Katana imports customers from WooCommerce automatically, but only in specific cases.
When customers are imported
Customers from WooCommerce are imported to Katana in the following situations:
During initial integration – you can choose to import all customers.
Initial connection with limited import – if you don’t import all customers, only those attached to imported sales orders (SOs) will be created in Katana.
Ongoing sync – when new Sales orders are synced from WooCommerce to Katana, the customers on those orders are also imported.
Note: Customers cannot be synced from Katana back to WooCommerce.
How Katana matches customers
Katana tries to match imported customers with your existing customers in Katana to avoid duplicates.
The matching works in this priority order:
WooCommerce ID
The first time a customer is imported, a hidden WooCommerce ID is added in Katana.
Future imports of the same customer match on this ID—even if their name or email changes in WooCommerce.
If details differ, Katana overwrites the existing info with WooCommerce data.
Email address
If no WooCommerce ID match is found, Katana compares email addresses.
If there’s one match: the customer is matched, and the name in Katana is updated with WooCommerce’s value (if different).
If there are multiple matches: a new customer is created in Katana.
Customer name
Used only if no WooCommerce ID or email match is found.
If a single match exists → Katana matches it.
If multiple matches or no matches exist → a new customer is created.
If the WooCommerce customer has an email but it doesn’t match Katana:
If the Katana customer has no email → Katana adds it.
If the Katana customer already has a different email → a new customer is created.
Customer data mapping
Customer fields are imported as follows:
WooCommerce | Katana | Notes |
First name & Last name | Customer name | – |
Email address | Email address | – |
Phone number | Phone number | – |
– | Comments | Left blank in Katana |
Billing address | Billing address | – |
Shipping address | Shipping address | – |
Editing and deleting customers
Changes made in either WooCommerce or Katana are not synced. (Name, email, phone, addresses, and comments won’t update in the other system.)
Deleting customers in one system does not delete them in the other.
Syncing new customers after integration
Once the WooCommerce x Katana integration is active:
New customers created in WooCommerce are imported only when they appear on a sales order synced to Katana.
Alternatively, you can re-run the WooCommerce reconfiguration flow and select “Import all customers” to bring in all customer records at once.
Key takeaway: Customers are imported from WooCommerce to Katana automatically, but only in specific cases. Katana uses WooCommerce ID → email → name to match customers and avoid duplicates. Editing or deleting customers does not sync between systems.
Your feedback is invaluable. Let us know your thoughts on this article or anything in Katana you'd like to see improved: [email protected]