Issue with Duplicate Email When Subscribing and Creating an Account

[vicentesve]

Hello, good day.

I’m about to launch my online store and I want to promote it using the password-protected page, where customers can subscribe to my newsletter to be notified when the store goes live. The issue I’ve encountered during testing is that if I register for the newsletter on the password page and then try to create an account, I get an error saying that the email already exists.

Is there any way to prevent this? I’m using classic accounts.

[DaisyVo]

Hi @vicentesve 

Hi there, good day!

I totally understand how frustrating this must feel when you're so close to launching your store and running into a technical hiccup like this. Let me explain what's happening and how you can handle it.

Why Does This Happen?

When a customer subscribes to your newsletter through the password-protected page, their email gets added to your Customer List under Email Subscribers. Later, when they try to create an account with the same email, Shopify flags it as a duplicate because the email is already associated with the existing record. Shopify doesn’t allow the same email to appear twice in the database, even though these are technically different purposes (newsletter vs. account creation).

How Can You Fix This?

Here are some ways to prevent or work around this issue:

1-Enable "Accounts Are Optional"

• Go to Settings > Checkout and set customer accounts to "Accounts are optional."
• This way, customers don’t need an account to check out, and they can subscribe to your newsletter without issues.

2-Switch to the New Customer Accounts

• Shopify’s New Customer Accounts system separates account creation and email subscription data, which eliminates this duplicate email issue.
• To enable this, go to Settings > Customer Accounts and switch to the new system.

3-Use a Third-Party Email Marketing Tool

• Integrate tools like Mailchimp as these platforms handle email subscriptions outside of Shopify, so customers can sign up for the newsletter without interfering with account creation.

4-Add a Note to the Password Page

• If switching systems isn’t an option, add a friendly message to your password page like:
  "If you’ve already signed up for our newsletter, you’ll use the same email to create an account when the store is live."
• This informs your customers about what to expect.

My Personal Take

Honestly, I’d recommend switching to New Customer Accounts if it fits your store setup. It’s more flexible and solves this exact issue. However, if you’re set on classic accounts, using an email marketing tool is a solid workaround.

If you need any other assistance, I’m willing to help.
Best regards,
Daisy