This feature is badly needed in a retail environment as well. If a customer uses a different payment method not already on file, or the wrong name is selected by an employee when adding a customer, it screws the whole thing up. I use a loyalty app as well and this can be really confusing.
Topic summary
Merchants requested the ability to merge duplicate customer profiles, especially when POS (point of sale) and online orders create separate accounts due to different or mistyped emails.
Impacts reported: returns/exchanges without receipts are cumbersome; loyalty program points and order histories are split; reporting (customer lifetime value, acquisition growth, wholesale spend) is inaccurate; customers can’t access consolidated purchase history.
Shopify’s interim stance: email is the unique identifier; POS shouldn’t duplicate unless different emails are used; Shop Pay accounts are separate from store customer accounts. Staff gathered detailed use-cases and submitted feature requests, directing users to the Shopify Changelog for updates.
Workarounds: a third‑party app (Doppelganger) can link, but not merge, duplicate profiles; initially free.
Latest update: Shopify released Merge Customer Profiles. Identify duplicates by overlapping attributes (name, phone, email), open a profile in Admin > Customers, use the Customer Data section to “Merge customer,” search/select the target profile, and complete the merge.
Limitations: not all profiles can be merged; specifics are in the Help Center. Outcome: feature launched; thread locked with feedback redirected to a dedicated topic. Unresolved details depend on feature limitations and ongoing feedback.
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