Customer routing rules
When you set up multiple markets (different countries, languages, or currencies) in your store, the system automatically detects and displays the most relevant content for each visitor. This guide explains how the system identifies customers and ensures they land on the correct page.
Identification logic
When multiple rules are active, the system evaluates them based on the following priority:
- Manual selection (Highest priority): If a customer has previously used the country or language switcher on your site, the system honors their preference. This choice is stored in a cookie, and they will be routed to that specific market on their next visit.
- Specific URL access: If a customer clicks a link containing a market identifier (such as a subdomain or subfolder), the system locks onto that market immediately and bypasses IP-based redirection.
- Geographic location (IP address): This rule only applies if the automatic redirection feature is enabled. When a customer visits your primary domain without a prior manual selection, the system routes them based on their IP address.
- Browser language preference: As a final fallback, the system references the customer’s browser language settings to attempt a content match.
Typical routing scenarios
To help you visualize how this works, let’s use the following store configuration:
- Primary market: United States (Domain:
yourstore.com). - Configured markets: Canada (
yourstore.com/en-ca) and Europe (eu.yourstore.com). - Status: "Automatic redirection" is enabled.
Scenario 1: Visiting the primary domain (auto-distribution)
Context: A customer located in Canada types yourstore.com directly into their browser.
- Logic: Geographic location > Market URL. The system detects a Canadian IP.
- Result: The browser automatically redirects to
yourstore.com/en-ca. - Fallback: If a customer visits from a country you haven't configured (e.g., Brazil), they will be shown the primary market (US) content.
Scenario 2: Visiting a specific market link
Context: A customer located in the US clicks a promotional link for your European store: eu.yourstore.com.
- Logic: Market URL > Geographic location.
- Result: The system locks to the European market. It then matches the specific country based on redirection rules.
- Fallback: If no specific country match is found, the system defaults to the first country listed under that market.
Scenario 3: Manual override (memory mode)
Context: A customer in Canada previously visited your store and manually selected "United Kingdom / GBP" from the switcher. Today, they return by typing yourstore.com.
- Logic: Manual selection > Geographic location > Market URL.
- Result: Manual selection holds the highest weight. Even if the browser was closed, the system remembers the preference and displays the UK market.
- Fallback: The system will only revert to IP-based identification (Scenario 1) if the customer clears their browser cache (cookies).
Merchant tips
- Testing your setup: If a redirect isn't working as expected during testing, open your store in an incognito or private window. This ensures that "manual selection" cookies from previous sessions don't interfere with the results.
- Domain consistency: Double-check your backend settings to ensure each market is correctly mapped to its intended subdomain or subfolder.
- Language redirection: Genstore supports automatic language-based routing. When enabled, the system directs users to the appropriate localized market based on their browser language. For more details, see language redirection settings.