Managing WooCommerce stores with extensions purchased by clients outside of Automattic for Agencies

Automattic for Agencies enables partner agencies to manage WooCommerce extensions for their clients through two purchase methods:

• Direct agency purchase: The agency purchases extensions on behalf of clients
• Client referral: The agency sends referrals to clients who complete their own purchases

Regardless of the purchase method, the agency’s WooCommerce.com account must be connected to the client’s site and store to manage extensions effectively.

Clients may also purchase extensions directly from WooCommerce.com. These purchases require that the client’s own WooCommerce.com account be connected to the site. This conflicts with the requirement that an agency account be connected for extensions assigned through Automattic for Agencies.

The solution to this issue is the collaborator feature in the client’s WooCommerce.com account. If a client has existing extensions owned by their own account, then prior to disconnecting that account to support Automattic for Agencies purchasers, the following steps should be followed.

This change allows you to:

1. Maintain client access to existing extensions purchased outside Automattic for Agencies
2. Connect the agency’s WooCommerce.com account to the client’s store
3. Add new extensions through Automattic for Agencies

Both existing client-owned extensions and new agency-managed extensions can operate simultaneously on the same store.

Before disconnecting your client’s account from their store, follow the steps below:

Adding a collaborator

1. Navigate to https://woocommerce.com/my-account/collaborators/ while logged in to the client account
2. Add the email used with your Automattic for Agencies account as a collaborator with all permissions

Changing the connected WooCommerce.com account

1. Once added as you can head to the subscription management area of their site/store from the WP Admin at WooCommerce > Extensions > Subscriptions and disconnect the site/store from the client’s account
2. You can now use that same menu in the top right to reconnect the site/store to your own account.

3. Once connected, you’ll see the extension(s) that were previously connected to the store under the client’s account. They will show as ‘not connected’. Clicking ‘connect’ under ‘actions’ for each subscription will reconnect the extension and ensure it has an active subscription. 

The client’s site and store are now connected to your own account. This means that any WooCommerce extensions you issue via Automattic for Agencies, whether via an agency purchase or client referral purchase, will be available on the site. 

The client’s prior purchases from outside of Automattic for Agencies will also be available on the site because of the steps above.

Note: not all extensions are available through Automattic for Agencies. With the agency account connected to the store, you (the agency) can purchase from the WooCommerce.com Marketplace and those extensions will be available. If the client wishes to purchase licenses directly from WooCommerce.com for use on the site, they will need to follow step 1 above (sharing each new extension with you) for those extensions to be available on the site. You can then assign the extensions from your own account.