Playbook
Customer records at a Shopify store handover
For customer records at a store handover, record what the import did with duplicate emails and phone numbers, check consent against the old platform, and name who reviews new duplicates after launch. Shopify’s help page says duplicates are skipped during an import and that overwriting replaces all customer data. A merge made afterwards is permanent.
By MergeGuard team
4 min read
On this page
This checklist is for the agency, freelancer or migration specialist who builds or moves a Shopify store and then gives it to the merchant. Customer records keep changing after the handoff: new orders add profiles, and a merge is permanent. The list covers what to record about the import, what to check around launch and what to tell the client, and it works the same way when the store has moved from another platform.
We read the Shopify pages on November 1, 2026, and Shopify edits its help pages, so read them again before you rely on a detail.
Key insight
Record two things in the handover: what the import did with duplicate rows, and who reviews new duplicates after launch. Shopify’s import page covers the first. The second has an owner only when you name one.
This page leaves out the file clean-up. Clean your Shopify customer list before a migration covers exporting, fixing emails and testing the file. Use this page for what to record, what to check and what to tell the client.
Words in this guide
What Shopify’s import does with duplicates
Shopify’s page on importing and exporting customers says how the import treats an email address. This is the sentence that sets the rule:
“When you import customers using a CSV file, a customer profile is created for each email address in the file.”
The page then says what happens when emails or phone numbers repeat. It makes two statements:
“Any customers with duplicate email addresses or phone numbers are skipped during an import and aren’t tagged.”
“Only the last profile with the duplicated email address or phone number is imported into the customer list in your Shopify admin.”
The first sentence does not say what a duplicate is matched against, and the two sentences can be read in more than one way. Run a small test file with a repeated email and a repeated phone number, look at which customers exist afterwards, and write the result in the handover.
The import also has an overwrite option. Its checkbox reads “Overwrite existing customers that have the same email or phone number”. The page says:
“If you overwrite existing customers with the same email address or phone number, then all of your customer data is replaced, including the import tags.”
Write down whether the box was ticked for each import, because the setting decides whether matched customers kept their data.
The page also covers consent, and it asks for each channel to be set on its own:
“Set each marketing consent column separately, based on that channel’s history on your previous platform.”
It adds that an email opt-out leaves SMS alone, and it warns about importing people who opted out as subscribers:
“An email opt-out doesn’t remove a contact’s SMS or WhatsApp consent”
“Importing contacts as subscribers after they opted out or stopped receiving your messages can cause spam complaints and bounces that damage your sender reputation.”
Before launch
These items cover the customer records in the file, the import and the first week of access. Each one leaves something in writing for the merchant.
Keep an export of the customers you started with
The merchant needs a copy of the list as it stood before your import.
Record the overwrite setting for every import
Say whether matched customers were replaced, because the page says overwriting replaces all of their data.
Check the Email column is present
Shopify says the column is required, though its value can be blank.
Run a small test import with repeated emails and phone numbers
Write down which customers exist afterwards, since the help page’s two statements about duplicates leave the matching open.
Set consent per channel from the old platform’s records
Keep your opted-out customers in the file and import each channel’s recorded consent. Shopify says to enter no in Accepts Email Marketing for a contact who unsubscribed from email, and that an email opt-out doesn’t remove SMS consent, so set SMS from its own history.
List which customers have a subscription, a B2B company or a Multipass login
Shopify refuses to merge profiles in those cases, so the client should know which ones can’t be merged.
Decide who gets the Merge permission
Shopify’s store permissions page says it “allows users to merge customer profiles”.
After launch
Run these once real orders have arrived on the new store, and put the owner and the schedule in the handover. New orders are how a second profile appears:
Worked example (made up)
Compare the customer count with the rows in the file
Explain every gap, such as rows skipped as duplicates, so a later count has a baseline.
Look for people who now have two profiles
Shopify profiles hold one email address, so a different email or a phone number at checkout can create a second one. Use the steps in the guide to finding duplicates.
