Customer Accounts Not Staying Logged In Properly

[MDN]

Hi All,

The latest version has made the following change according to the release notes:

'Accounts using retail prices use static pages where possible, reducing server load, SD-8966'

This has helped with retaining price layouts and page speed; however, the negative affect is that once the customer has logged in and navigated from the initial landing page the customer looks to be logged out again, with the header bar login link re-appearing, this could be really confusing for customers.

The second more important issue is that if you have products that are under a retail price setting but restricted to account access only, the customer when logged in still won’t be able to buy, the only work around I have come up with is to create a 'trade' price and set the accounts to this, unfortunately long term this would require more layout changes if you have a customized site.

Worth trying if you have upgraded and allow customers to have accounts, even if you don't have restricted products, the customer still looks logged out after logging in and shopping on both my sites, could be cause for confusion if not isolated to my websites.

[Goz]

I've got this problem too now I've upgraded to 18.2.2 - none of my customers can order anything

[Hugh Gibson]

The reasoning for using static pages for retail accounts (as implemented in SD-8966) is because with ClearAccept it's now possible for customers to save card details for later re-use. That's only possible with accounts, but prior to 18.2.2, setting up accounts meant that all pages were processed via the Perl scripts. This affects one of the USPs of Sellerdeck Desktop - that the site is mostly static and loads pages very quickly. Therefore in 18.2.2 static pages are shown when logged in with an account where the retail price list is used. This uses a bit of JS and a cookie on the static pages to record that the user is logged in. If you are missing the layout change for that then it will appear that the users aren't logged in after they use the login page. Check with support to get your layouts amended properly.

We also fixed a few issues around accounts and logging in when going to checkout etc.

The second more important issue is that if you have products that are under a retail price setting but restricted to account access only, the customer when logged in still won’t be able to buy, the only work around I have come up with is to create a 'trade' price and set the accounts to this, unfortunately long term this would require more layout changes if you have a customized site.

If you only sell B2B, and have customised your layouts so that add to cart buttons are hidden for non-account customers then the buttons won't appear for accounts using the Retail price group. That's because they will show the static pages. Changing to a "trade" price for all accounts is the correct workaround, as that will force the original behaviour of processing the pages via the Perl scripts, and the add to cart buttons will appear again.

Note that if using standard layouts and B2B, if using a retail account and restricting access to account customers only, then on the static pages the add to cart buttons appear but a message is shown when clicking add to cart saying that shopping is restricted to account holders only.

Do we need to make "retail accounts using static pages" an option? It's hard for us to tell if you've removed the add to cart buttons.

[MDN]

Hello Hugh,

Thanks for your reply here, I think SD should have made this clear in the release so that people relying on how the old software worked wouldn't be left with effectively dead sites after the upgrade, my wholesale site has been with support over this with no response (ticket raised on 12/Apr/23 8:36 AM), I came up with the work-round through trial and error trying to get my site operational again, pretty poor given that you know what the issue is.

If you are missing the layout change for that then it will appear that the users aren't logged in after they use the login page. Check with support to get your layouts amended properly.

Can support send me directly or make the layout available here so that I can make the website look to be functioning correctly (customer retains the logged in status) please? Again, I have a support ticket open with this issue.

Do we need to make "retail accounts using static pages" an option? It's hard for us to tell if you've removed the add to cart buttons.

Probably, yes. This would have at the least provided a solution and fix for anyone who is using the options that worked pre-upgrade, even if that meant it removed the option for customers to save cards, if it were detailed we could make that call.

Note that if using standard layouts and B2B, if using a retail account and restricting access to account customers only, then on the static pages the add to cart buttons appear but a message is shown when clicking add to cart saying that shopping is restricted to account holders only.

Again nowhere in the release that I have seen was this detailed, this means that SD sites could be loosing revenue without us knowing unless a customer reaches out (as in my case). Scenario: A customer who logs in, navigates to the page to buy what they have in the past, they are then told by clicking the add to cart button that they cant but it because its restricted to account holders (and they are and account holder who has previously purchased) they look up and it says 'Login', so they login.. again.. go back, same message when clicking add to cart and they appear logged out.. again! what a mess.

I like the static page set up, it looks better, its faster, however its not all together working very well. I'd appreciate a fix on the login layout as soon as possible so I can fix my site.

Thanks very much.

[Buzby]

So can I assume that one of my sites that uses customer accounts is best to wait until this is sorted before upgrading?

But if it doesn't upgrade it loses Sellerdeck payments very soon.

There needs to be an announcement that Sellerdeck payments by NMI and Opayo will continue for the rest of the year.

[Goz]

Mine is a wholesale/trade customer only site. No card payments are taken - it is all invoice with order. This has completely f*cked my business

[Hugh Gibson]

Mine is a wholesale/trade customer only site. No card payments are taken - it is all invoice with order.

Andy, I've responded to your support ticket. Setting up a new non-retail account group for your customers should work for you.

I can see in your product pages that you've used the Actinic NonInB2B tags to hide the add to cart button and prices. That's not in a standard site in 18.2.2 or earlier (we've checked both) which is why we missed this in testing. However, we do give the basic outline for this technique in the Advanced User's Guide.

I've asked Oliver Eisma to update our messaging around this.

[G.W.Green]

A new entry in the knowledgebase has been created for this issue here: 'After upgrading to v18.2.2 or later, my customers cannot place orders.'