Discover how to manage user permissions using role-based access controls in the Shopify admin effectively and efficiently.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

On this page

• What are role-based access controls?

• Why role-based access controls?

• Setting up a role

• Shopify Point of Sale

• Now it’s your turn!

What are role-based access controls?

Within any organization, team members often take on different roles, each with specific responsibilities. This diversity in roles means that different users need different levels of access to your Shopify store. Manually managing individual user permissions can be time-consuming and error-prone. Role-based access controls (RBAC) simplify this process by allowing you to assign permissions based on roles rather than individual users, ensuring a more streamlined and efficient management system.

Why role-based access controls?

Role-based access controls (RBAC) allow you to group users into roles with specific permissions in the Shopify admin. By assigning users to these roles, they inherit all the permissions associated with that role. This means that when someone takes on a new responsibility, you simply assign them the corresponding role, automatically granting them the necessary permissions without the need to adjust each one individually. This not only saves time but also reduces the likelihood of errors, enabling your organization to maintain a consistent and secure permission structure.

Setting up a role

To create a role in Shopify, navigate to the Settings section of the Shopify admin. Click on the “Users” option, and then select the “Roles” subsection. This will lead you to the Roles management page.

To add a new role:

1. Click on “Add role.”

2. Enter a name and a description for the role you are creating.

3. Set the permissions for the role according to your needs. You can select a category-level checkbox to enable all permissions under that category, or expand the category to selectively choose permissions.

Once you’ve created a role, you can assign it to any user within your Shopify store. Additionally, you can designate roles for specific stores, making Shopify’s RBAC system adaptable to your organization’s evolving needs.

Shopify Point of Sale

If your organization utilizes Shopify Point of Sale (POS), you can create distinct user roles tailored to manage POS permissions. Within the role settings, specify the POS access permissions you wish to grant. Users assigned this unique role will automatically inherit the permissions linked to Shopify POS, ensuring they have the necessary access to perform their tasks efficiently.

Now it’s your turn!

Implementing role-based access controls can significantly enhance the efficiency of managing your organization’s permissions. To get started, consider creating a customer service role that allows for creating draft orders and customers while restricting product visibility to view-only. After creating the role, assign it to a user to see how the permissions facilitate smoother operations.

If you currently have user permissions set up, explore how to migrate them into the new role-based access control model. Transitioning to RBAC will not only save time but also streamline your user management process.