For eCommerce apps like Shopify and BigCommerce — including custom Lookup Adaptors — Gladly can automatically match and link Customer details to an external source/app if auto-linking is activated for a particular app. The Lookup Adaptor links the Customer’s Gladly Profile to the external source and retrieves additional details about the Customer. Email address is most commonly used to automatically link a Customer Profile in Gladly to an external app, while some apps also support lookup using phone numbers.
Customer Profiles linked to an external source/app include a purple chain icon. Hovering over the icon displays the external sources the Profile is connected to and pulling data from.

The adaptor pulls the most up-to-date information about a Customer from an external source (e.g., Shopify, Magento) in two ways:
- The moment a Customer contacts in. For example, a lookup is triggered if an SMS is sent and queues for the next Agent. Suppose the Customer doesn’t have a Gladly Customer Profile yet but can match the Profile with an external source (e.g., Shopify). In that case, the Customer’s Gladly Profile is automatically updated with the details from the external source. It can also overwrite Profile data taken from the external source.
- When the Customer Profile is opened.
This ensures you have the latest and greatest information about a Customer. Depending on the integration, this could include information like:
- Recent purchases
- Order status
- Product information
- Marketing communication status
- Flight details
- Subscription information
- etc.
Auto-Linking Fields #
This setting is found on an app’s settings page. It controls which Customer information can be used to identify the Customer on other systems. Customer Email is most commonly used to link information between Gladly and other systems.
- Auto linking by Phone Number may be an available option, but the capability to link by phone number depends on the app or the custom Lookup Adaptor.

- If linking by Phone Number is activated, phone numbers in Gladly matched to an external system are automatically linked whether the number is tagged as a mobile number or not.
Overwrite Existing Value, if activated, overwrites Customer details in Gladly, like their name, address, and other editable custom attributes with data from an app or an external source. If activated and suppose you need to change a Customer’s address, then you must update the address in the app or external system, not in Gladly.
