Last verified: 2026-02-18
Overview
As a vendor, the "Impersonate buyer" feature lets you temporarily switch to a buyer's perspective without logging out of your vendor account. This is useful for:
Testing the buyer experience - See exactly how a specific buyer sees your products and pricing
Troubleshooting issues - Diagnose why a buyer reports seeing incorrect products or prices
Verifying pricelist visibility - Confirm that a buyer can see the correct products
You can also use "Preview as buyer" to see a general buyer view of your catalog without selecting a specific buyer.
What happens in the system
View switches - Your screen displays products exactly as the selected buyer sees them
Visual indicator - An impersonation banner appears at the top of the page showing you're in impersonation mode
Read-only access - You can browse, add items to cart, and explore checkout, but no actual orders are created
Session temporary - Clicking "Stop Impersonation" immediately returns you to your vendor view
What does NOT happen
No notifications sent - The buyer is not notified that you viewed their perspective
No changes to your catalog - Your products, pricing, and inventory remain unchanged
No data access beyond products - You cannot see the buyer's order history, payment information, or other private data
No edit capabilities - You cannot modify products while in impersonation mode
Prerequisites
Before you start, ensure you have:
A vendor account with the required permissions (BuyersAssignedRead or BuyersAssignedUpdate)
At least one active buyer relationship, or the ability to preview as a generic buyer
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Navigate to Your Products Page
Start from your vendor home page.
From the left navigation menu, click Home
You should see your products listed in the main view
Look at the top right of the page — you'll see an "Impersonate buyer" button with a user icon and a dropdown arrow
Note: The "Impersonate buyer" button only appears when viewing your own vendor products. It won't show if you're browsing other vendors' catalogs, or on the Connections page.
Step 2: Open the Buyer Selector Dropdown
Click the "Impersonate buyer" button to see your options.
A dropdown appears with two sections:
Preview as buyer — A quick option at the top that shows a generic buyer view of your catalog (not tied to a specific buyer)
Buyer list — A searchable list of all buyers you have active relationships with. Each entry shows:
Their company initials (colored badge) or logo
Their full business name
Use the "Search buyers..." field to filter the list by name or external ID
Step 3: Select a Buyer to Impersonate
Locate the buyer in the dropdown list
Click on the buyer's name to enter impersonation mode for that specific buyer
The page loads and displays your products from that buyer's perspective
Alternatively, click "Preview as buyer" to see how your catalog appears to buyers in general, without selecting a specific relationship.
Note: You can only impersonate buyers you have an active business relationship with. If a buyer isn't in the list, you need to establish a relationship first through your Directory.
Step 4: Explore the Buyer's View
Once impersonation is active, a banner appears at the top of the page.
The impersonation banner shows:
Left side: "Impersonating" label, the buyer's name, and a "View only" badge
Right side:
Contact — The buyer's point of contact (POC) name and avatar
Stop Impersonation button to return to vendor view
Change border color button to choose a colored border for the impersonation view (helps you visually distinguish buyer mode)
In this view, you can:
Browse all products available to this buyer
View pricing as the buyer sees it (including any pricelist-specific pricing)
Add products to a cart
Explore the checkout process
Check product details and specifications
Apply filters and search
You cannot:
Edit product information
Modify inventory or pricing
Create actual orders (cart actions do not generate purchase orders)
Change your vendor settings
Step 5: Return to Vendor View
When you're finished, exit impersonation mode.
Click the "Stop Impersonation" button in the top right of the impersonation banner
You'll automatically return to your vendor home page
You're back in full vendor mode with all edit capabilities
Common Issues
Issue: I Don't See the "Impersonate Buyer" Button
Symptom: The button isn't visible on your products page
Cause: This can happen if you:
Are viewing another vendor's products
Are on the Connections page (toggle to Products)
Don't have the required buyer permissions on your account
Solution:
Make sure you're on your own vendor's home/products page (not viewing another vendor's catalog)
Click Home in the left menu to return to your vendor view
Confirm you're on the Products tab (not Connections)
The button should now be visible
Issue: A Buyer I Need to Test Isn't in the List
Symptom: The buyer I want to impersonate doesn't appear in the dropdown
Cause:
You don't have an active relationship with that buyer yet
The relationship was archived or deactivated
If a specific pricelist is selected, the list may be filtered to only buyers who have access to that pricelist
Solution:
If viewing a specific pricelist, switch to All items to see all buyers
Create or activate a relationship with the buyer through your Directory
Once the relationship is active, return to Products and try the impersonation selector again
Issue: Products Look Different Than Expected
Symptom: The buyer sees a different set of products or different prices than you expected
Cause: This is usually intentional and due to:
Custom pricelist assignments (the buyer has a specific pricelist with different products or pricing)
Products not published or set to Draft/Inactive status
MOQ restrictions (items with high MOQ may appear differently)
Solution:
Note which products are missing or have different prices
Check your pricelist settings to confirm the buyer is assigned the correct pricelist
Verify the product's status is "Published"
Review the buyer's assigned pricelist in your Pricelists section
Make adjustments if needed, then return to impersonation to verify changes