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How to Deal with a Bad Customer on Shopify
Last modified: December 15, 2023
There are many types of customers that you will find for your business. For Shopify customers, you can divide these customers into three generic groups: loyal fans, regular and bad customers. This is a rather simplistic way of looking at customers, and you can expand on that, but it is a good start.
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Shipping Address Validator
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Beacon ‑ Fraud Inspector
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NoFraud Fraud Protection
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FraudBlock Fraud Prevention
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Fraud Filter
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ClearSale
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Signifyd ‑ Fraud Protection
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FraudLabs Pro Fraud Prevention
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Thirdwatch: Reduce RTO with AI
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Fraud Killer
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What are the Different Customer Groups?
Loyal fans are those that are going to stick with you. They will shop regularly with your brand and will often spend big when they make purchases. They’re the ones that help you make the most money and are typically responsible for the majority of your profit. Loyal fans will also act as word of mouth conduits, bringing in new customers to your website. Loyalty programs can typically make it easier for you to reward them and enhance the benefit they give you. Try this app to help you.
Regular customers are those that make one or a few purchases. They frequently don’t interact with your brand much. You won’t hear from them unless there is a problem, and this can sometimes be easy to resolve.
Bad customers are those that cause issues for your brand. There are numerous reasons how and why they can cause trouble for your brand. They could be those who regularly return products, at your cost, or those who make complaints all the time for product features that are clearly labelled or implied within descriptions. They can also complain about delivery times or prices.
Bad customers can end up costing your business and should be removed at all times. Some apps allow you to reduce the impact bad customers have by not offering them or allowing them to have access to discounts. It works by identifying those with a high proportion of returns and then labeling them. This label prevents the customer from getting a discount.
What to do with Bad Customers?
There are many ways that you can deal with bad customers. The first is that you can close down their account and block them from the website. There is no legal obligation that you serve everyone. If you can show that a customer is costing you money through complaints and other processes, you can just remove them. Any orders that they make can be cancelled and refunds provided. Some apps allow you to block certain customers from making orders.
A more subtle option is to not market to them. Remove them from any marketing lists and disallow their discounts. This is an effective method as bad customers often look for deals before making a purchase and then will still complain.
Another option is to get them to talk about their problems. Bad customers like to argue and if you offer little resistance or don’t react negatively to their comments it can typically stop because it gives them little joy.
Finally, you can move all correspondence to email and respond with neutral set responses. Again, this can remove some of the joy that bad customers have if they’re looking for a fight with you.
Conclusion: How to Deal with a Bad Customer on Shopify
Not everyone is a good customer. Sometimes customers are not good and need to be dealt with differently. Bad customers should be removed from the environment if you can, and not allowed to interact with your business. Some apps can help with this, and you can use other tactics to not engage with them to ensure you don’t waste time and money on customers that will make you no money.
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What are the legal implications of banning a customer from my Shopify store?
Legally, you’re not obligated to serve every customer. If a customer is consistently problematic and costing your business, you can ban them with proper justification and documentation.
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How can technology help in managing bad customers on Shopify?
Utilize apps and software to track customer behavior, flag problematic patterns, and automate responses. This helps in efficiently managing bad customers while minimizing their impact.
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Can I use customer feedback to improve my approach to bad customers on Shopify?
Yes, customer feedback, even from difficult customers, can provide insights into potential improvements in your products, services, or policies, helping to reduce future issues.
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There’s literally a Shopify app called Bad Customer for this. Looks for customers who frequently charge back purchases on other sites, serial refunders, and has a private list you can enter emails and street addresses to flag those orders to cancel.