Customer Management and Personalization
What to know
Understand the customer account model: customers, addresses, customer groups, and the relationship between groups and tax classes, pricing, and promotions. Know customer segments (driven by attributes, orders, cart, and behavior) and how they power targeted content, promotions, and dynamic blocks. Understand customer attributes and their scope, plus GDPR tooling (data export, anonymization).
Personalization levers: customer group pricing and tier pricing, segments, related products and recommendations, dynamic blocks, and content staging. For B2B, know company accounts, company roles/permissions, shared catalogs, and requisition lists. Understand login/customer session behavior and the difference between guest and registered checkout, including how customer group assignment affects pricing and promotions.
Traps
A frequent trap is assuming segments update in real time - they refresh via a scheduled process, so newly qualifying customers may not see targeted content immediately. Another is confusing customer group (pricing/tax/promotion driver) with customer segment (marketing/merchandising audience). Questions may imply personalization requires custom code when segments plus dynamic blocks or cart rules suffice. Also watch B2B role permissions limiting what a company user can purchase or see.
Rule of thumb
Use customer groups when the outcome changes price, tax, or promotion eligibility; use segments when the outcome changes what content or merchandising a shopper sees.
Worked example
A merchant wants VIP shoppers to see a special banner and free shipping. Assign VIPs to a customer group for the free-shipping cart rule, and build a segment for the banner via a dynamic block - the group drives pricing mechanics, the segment drives display.