public static function create(array $arg_params)
    {
        //validate params
        $data = self::getParams($arg_params);
        if(!empty($data['metadata'])){
            $data['metadata'] = json_encode($data['metadata']);
        }

        //submit to api
        $customer_data = APIRequests::request(
            '/ecommerce/customers',
            APIRequests::METHOD_POST,
            $data
        );

        //return response
        return self::toObj($customer_data['body']);
    }