Sample the consent of imported subscribers
Open a few profiles and compare them with the old platform’s record for each channel.
Review each pair before it is merged
A merge is permanent, so keep a pair apart when you are unsure it is one person.
Check consent on both profiles before a merge
A subscribed profile makes the merged profile subscribed.
Recheck after any change to customer accounts
A sign-in with an email address that no profile uses creates a new profile.
Name the person who reviews duplicates, and how often
The merchant picks the schedule. Leave it in the handover so the review has an owner.
What the client should know about merging
Two Shopify rules matter most when the merchant starts merging. Shopify says a merge is permanent:
“After the profiles are merged, you can’t reverse the process.”
And Shopify says what a merge does to consent:
“If the customer is subscribed to email and SMS text marketing in one profile, but not in the other, then the merged profile is subscribed.”
Two more points complete the picture:
- A limit. Shopify blocks a merge in nine cases, and why you can’t merge customers in Shopify lists them with Shopify’s wording. If the old store used Multipass, new customer accounts and Multipass sets out what Shopify’s pages say about it.
- New profiles at sign-in. Shopify’s customer accounts page says a customer who signs in with an email address that is not tied to an existing profile gets a new one, and that customers can’t merge their own profiles by changing their email address. Why Shopify creates duplicate customers lists the other routes to a second profile.
A note to paste into your handover document
Copy the text in the box into the handover document and fill in the two blanks in the “Reviewed by” line.
Customer records after launch
Your customer list was imported when the store launched. New duplicate customer profiles can still appear afterwards. A returning shopper who checks out as a guest with a different email address or phone number, signs in with another email address, or buys in store can end up with a second profile, because a Shopify profile holds one email address.
Merging two profiles in Shopify is permanent. Shopify says: “After the profiles are merged, you can’t reverse the process.” Review each pair before you merge it, and keep two profiles apart if you are unsure they belong to one person.
If either profile is subscribed to email or SMS marketing, the merged profile is subscribed. Check consent on both profiles before you merge.
Shopify refuses to merge profiles in nine cases, including a subscription contract, a B2B company link, a saved credit card, a store credit account and a Multipass login.
What to review: the number of customers compared with the number imported, customers who have two profiles, the consent of subscribers, and which staff accounts have the Merge permission.
Reviewed by: (name), every (how often).
Source: trymergeguard.com/knowledge/shopify-operations/customer-records-at-store-handover
Step by step
Record how the import was run
Note the overwrite setting, the file, the row count and the result of a small test import.
Check consent against the old platform
Compare the Accepts Email Marketing and Accepts SMS Marketing columns with each channel’s history.
Count customers after the import
Compare the customers in Shopify with the rows in the file and explain the difference.
Review new duplicates after launch
Look for people who now have two profiles, after the first orders arrive.
Decide who may merge
Give the Merge permission to the staff accounts the client chooses.
Hand over the note
Put the client note below into the handover document.
Sources
Related
- Clean your Shopify customer list before a migration or campaignShopify’s import matches customers by email or phone and can overwrite existing ones. Export, remove duplicates, fix emails and set consent per channel first.
- Why Shopify creates duplicate customersEleven causes of duplicate customers in Shopify, from guest checkout and second emails to POS and imports, with the evidence behind each cause.
- How to find duplicate customers in ShopifyShopify’s help pages describe no duplicate finder. Export your customers, group them by phone, email and address, and count duplicates before you merge.
- How to merge customers in Shopify: the complete rulesShopify merges two profiles at a time, combines their data, keeps the profile tied to the email you choose and can’t reverse it. The rules and choices.
- Why can’t I merge customers in Shopify?Shopify blocks some customer merges. Here are the 9 cases from Shopify’s help page, what each one means, and what you can still do with those profiles.
- Email marketing consentEmail marketing consent is a customer’s recorded agreement to get your marketing emails. See how Shopify carries it through a merge and why that needs care.