Pending Customers

How new buyers from the workspace public order link are held as Pending Customers until an admin maps them to a real customer record.

What is a Pending Customer?

When someone places an order using your workspace public order link, they are not automatically added to your Customers list. Instead, their contact information is saved as a Pending Customer — a temporary record waiting for admin review.

The order is accepted normally. Only the customer identity is held pending.

The pending queue exists whether or not Xero is connected. What changes is how you resolve a new buyer once they are in the queue.

Workspace link vs Customer link

The workspace link is your general public ordering channel. Because anyone can use it, buyers are held in a review queue before being added to your customer master.

The system treats business name + email as the key review context for a pending buyer. This matters because one contact email can legitimately be used across multiple shops or business entities.

If the same business name + email combination orders again later and was already mapped before, the new order can be linked back to that existing customer automatically.

Why orders still go through

For unresolved first-time buyers, the system creates a placeholder record (PENDING_MAPPING) to keep the order attached to something while the customer is unconfirmed. Repeat buyers who match an active mapped customer can go straight to that real customer instead. This placeholder:

• Is invisible in the regular Customers list
• Is not counted in your active customer total
• Is not included in the trial checklist's customer count

This is why you may see new orders arrive without the Customers count increasing — that is normal.

Admin workflow

When to check Pending Customers

Check Pending Customers when:

• A new order came in via the workspace public link but no new customer appears in the list
• You need to invoice or sync a new buyer to Xero
• You see a CUSTOMER_MAPPING_REQUIRED message on an order or invoice

Mapping a pending customer

1. Go to Customers and open Pending Customers.
2. Review the pending record — business name, email, phone, and the original order details.
3. Choose one of the following actions:

Once mapped, the order is reassigned to the real customer and normal invoicing and Xero sync can proceed.

For repeat buyers, it is better to move them to a customer-specific order link once their customer record is confirmed. This reduces repeated review work and keeps pricing and account context cleaner.

If the customer does not exist yet

This is the normal path when you are not using Xero Contacts sync as the customer master.

1. Go to Customers and click + Add Customer to create a new customer record.
2. Fill in the customer's name and any other details.
3. Save the new customer.
4. Return to Customers and open Pending Customers again.
5. Open the pending record and use Map to existing customer to link it to the customer you just created.

You must create the customer first before you can map. The pending record cannot be converted into a customer directly — it needs to be linked to a proper customer entry.

If Contacts sync is the source of truth

When Configuration → Integrations → Sync Contacts is enabled for an active Xero-connected workspace, new customers should be created in Xero first.

1. Open the pending row in Customers → Pending Customers.
2. If no matching customer exists, create the contact in Xero.
3. Return to Configuration → Integrations and run Sync Contacts.
4. Refresh the pending mapping screen.
5. Map the pending buyer to the newly synced customer.

In this mode, the local customer create flow is intentionally blocked so the customer master stays aligned with Xero.

About Ignore

Ignoring a pending customer does not delete the record. The order history and audit trail are preserved. The record is simply removed from the active review queue.

What buyers see

Buyers are not aware of any of this. Their experience is:

1. Open the order link.
2. Browse products and submit the order.
3. Receive an order confirmation.

There is no registration step, no error, and no delay.

Common questions

Orders arrived but Customers count did not increase — is something wrong?

Usually no. First-time orders via the workspace public link go to Pending Customers first. If the same business name and email already belong to an active mapped customer, the order can attach directly to that customer instead.

We don't use Xero. Do we still get Pending Customers?

Yes. The pending queue is not created by Xero. Workspace public link orders can still land here even if Xero is not connected.

We use Xero Contacts sync. Can we still create the customer locally from Pending Customers?

No. When Contacts sync is active as the customer source of truth, create the contact in Xero first, run Sync Contacts, and then map the pending row.

Can I edit the placeholder customer directly?

No. The placeholder (PENDING_MAPPING) is a system-internal record and should not be used as a real customer. Always map the pending record to a proper customer entry instead.

I mapped the wrong customer — can I undo it?

Yes. Open All customer mappings, find the mapped row, and remap it to the correct customer. Mapping changes remain tracked in the audit log.

Related

• Managing Customers
• Customer Detail
• Order Portal Overview
• Sharing Order Links