In osCommerce Template, each user is represented by a user account. An account is a record in the database that identifies a user and stores essential user information.
Each osCommerce user account belongs to one of the account types available in the system. In osCommerce Template, the two available account types are customer and administrator/provider (also known as admin/provider or simply admin).
The type of user account defines the set of access privileges granted to a user: Customer account is the type that provides full-featured access to the Customer area of an osCommerce Template based store. It can saves your customers the trouble of having to type in their personal information and billing/shipping addresses every time they order a product: all the necessary info is stored permanently in their personal profile and can be re-used when necessary. Besides, some features (like orders history, wish lists / gift registry, special offer bonus points, returns) are available only to registered customers. Customer accounts can be created directly from the Customer area. To create a customer account, a user needs to complete a 'Profile details' form and submit it.
Administrator and provider accounts are account types that provide access to the Admin area of the osCommerce Template.
Account Types in osCommerce Template
