Create Shop Suppliers and Customers Accounts in Joomla

By Seamus Bellamy and Steven Holzner from Joomla! For Dummies, 2nd Edition

If you installed sample data as part of your Joomla installation, you may notice two User Groups that are handy for online store applications — Shop Suppliers and Customers.

No matter whether your supplier is a single individual creating folk-art foibles or one of the world’s largest manufacturers, creating a shop supplier account for them is just the thing to not only allow them to view any of the content you’ve restricted to registered users, but also differentiate your suppliers from the other users who frequent your site.

Even if you’re not planning on setting up an online store with your Joomla installation, the Customer Group can still hold tremendous value to you if you run a small business. For example, say that you own a small accounting firm. Each time you provide your services to a new customer, you could offer them a free account on your Joomla site.

As registered customers, you could keep them up-to-date on the latest financial tips, provide reminders about the best ways to save money on their taxes, and even let them know via e-mail of the publication of an article that you’re offering a discount on their next visit to drum up business.

To add a new Shop Supplier to your site, enter the appropriate information in the New User page, making sure to add the new user to the Shop Supplier group.

Of course, if you’ve no need for either of these groups, you can choose to either edit their names and permission levels to suit the needs of your site or delete them entirely.