In business shops, you do not want just anyone to see your wholesale prices by registering. With approval, a customer can register, but can only log in once you confirm their account in the admin. While they wait, the shop tells them their account is not yet approved when they try to log in.
1. Settings
Stores › Configuration › Customers › Customer Approval
The core of the approval feature is a third-party extension; each of its settings is explained below.
In the General group, switch approval on: set Enable Customer Approval Extension to Yes.
In the login message (Login Error Message), enter what the customer sees when logging in before approval, for example: Your account is still waiting for approval. We will let you know by email.
In the registration message (Create Account Message), enter the text the customer sees after registering, and switch on hiding the default message (Hide default success message (Create Account)), so the customer does not get two messages.
Switch on the menu badge (Show Badge in menu): the Customers menu then shows how many customers are waiting.
In the Notifications group, switch on customer notification (Notify Customer), so the customer gets an email when approved. Email Sender sets the sender.
In the Admin Notifications group, switch on Notify Admin on New Registration and enter the address for notifications in Admin Recipient Email. An empty field means the shop's general contact address.
Click Save Config.
2. Approving a customer
Customers › Customer Approval › Pending Customers
The list of waiting customers (Pending Customers) shows the customers awaiting approval. Open a customer and check their details (company, VAT number, address).
Click the approval button Approve Customer and confirm the question Are you sure you want to approve this customer?. The customer gets an email and can log in.
To approve several customers at once, select them in the grid (Customers › All Customers), and under Actions choose Customer Approval and then Approve. The Customer State column shows who is Approved and who is Not Approved.
To withdraw a customer's approval, go to the customer grid: select them, and under Actions choose Customer Approval and then Unapprove. The customer will no longer be able to log in, but their orders remain.
Common problems
I do not get notified of new registrations
Check the address in Admin Recipient Email and your spam folder. If the field is empty, the notification goes to the general contact address from your store details.
A customer you created in the admin cannot log in
Customers created by hand also wait for approval. Open the customer and click Approve Customer.
The customer says they did not get the approval email
Check that customer notification (Notify Customer) is switched on, and ask the customer to look in their spam folder. They can log in whether or not they received the email.