Customer / shopper experience
The rule fires silently. The customer never sees a "you have been added to usergroup X" message. The visible effects are second-order — whatever the receiving usergroup unlocks or restricts.
Where the assignment runs invisibly
Two moments cause ApplyStateUsergroups to fire:
- Address book — add a new address. A signed-in customer adds an address with state
CA. The page returns success. Behind the scenes, the CA rule assigned the CA group. - Address book — edit an address. The customer changes the state on an existing address. The rule re-fires with the new state.
Admins creating or editing an address on the customer's profile trigger the same assignment.
What the customer notices afterwards
It depends entirely on what the usergroup is wired to. Common observable effects:
| Wiring | What changes for the customer |
|---|---|
| Usergroup-scoped price tier | Cart prices change when the cart is recalculated |
| Shipping method restricted by usergroup | Shipping options at checkout narrow / widen |
| Banner visibility list | Home page banner appears or disappears |
| Payment method allowed / blocked usergroups | Payment options at checkout change |
| Product visibility list | Restricted SKUs become visible or hidden |
What the customer canNOT do
- Opt out. The customer has no UI to refuse the auto-assignment. The group lives on the user record; only admins can edit
usergroup_linksdirectly. - See the group. The storefront does not expose the customer's usergroup list. Only
/admin/users/<id>shows it. - Move themselves between groups. Changing the state in their address book is the only way to re-fire the rule, but the OLD group is not removed automatically. Customer moves from CA to NY → they end up in BOTH groups unless an operator trims.
Friction patterns
- Surprise price changes. A customer adds a California address and the cart total drops or rises — they may notice. Pre-warn via a banner or a tooltip if your tiers vary by >5%.
- Lost shipping options. The customer's usual shipping method disappears after changing state. The checkout UI should show "no shipping options for this address; please review" rather than a blank box.
- Restricted catalogue. A customer who saw a product yesterday no longer sees it after updating their state. Hard to debug from the customer's perspective. Document on category pages that availability is regional.
What blocked / restricted customers see
The module itself doesn't BLOCK anyone — it only adds usergroup membership. Restrictions come from downstream consumers:
- Product not available in your region — products restricted to usergroups are hidden from the catalogue and search.
- Shipping method not available — checkout shows no option for that method.
- Payment method missing — checkout's payment step hides incompatible options.
None of those messages mention "state usergroup rule" by name — to the customer it just looks like a regional restriction with no further explanation. Train your support team to recognise the symptom and trace back to the rule.