[intro] Before you begin this guide, you must ensure that you have installed the Import/Export System feature on your EKM online shop, allowing you to upload and download your shop data onto spreadsheets. You will also need to install the Customer Login feature, which allows customers to make accounts on your EKM online shop. [/intro]

If you have had an online shop on a different platform where customers could create their own accounts, you can import their details into your EKM online shop and create accounts for them. Once the accounts are created, all you need to do is ask the customers to visit your EKM online shop and reset the default password to a password of their choice.

Creating a Spreadsheet

1. Before you begin, you need to create a spreadsheet which is compatible with the Import/Export System. To do this, create a spreadsheet with the following columns and ensure that the wording is copied exactly:

  1. Action
  2. EmailAddress
  3. FirstName
  4. LastName
  5. CompanyName
  6. Address1
  7. Address2
  8. Town
  9. County
  10. Country
  11. PostCode
  12. Telephone
  13. SignUpDate

2. When you have completed it, you should have a spreadsheet which looks like this:

3. Your next step is to cut and paste the data onto it. If your previous online shop supplier has been able to provide you with a spreadsheet of your customer's account details, this part should simply be a case of cutting and pasting one column of information from one spreadsheet to another. In the Action column, you need to add the command ‘AddCustomer’:

4. When you have completed cutting and pasting your data into the relevant columns, your spreadsheet should look like this:

Your next step is to upload your spreadsheet onto your EKM online shop by following the steps in this Guide.

What your Customers will need to do

When you have created accounts for all of your existing customers, the next step is for them to change the default password on the new account to something that they know and recognise. To remain GDPR compliant, you should not choose a password for them or select their password; this is something that the customer needs to do themselves.

1. When your customers visit your EKM online shop, they need to click on the Customer Login symbol (which will vary according to the Theme that you have used):

2. They will then be offered a login screen. They need to click the forgotten password link:

3. This will offer a form where they can add their email address and click Request Password:

4. When they have clicked Request Password and added the correct email address - as in the one they normally used for their account on your previous shop platform - they should see this:

5. The email that they receive within a few minutes from your EKM online shop will be similar to this:

[remember]You can amend the layout of the Password Reset email by following the steps in this Guide. [/remember]

6. Clicking the link within the email will take them to a page similar to this on your EKM online shop:

7. The customer just needs to add a password into the field provided and click the Next button:

8. If the password is too short, they will see this message and will need to click Back and add in a longer password, before clicking Next again:

9. When the customers have reset their passwords, they will see this message:

10. Clicking Continue will return them to the homepage of your EKM online shop and they will be logged in with their new password.

How you inform the customers that they need to do this depends on how you plan to switch from one platform to another. If you are currently constructing your EKM online shop before you point your domain name to it and close down your shop on the other platform, then you could promote this action using a Design Image or some text on the homepage, which describes what they need to do.

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[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Ecommerce Expert or the Customer Support Team, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions Board. If you have a non-account-specific question to ask the EKM Team, join us in the EKM Community. [/contact]