> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.usebuddy.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Customer Management

> Managing customer accounts and shipping locations

The Customers section is where you manage all your customer accounts, their billing information, and shipping locations.

## Viewing Customers

Navigate to **Customers** in the sidebar to see your customer list. You can:

* **Search**: Find customers by name, email, or phone
* **Filter**: By pricing tier, status, or integration source
* **Sort**: By name, date created, or recent activity

## Adding a Customer

<Steps>
  <Step title="Click New Customer">
    Click **New Customer** in the top right
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter Company Information">
    Fill in the company name and any notes
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add Billing Details">
    Enter billing address, email, and phone number
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign Pricing Tier">
    Select the appropriate pricing tier (optional)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save** to create the customer
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Shipping Locations

Most wholesale customers have multiple delivery addresses. Buddy calls these "branches" or "ship-to locations."

### Adding a Location

1. Open a customer's profile
2. Click **Add Location** or the **+** button in the Locations section
3. Enter the location name (e.g., "Downtown Store", "Warehouse B")
4. Add the shipping address and contact information
5. Click **Save**

### Location Fields

Each location can have:

* **Name**: Descriptive name for the location
* **Address**: Full shipping address
* **Contact**: Person to contact for deliveries
* **Phone**: Direct phone number
* **Notes**: Special delivery instructions

## Customer Fields

| Field               | Description                           |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| **Name**            | Company or business name              |
| **Billing Email**   | Email for invoices and communications |
| **Billing Phone**   | Primary contact phone                 |
| **Billing Address** | Address for invoices                  |
| **Pricing Tier**    | Determines pricing discounts          |
| **Customer Type**   | Category (Wholesale, Retail, etc.)    |
| **Status**          | Active or Inactive                    |
| **Notes**           | Internal notes about the customer     |

## Warning Badges

Yellow badges indicate missing information:

| Badge          | Meaning                    | Action                  |
| -------------- | -------------------------- | ----------------------- |
| **No Email**   | Billing email missing      | Add email for invoicing |
| **No Tier**    | No pricing tier assigned   | Assign appropriate tier |
| **No Address** | Billing address incomplete | Complete address fields |

## How Buddy Helps You

### Automatic Duplicate Detection

When you add a new customer or import data, Buddy checks for potential duplicates by comparing:

* Company name (including common variations)
* Email address
* Phone number
* Billing address

**What you'll see:**

* **Duplicate found**: Buddy warns you and suggests the existing customer
* **Possible duplicate**: You'll be asked to confirm if it's the same customer
* **No match**: Customer is created normally

This prevents accidentally creating duplicate accounts for the same customer.

### Price Tier Assignment

When a customer is assigned a pricing tier, all their orders automatically use that tier's pricing:

1. You assign a customer to "Wholesale" tier
2. When creating orders for this customer, all products show wholesale prices
3. No manual price adjustments needed

**What you'll see:**

* Product prices automatically adjust based on the customer's tier
* Order totals reflect the correct tier discounts
* You can still override individual prices if needed

### Stock Location Assignment

If you have multiple warehouses, you can assign customers to a default location:

1. You set "East Coast DC" as the customer's default warehouse
2. When creating orders, that warehouse is automatically selected
3. Orders route to the correct fulfillment location

This saves time and ensures orders ship from the right place.

## Integration Sync

Customers from connected integrations show badges indicating their source:

* **S** (Shopify): Synced from Shopify
* **QB** (QuickBooks): Synced from QuickBooks
* **F** (Faire): Synced from Faire

Changes to these customers sync bidirectionally—updates in Buddy appear in the source system.

## Bulk Actions

Select multiple customers to:

* **Export**: Download as CSV
* **Assign Tier**: Change pricing tier for all selected
* **Change Status**: Mark active or inactive

## Deleting Customers

<Warning>
  Customers with existing orders cannot be deleted. This preserves order history.
</Warning>

To remove a customer from active use, change their status to **Inactive** instead.

## Importing Customers

See [Import & Export](/features/import-export) for details on bulk importing customers from CSV or Excel files.