Having the same problem and reporting this also almost 2 years ago. The thread ended april 2023 with the following:
"I've passed along feedback here internally on your behalf that you are still seeing this issue so we have this noted along with the original ticket here - appreciate your patience on this! I can definitely appreciate that having old tags clutter your Admin isn't great for customer management, we're working on this here."
Having been asked by my client if any solution has come up yet, I checked with Shopify Support yesterday, and this is the answer they came up:
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thank you for reaching out in relation to customer tags, having explored on your previous tickets at present this has not adjusted. If I can share a little detail on tags and why this is the case that they are not deleted.
In Shopify, customer tags are used to categorize and manage customers effectively. However, when you delete or remove a tag from a customer, the tag itself does not disappear from the system entirely; it simply gets removed from that specific customer profile. Here are some key points regarding customer tags in Shopify:
- Tags Are Not Deleted Globally: When you remove a tag from a customer, it does not delete the tag from the overall system. The tag will still exist and can be applied to other customers.
- Visibility: If a tag is removed from all customers, it will still be listed in the tags section of your Shopify admin, but it will not be associated with any customers.
- Managing Tags: If you want to completely remove a tag from your store, you would need to ensure that it is removed from every customer profile it is associated with. Once it is removed from all customers, it will still show up in the tag list but will not be actively used.
- Bulk Actions: You can use bulk actions to remove tags from multiple customers at once, which can help streamline the process if you have many customers to update.
- Apps and Custom Solutions: If you require more advanced tag management features, such as automatically deleting tags that are no longer in use, you might need to explore third-party apps available in the Shopify App Store or consider custom development solutions.
Customer tags in Shopify are designed to help merchants organize and manage their customer data effectively. Here are a few reasons why tags are not automatically deleted from the system when they are removed from all customers:
- Data Integrity: Keeping tags in the system, even if they are not currently assigned to any customers, helps maintain the integrity of historical data. This can be useful for reporting, analytics, and understanding past customer interactions.
- Reusability: Tags are meant to be reusable. If a tag is removed from all customers but is still available in the system, it can be easily reassigned to new customers or used again in the future without needing to recreate it.
- Consistency: Automatically deleting tags could lead to inconsistencies in how customer data is managed. For example, if a tag was used for a specific marketing campaign or customer segment, removing it entirely could disrupt reporting or segmentation efforts.
- User Control: By allowing tags to persist in the system, Shopify gives merchants more control over their tagging system. Merchants can choose to keep tags for future use or delete them manually when they are certain they are no longer needed.
- Performance Considerations: Automatically deleting tags could add complexity to the system and potentially impact performance. Keeping tags in the system simplifies the management of customer data.
If this adjusts into the future, the Shopify Changelog is the best place to see all out latest updates on the platform. This can be access from two main areas, the Shopify Changelog page here or from your admin, by clicking to your name in the top right corner, and this will link you to the Changelog.
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I am not convinced and I think Shopify should do better.
Regards,
Karin
