New member registration is an important process for any online store. Tagging customers at the time of registration is a highly effective way to properly categorize customers and build effective marketing strategies. This article introduces 3 methods for automatically adding an arbitrary customer tag when a new member registers on your Shopify store, along with 2 concrete setup methods.
What Are Customer Tags?
Customer tags are tags you can set on customer data registered in Shopify to sort customers into specific groups or categories.
By using customer tags, you can easily organize your customers and run marketing and promotions tailored to specific needs.
Related reading: Make the Most of Shopify Customer Tags! How to Set Up and Use Customer Tags
3 Ways to Add a Customer Tag at Registration
There are 3 ways to automatically add an arbitrary customer tag when a user completes new member registration on a Shopify store.
- Customize your Shopify theme
- Use Shopify Flow
- Use a tagging app
Let's look at each in detail.
Customize Your Shopify Theme
The first method is to customize your Shopify theme's Liquid files.
The advantages are that it's free to implement and there's little time lag between registration and the customer tag being applied.
The disadvantage is that it only works with "classic customer accounts." It cannot be used with "new customer accounts."
Related article: What Are Shopify's New Customer Accounts? Differences From the Classic Version Explained
Use Shopify Flow
The second method is to use Shopify Flow.
The advantages are that it can be implemented for free and even conditional-branching logic can be set up with no code.
The disadvantage is that there is a time lag between registration and the customer tag being applied. For example, if you add a customer tag after registration and then use that tag to apply a purchase restriction at checkout, the time lag can cause the purchase restriction to not be applied correctly in some cases.
Related article: What Is Shopify Flow? Benefits, Drawbacks, and Setup Explained
Use a Tagging App
The third method is to use a tagging app such as Easy Tagging or Mechanic.
The advantage compared to the methods above is that customer tags can be applied under more advanced conditions.
The disadvantages are the time lag between registration and the customer tag being applied, and the app usage fees involved.
How to Add a Customer Tag at Registration via Theme Customization
Prerequisites
This section introduces theme customization using the Dawn theme (Ver 10.0.0). Please note that file names and where to insert the sample code may differ for other Shopify themes.
Step 1: Open the Code Editor
(1) Go to Online Store > Themes
(2) Click the "…" (ellipsis) on the theme you want to edit
(3) Click Edit code
Step 2: Insert the Source Code
(1) Use the search field at the top left of the code editor to filter for the "main-register.liquid" file
(2) Select the "main-register.liquid" file
(3) Find the following form tag within the "main-register.liquid" file
Form tag
{%- form 'create_customer', novalidate: 'novalidate' -%} // omitted {% endform %}
(4) Insert the following sample code inside the form from (3)
Sample code
<input type="hidden" id="customer_tags" name="customer[tags]" value="customer tag"/>
* Replace "customer tag" in the sample code with the value of the customer tag you want to apply at registration.
(5) Click "Save"
How to Add a Customer Tag at Registration Using Shopify Flow
Step 1: Install Shopify Flow
This section uses Shopify Flow, so if you haven't installed it yet, please install it via the link below.
Shopify Flow | Shopify App Store
Step 2: Create a Workflow That Adds a Customer Tag at Registration
(1) Open the Flow app and click "Create workflow"
(2) Enter any name for the workflow
(3) Select "Customer created" as the trigger
(4) Select "Add customer tags" as the action and enter the tag to apply
(5) Click "Turn on workflow"
Bonus: Shopify Apps for Restricting Sales to Members With a Specific Customer Tag
RuffRuff 予約販売
"RuffRuff 予約販売" is a Shopify app that makes it easy to run pre-orders. With just one app, you can also run "limited-time sales," "limited-time discounts," "coming-soon announcements," "recurring sales," "member-only sales," "VIP-only sales," "buy now, pay later," and more, not just pre-orders.
You can restrict sales to only members who have a specific customer tag.
The blog articles below explain how to use RuffRuff 予約販売 to restrict sales to only users with a specific customer tag. Please use them as a reference.
RuffRuff Order Limits
"RuffRuff Order Limits" is a Shopify app that lets you enforce quantity limits, amount limits, bundling restrictions, and member restrictions with a single app. It is Japan's first Shopify app built on the Cart and Checkout Validation API, implementing order-limit processing on the server side rather than only on the front end as with previous solutions. As a result, it achieves more robust order limits that are harder to bypass than existing order-limit apps.
RuffRuff 予約販売 can only restrict member-only sales based on customer tags, not customer metafields. RuffRuff Order Limits, on the other hand, can restrict member-only sales using customer metafields as well as customer tags.
The blog articles below explain how to use RuffRuff 予約販売 to restrict sales to only users with a specific customer tag. Please use them as a reference.
Conclusion
This article took a detailed look at the following 2 methods for adding a customer tag when a new member registers on a Shopify store:
- Customizing the Shopify theme
- Using Shopify Flow
By using these methods, you can categorize customers more effectively and implement targeted marketing and sales strategies. Combining them with apps such as RuffRuff 予約販売 and RuffRuff Order Limits also lets you deploy more advanced sales strategies, such as member-only sales and order limits.
Making proper use of customer tags leads to optimized customer management, which in turn contributes to higher store sales and an improved customer experience. Please choose the method best suited to your store's characteristics and goals, and give it a try.
