Refinery CRM

Refinery CRM allows your WooCommerce store to manage customers from a built-in CRM dashboard. It provides 360° customer profiles, dynamic segmentation, customer analytics, and direct email, all without leaving the WordPress Admin dashboard (WP Admin).

Setup and Configuration

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Getting started

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To open the CRM:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > CRM in WP Admin.
2. The interface includes four tabs: Customers, Segments, Analytics, and Settings.
3. Wait for the initial customer sync to complete (a progress indicator displays during this time).

Configuring display preferences

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Display preferences are saved per user. Each WP Admin user can configure their own settings independently.

1. Go to: WooCommerce > CRM > Settings.
2. Set Customers per page (10, 25, 50, or 100). The default is 25.
3. Choose a Default sort order: Name, Email, Registered, Last Active, or Spent.
4. Toggle Show Gravatars to display customer profile pictures next to names.
5. Click Save changes.

Resetting settings

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Click Reset to Defaults at the bottom of the Settings tab to restore all display preferences to their original values. License and telemetry preferences are not affected.

Usage

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Customer types

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The CRM tracks three customer types automatically:

• Customers: Registered users with a WooCommerce account.
• Guests: Buyers who placed orders without creating an account.
• Subscribers: Users with the WordPress subscriber role.

All types appear in the CRM and can be filtered, segmented, and contacted.

Browsing the customer list

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The Customers tab is the main interface for browsing the customer database. It displays every customer in a sortable, searchable table.

• Search: The search bar searches across customer name, email, city, state, country, and postal code in real time. Results update as text is entered.
• Filter: Narrow the list by customer type, country, city, state, postal code, or segment. Multiple filters can be combined.
• Sort: Click any column header to sort by that field. Click again to reverse the direction. Available sort fields include name, email, registration date, last active, total spent, order count, and average order value (AOV).
• Customize columns: Open the column settings panel to show, hide, or reorder columns by drag-and-drop. Preferences persist across sessions.

Viewing a customer profile

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Click any customer to open their 360° profile. Each profile consolidates:

• Name, email, and avatar (with edit icons to update inline).
• Customer type badge (Customer, Guest, or Subscriber).
• Total spent, order count, and average order value.
• Registration date and last active date.
• Billing and shipping addresses (editable).
• Tabs for Orders, Subscriptions (when WooCommerce Subscriptions is active), and Memberships (when WooCommerce Memberships is active).

Order history includes order ID, status, date, total, and line items. Each tab supports pagination, sorting, and search.

Creating a customer segment

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Segments are dynamic customer groups defined by rules. Customers are automatically included or excluded as their data changes; no manual management is required.

1. Go to: WooCommerce > CRM > Segments.
2. Click Add Segment.
3. Enter a name and optional description.
4. Add one or more rules using the rule builder.
5. Combine rules with AND logic (all conditions must match) or OR logic (any condition can match).
6. Click Save.

Available rule fields include customer type, email, registration date, last active, total spent, order count, average order value, products purchased, country, state, city, and postal code. Date fields support operators such as on date, after date, within last X days, and more than X days ago.

The segment immediately calculates and displays the count of matching customers. Segments can be applied as a filter on the customer list.

Sending an email

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Refinery CRM includes a built-in email composer. Emails deliver through WordPress’s email system and use WooCommerce email templates for consistent branding.

1. Open a customer profile.
2. Click Send Email.
3. Enter a subject line.
4. Compose the message using the rich text editor.
5. Click Send.

The recipient’s name and email address are pre-filled from the profile. Emails route through any configured Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) plugin automatically.

Reviewing analytics

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The Analytics tab shows key performance indicators (KPIs), customer growth trends, and period-over-period comparisons.

• Choose a date range (today, this week, this month, this quarter, this year, or the prior equivalents).
• Compare metrics against the previous period or the same dates one year earlier.
• Review the customer growth chart, segment distribution, geographic distribution, and the new-vs-returning split.

Advanced configuration

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Customizing the email template

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Override the default CRM email template by copying the file into the active theme:

1. Copy wp-content/plugins/refinery-crm/templates/emails/crm-email.php.
2. Paste it to wp-content/themes/your-theme/woocommerce/emails/crm-email.php.

The theme copy takes priority over the plugin default. A plain-text version is available at templates/emails/plain/crm-email.php and can be overridden the same way.

Troubleshooting

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• Customer list is empty: The initial sync may still be in progress. Go to WooCommerce > CRM to check the progress indicator. If the sync has completed but the list is still empty, verify the store has existing WooCommerce orders.
• Customer profile shows no orders: Guest customers are matched to orders by email address. If a guest’s email was entered differently across orders, some orders may not appear. Verify the email on the profile matches the email used at checkout.
• Subscriptions or Memberships tab missing: These tabs only appear when WooCommerce Subscriptions or WooCommerce Memberships is installed and active. Verify the respective plugin is enabled under Plugins.
• Segment shows zero customers: Combining multiple AND conditions narrows the match. Try removing one condition at a time to identify which rule excludes all customers.
• Emails not arriving: WordPress uses the PHP mail() function by default, which many hosting providers restrict. Install an SMTP plugin and configure it with a transactional email service for reliable delivery.
• Emails landing in spam: Verify the sending domain has SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records configured. Most SMTP plugins provide setup guides for these DNS records.
• Settings not saving: Confirm the current user has the manage_woocommerce capability (administrator or shop manager).
• Analytics differ from WooCommerce reports: The CRM counts unique customers (deduplicated by email), while WooCommerce reports may count orders. Guest customers who used the same email across multiple orders are counted once in the CRM.

FAQs

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Help customers by answering commonly asked questions.