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How to Set Staff Permissions on Shopify

Last updated: October 07 2024

Written and researched by experts at Avada Learn more about our methodology

Managing a successful Shopify store often involves collaboration with a team. Assigning the right level of access to your staff is crucial for maintaining security and ensuring everyone can perform their tasks efficiently. 

Shopify's robust staff permissions system allows you to tailor access based on individual roles and responsibilities. Let's dive into the details to set up staff permissions for your Shopify store!

Understanding Staff Permissions in Shopify

Shopify categorizes permissions into various sections, allowing you to grant access to specific areas of your store's backend:

Understanding Staff Permissions in Shopify
  1. Home: View the store’s sales data and other important metrics displayed on the Home page.
  2. Orders: Manage order-related tasks like editing shipping details, applying discounts, fulfilling, and refunding orders.
  3. Products: Add, edit, and manage products, including controlling prices and inventory levels across the store.
  4. Catalogs: Oversee product catalogs, including creating, editing, and deleting product groupings for better organization.
  5. Gift Cards: Generate and manage gift cards, export them, and handle customer transactions tied to gift card usage.
  6. Content: Manage metaobjects and their entries, including creating and deleting custom data for products or pages.
  7. Customers: View and modify customer details, merge profiles, manage store credits, and erase customer data if needed.
  8. Analytics: Access and generate reports and dashboards with detailed store and sales data.
  9. Marketing: Create, edit, and automate marketing campaigns, including email marketing via apps like Shopify Email.
  10. Discounts: Create and delete discount codes and automatic discounts, as well as export discount data.
  11. Online Store: Manage store themes, blog posts, pages, and navigation settings to customize the store's online presence.
  12. Users: Control staff permissions, add and edit roles, and manage staff access to various store functions.
  13. Store Settings: Manage core store settings, including payment, shipping, and tax configurations.
  14. Finance: Access to financial data and manage billing, checkout, and payment settings.

Within these categories, some permissions are considered "sensitive" due to their potential impact on your store. These include:

  • Request data: Allows staff members to submit data requests on behalf of customers, which can include personal information and order history.
  • Edit permissions: Allows a staff member to change other staff members' permissions.
  • Manage billing: Grants access to your Shopify billing information and payment methods. 
  • Manage other payment settings: Allows staff members to add, edit, or remove payment gateways

Exercise caution when assigning staff permissions and ensure they are granted to trusted individuals with appropriate responsibilities.

Step-by-Step Guide to Give Staff Permissions on Shopify

If you’re just launching the store, you have to add new staff members. Here's how you can do that: 

  1. From your Shopify admin, navigate to Settings and select Users and Permissions.
Guide to Give Staff Permissions on Shopify 1
  1. Click Add staff.
Guide to Give Staff Permissions on Shopify 2
  1. Provide the staff member’s full name as it appears on their government-issued ID and their email address.
Guide to Give Staff Permissions on Shopify 3
  1. Assign specific permissions by selecting the appropriate options, or give full access by clicking Select all permissions.
Guide to Give Staff Permissions on Shopify 4
  1. Click Send Invite. The staff member will receive an email to set up their account, which they must accept within 7 days.
Guide to Give Staff Permissions on Shopify 5

If you are adding staff for both the Shopify admin and Shopify POS access, ensure that you tick the Manage Point of Sale box.

On the other hand, if you already have staff accounts, you may need to adjust their permissions to manage them efficiently. Here’s how to manage existing staff members’ permissions:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings and select Users and permissions.
  2. Find the staff member whose permissions you want to modify and click on their name.
Guide to Give Staff Permissions on Shopify 6
  1. You can now either select the permissions to assign or clear those that you want to remove. If the staff member needs complete access, you can click Select all.
  2. Once you’ve made the necessary adjustments, click Save to apply the changes.
Guide to Give Staff Permissions on Shopify 7

Tasks That Only The Store Owner Can Perform

Certain critical actions within Shopify are reserved exclusively for the store owner and cannot be delegated to staff members, even with full permission. These include:

  • Manage Shopify Payments: Setting up Shopify Payments, viewing payouts, and updating bank account information.
  • Create and Manage a Shopify Balance Account: Create and oversee the Shopify Balance account, manage transactions, and access financial tools such as the Shopify Balance card for business expenses.
  • Access Shopify Capital Settings: Apply for and manage Shopify Capital loans, reviewing offers, accepting terms, and overseeing loan repayments.
  • Pause or Deactivate the Store: Control when the business is operational or closed.
  • Transfer Store Ownership: Transfer full control of the store, including its assets and financials, to another user.

In addition to the above exclusive tasks, the store owner’s email is the primary contact for all official communications from Shopify.

Bottom Line

Setting up appropriate staff permissions on Shopify is vital for maintaining security, control, and efficiency within your team. By granting access only to the necessary areas of your store, you empower your staff to contribute effectively while protecting sensitive information and ensuring a smooth workflow.

FAQs

What is the difference between “Admin” and “Staff” roles in Shopify?


"Admin"
roles have full access to all areas of the Shopify store, including settings and billing. "Staff" roles can have customized access based on permissions you set, limiting their access to only the areas relevant to their tasks.

How can assigning sensitive permissions to staff members benefit my Shopify store?

By granting sensitive permissions to trusted staff members, you can delegate important tasks like managing GDPR requests and updating payment settings, which allows you to focus more on growing your business. This also helps you distribute responsibilities, ensuring no single account holds too much risk. 

How do I deactivate a staff member’s account in Shopify?

To deactivate a staff member's account, navigate to Shopify admin > Settings > Users and permissions. Select the staff member's name, click Suspend Access, and confirm by clicking Suspend. This will prevent the staff member from logging in.

Are there any best practices for managing user permissions to ensure security?

What we advise to you are:

  • Provide staff with only the permissions necessary for their role.
  • Periodically review and adjust permissions to align with current roles and responsibilities.
  • Promptly suspend or delete accounts that are no longer needed.
  • Ensure all accounts use secure, unique passwords.
  • Regularly check access logs for unusual activity.
  • Create specific roles with predefined permissions to streamline access management.

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Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.