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Choose which profile MergeGuard recommends keeping

The merge rule in MergeGuard for Shopify is your preference for the profile it recommends keeping. Choose Email, Phone, or Email and phone, the default. MergeGuard recommends from the profiles that have those details, or from every profile when none has them, and in a group’s review you choose the details the merged customer keeps.

Last updated

Demo store (Northsail Supply)

Merge rule

Merge rule

Details the merged customer keeps

Email
ines.moreau@gmail.com
Phone
+44 7700 900118

The kept customer uses a subscribed email or phone when one of the profiles has it. In the review sheet you choose every detail, one field at a time.

Pick a merge rule and the profiles it prefers change. When no profile has the details, every profile is considered. The details the merged customer keeps are yours to choose in every review.

The merged customer keeps the email that bounces

When duplicates merge, one set of details becomes the customer’s. If the profile that stays has the old email with a typo, or a phone number nobody answers, every receipt and newsletter goes there afterwards. The merge rule lets you say which details MergeGuard should prefer in the profile it recommends, and the review sheet lets you pick each detail yourself before you confirm.

Demo store (Northsail Supply)

Profiles
3
Orders on each profile
4 + 3 + 2
After the merge
1 customer with 9 orders
One demo customer, Amelia Hughes: three profiles with their orders, and the one customer her merge leaves.

How it works

  1. Pick the details a kept profile needs

    Choose Email, Phone, or Email and phone, which is the default. MergeGuard prefers a profile that has those details. If no profile in the group has them, it considers every profile. The rule does not change which groups MergeGuard finds.

  2. See the recommended profile

    MergeGuard recommends a profile to keep in each group, from the profiles that have the details your rule asks for, or from every profile when none has them. The recommendation is where your review starts.

  3. Choose the details to keep

    Each review sheet shows the recommended profile and lets you choose which email, phone, address and other details the merged customer keeps.

  4. Confirm the merge

    Nothing merges until you confirm, or until you switch on automatic merging for strong matches or groups that need your judgment. Shopify verifies each merge and History records it.

Why marketing subscriptions matter when you merge

If any profile in a merged group is subscribed to email or SMS marketing, the merged customer stays subscribed, because they are the same person. The merge rule does not change this, because it only picks the recommended profile. A wrong merge could subscribe someone who never agreed, so check why each group matches before you confirm or before you switch on automatic merging.

For the full list of what Shopify combines in a merge, read what happens when you merge customers. Before a big cleanup, go through the safe merge checklist.

What you control

Merge rule
Email, Phone, or Email and phone. It sets which details MergeGuard prefers in the recommended profile. If no profile in a group has the details, every profile is considered.
Automatic merging
A separate setting from the merge rule. “Merge strong matches automatically” and “Also merge groups that need your judgment” decide what MergeGuard merges without your review. Changing the merge rule does not turn either on.
Which email and phone are used
The kept customer uses a subscribed email or phone when one of the profiles has it.
Which details are kept
In the review sheet you can keep details from any profile in the group, one field at a time.

What it never does

  • Nothing merges until you confirm, or until you switch on automatic merging for strong matches or groups that need your judgment.
  • Protected profiles are never merged automatically.
  • MergeGuard never messages your customers.

What can be undone

Merges are permanent because Shopify merges can’t be undone. MergeGuard keeps a snapshot of each merged customer and saves every merge in History.

Merges
Permanent.Shopify merges can’t be undone. MergeGuard keeps a snapshot.
Contact fixes
Can be undone once.The undo is its own record and uses 1 fix.

Works with

Questions merchants ask

Should I choose Email, Phone or Email and phone?

The rule only affects which profile is recommended as the kept one. It does not change which groups MergeGuard finds. Email and phone is the default, so a profile with both is preferred. When no profile in a group has the details, every profile is considered. Choose Email or Phone when only one of them matters to you.

Can I keep details from a profile that isn’t kept?

Yes. In the review sheet you choose each detail across all the profiles in the group before you confirm.

What happens to tags, notes and addresses?

Shopify combines data from the merged profiles, including orders, draft orders, addresses, notes, tags, timeline events, gift cards and discounts. In a group’s review you choose the email, phone and name the merged customer keeps.

Can I change my mind after a merge?

No. Shopify merges are permanent. History shows what was kept and what Shopify verified, and MergeGuard keeps a snapshot of each merged customer, but neither reverses the merge.

Learn more

Set your merge rule, then review a real group

Install MergeGuard for Shopify free and open a group to see which profiles each rule prefers. Merge rules start on Growth. Nothing merges until you confirm, or until you switch on automatic merging for strong matches or groups that need your judgment.

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