like every data transfer, Shopify customer import starts with a CSV template. After exploring its components, we proceed to the default import procedure. In addition to that, you will learn how to import customers to Shopify with the help of our Import & Export Tool. Without any further delay, let’s get started. 

Shopify Customer Import Prerequisites

Below, you will learn where to get a sample CSV with customer data suitable for Shopify. We not only provide a corresponding link but also describe each column header. In addition to that, you will also find a list of other Shopify customer import nuances in this chapter.

Shopify Customer Import Template

You can download and view a Shopify customer CSV template in our Google Sheets table here: Shopify Customer Import Spreadsheet. Use it as a guide to create your customer list that you can import to your e-commerce website. 

The template includes the following two customer profiles:

• John Doe is a customer with an email address and a shipping address.
• Jane Doe is a customer with an email address and a phone number.

Let’s see what information each column contains.

Shopify Customers CSV Described

Below, you can see a full description of the Shopify customer import template:

Other Aspects of Shopify Customer Import 

Also, it is important to keep the following considerations in mind, when working with a Shopify customer import CSV:

• Your CSV file must be in UTF-8 format.
• The first line of your customer CSV table must include the column headers like in the example above. Note that these headers aren’t case-sensitive.
• The Email column is required. Although it must be present, the value can be blank. In case the column is missing, you receive an error when you import customers to Shopify.
• If you overwrite an existing customer with customer data with the same email address or phone number, all of your customer data stored in the admin is replaced with the data from a CSV file.
• Any customers from a CSV with duplicate email addresses or phone numbers are skipped during an import. Only the last profile with the duplicated email address or phone number is imported. Delete all the email addresses and phone numbers from the CSV file to import customers that previously had duplicate email addresses or phone numbers. You can add the email addresses or phone numbers to the customer profiles later manually or merge these customer profiles.
• While you can export the Total Spent and Total Orders columns from Shopify, they aren’t imported with customer details. Shopify only tracks what customers order and spend on your online store.
• Shopify lets you import customer CSV files that are not larger than 15 MB. Use multiple CSVs to get around this limitation.
• It is impossible to migrate customer passwords from another store via a CSV file. After importing customer data to Shopify, invite your customers to create new passwords.
• It is possible to use additional columns in your CSV file that represent certain metafields that exist in your Shopify admin.
  After you create a metafield in Shopify, add a column to your CSV file that matches the customer.metafields.namespace.key from your metafield definition. For instance, to import the standard Birth date metafield, use this column title in your Shopify customer import CSV: customer.metafields.facts.birth_date.
  You can import and export the following meta field types:
  • Boolean (boolean);
  • Date (date);
  • Date and time (date_time);
  • Integer (number_integer);
  • Decimal (number_decimal);
  • Single line text (single_line_text_field).
• It is impossible to import order information via a Shopify customer import CSV.

How to Import Customers to Shopify

Below, we explore two different ways of importing customers to Shopify. First of all, you will learn where a default data import procedure takes place and how it looks. Next, we describe how to import customers to Shopify with lots of additional features and benefits, including support for Excel files and Google Sheets integration.

Shopify’s Default Customer Import

Follow these steps to import customers to Shopify via a CSV file: 

1. Proceed to Admin -> Customers and click Import.
   
2. Click Add file and pick your Shopify customer import CSV.
   
3. Check Overwrite existing customers that have the same email or phone number to update any existing customer profiles.
4. Check Add tags to customers in this csv and use these tags to create a segment to create a segment and tag the customers from your CSV list.
5. Click Import customers.
   

That’s it! What are the downsides of this process? Let’s see: 

• You cannot automate customer import to Shopify.
• You are bound to CSV files and manual uploads.
• You cannot import customers from third-party systems. 

Luckily, there is a tool that lets you fix these and multiple other issues associated with the standard Shopify customer import.  

Shopify Customer Import with Import & Export Tool

The Import& Export Tool by Firebear introduces the following 5 steps of customer import to Shopify:

Step 1: Create A Customer Import Profile

You can create a new import profile for customers under Apps -> Firebear Import & Export Tool -> Import. Click the “New Profile” button.

Step 2: Select Customer Import CSV

The “Select File” screen displays. You have numerous options when it comes to file formats and sources. We describe the Shopify customer import from a file since it is the most common way to import data. Follow these steps to apply the necessary configurations:

1. Specify your profile name, such as Shopify Customer Import.
2. Choose the entity – Customers.
3. If needed, set up a schedule of updates to automate regular Shopify customer imports.
4. Configure email notifications if necessary. You can get near real-time updates for failed, successful, or both types of import processes. It is a good addition to scheduled imports.
5. Select your file format as “CSV”. Note that our app also lets you import customers to Shopify using CSV, XML, XLSX files, and Google Sheets spreadsheets.
6. Opt for File as the import source of your customer update. Browse the file with customer data modified according to the requirements mentioned above and select it. Also, it is possible to import customers to Shopify over FTP, from a direct URL, out of your Google Drive storage, or from a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
7. Specify separators if your update contains unusual separators. You can also use the Auto Detect delimiter feature to let your app detect the delimiters used in your customer update.
8. Click “Continue” to proceed to the mapping screen. 

Note that the app will inform you in the case of an unsupported link.

Step 3: Configure Mapping for Third-Party Customer Import

On the mapping screen, indicate which columns from the imported file should match the properties of customers in your Shopify store. If your Google Sheets update doesn’t align with Shopify requirements, replace unsupported column names with suitable ones. Thus, you will enable third-party customer data import to Shopify.

Click “Continue” to proceed to the next step. 

Step 4: Preview Results of Shopify Customer Import

The app provides a preview of the customer data you are about to transfer to Shopify. Here, you can spot any mistakes or inconsistencies, and return to previous steps to address them.

Step 5: Import Customer Data to Shopify

Finally, click the “Save” button to save your Shopify customer import profile. When you’re ready to import, click the “Import” button. The app will initiate the data transfer.

For more detailed information on how to import and export data in Shopify, refer to our “Improved Import & Export Tool Manual.”

Shopify Customer Import FAQ

Final Words

As you can see, Shopify customer import is an intuitive process supported in Shopify by default. You just need to navigate to the Customers screen and provide a CSV file. If a more complex process is required, consider the Import & Export Tool your best way to import customers to Shopify. Follow these link to get the free app and leverage it for Shopify customer import:

Get Import & Export Tool for Shopify