PrestaShop’s customer management covers accounts, groups, addresses, messages and the UK GDPR obligations that apply to every UK online retailer. This guide walks through the daily workflow, how to set up trade-vs-retail pricing via customer groups and the data-subject-request patterns that keep you on the right side of the ICO.
The Customers menu overview • Viewing and editing a customer • Customer groups for trade, wholesale and retail • Addresses • UK GDPR compliance • Newsletter subscriptions • Guest checkout • FAQ
Sell › Customers › All Customers shows every registered account. Columns: ID, title, name, email, sales count, sign-up date, days since last visit. Filter by any column. A typical UK query: “all customers who placed an order in the last 30 days” for re-engagement.
Related menus: Sell › Addresses (all saved addresses across customers), Sell › Customer Service (messages from the contact form), Sell › Shopping Carts (abandoned and active carts).
Click a customer in the grid. The detail screen shows:
Edit fields inline. A common task: move a newly-verified trade applicant from Default group to Trade group.
PrestaShop ships with three default groups:
Add custom groups under Shop Parameters › Customer Settings › Groups:
Price reductions per group are set under Shop Parameters › Customer Settings › Groups › [group] › Discount for a blanket percentage, or per-product via Specific Prices.
Customers accumulate addresses over time. PrestaShop stores them under Sell › Customers › Addresses. Each address has billing/shipping use, a label (“Home”, “Office”) and country/zone.
UK address lookup by postcode is not native. Modules like Loqate, GetAddress.io or IdealPostcodes integrate for per-lookup fees — cut the checkout abandonment significantly.
Three practical obligations:
Enable the module under Improve › Modules › Module Manager › search “GDPR”.
PrestaShop’s built-in newsletter module is basic. The subscription signup block sits in the footer by default. Consent is captured at signup and during checkout (unchecked by default for UK GDPR affirmative consent compliance).
For real email marketing, export to Mailchimp, Klaviyo or similar via modules. The PrestaShop module catalogue has integrations for most major UK-compatible email platforms.
Under Shop Parameters › Customer Settings: “Enable Guest Checkout” lets customers order without creating an account. Trades conversion uplift for loss of long-term customer data.
Recommended middle ground: enable guest checkout, offer “Create an account” on the order-success page. Guests who convert keep their order history.
PrestaShop hosting with UK-friendly privacy defaults
GDPR module, SSL by default and UK-based support on data-subject-request handling — SmartXHosting PrestaShop plans come UK-compliant from day one.
See PrestaShop plansQ: Can I merge duplicate customer accounts?
A: Not natively. The Official GDPR module has a merge-and-anonymise action. For routine merging, modules like “Merge Customers” add a UI.
Q: How do I export customer data for a subject access request?
A: Official GDPR module generates a customer data package in PDF or CSV on one click.
Q: How do I disable a customer account without deleting?
A: On the customer edit screen, toggle Active to off. They cannot log in; orders and data preserved.
Q: Can customers have multiple addresses?
A: Yes, unlimited. One is flagged as billing-default, one as shipping-default; others selectable at checkout.
Q: How long must I retain customer data under UK law?
A: Order/invoice data for six years (HMRC). Marketing consent records for the lifetime of the consent plus six years. Privacy Notice should specify retention periods per data category.
Q: How are customer passwords stored?
A: PrestaShop 9 uses bcrypt with salt — industry-standard password hashing. Even if the database leaked, plaintext passwords are not recoverable.
Q: Can customers set up a “favourites” or wishlist?
A: Yes — the wishlist module is included. Enable under Module Manager. Customers save products; you can see aggregated wishlist data for stock planning.