How To Remove The Shopping Cart From Woocommerce

How to Remove the Shopping Cart from WooCommerce: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

WooCommerce is a powerful and flexible e-commerce plugin for WordPress, allowing you to sell almost anything online. However, not every online store requires a traditional shopping cart experience. Perhaps you’re using WooCommerce for lead generation, displaying a catalog, or selling digital products with a streamlined checkout process. In these cases, removing the shopping cart functionality can improve user experience and simplify your website’s flow. This guide will provide you with several methods on how to remove the shopping cart from WooCommerce to tailor your store to your specific needs.

Why Remove the Shopping Cart?

Before we dive into the how-to, let’s briefly explore why you might want to get rid of the shopping cart in the first place:

• Selling Single Items: If you primarily sell one product or a limited number of items that each warrant their own dedicated checkout process, a shopping cart might feel redundant.
• Catalog Mode: Turning WooCommerce into a catalog where users can browse your products without the ability to purchase them.
• Lead Generation: You might be using product pages as a form of lead capture, encouraging users to inquire about your offerings rather than immediately purchase.
• Simplified User Experience: Reducing the number of steps required for a customer to purchase a product can decrease cart abandonment and increase conversions.
• Digital Products: If you are selling subscriptions you might not need a shopping cart.

Main Part: Removing the Shopping Cart Functionality

There are several ways to remove the shopping cart from WooCommerce, each with its own level of complexity and suitability for different situations. We’ll cover plugin-based methods, code-based methods, and a specific approach for catalog mode.

Method 1: Using a Plugin (The Easiest Route)

Using a plugin is the simplest way to remove the shopping cart in WooCommerce. Several plugins are available that handle this functionality. Here’s how you can use one:

1. Install and Activate a Plugin: Go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard and search for “WooCommerce Remove Cart”. Popular options include:

• “WooCommerce Hide Cart”
• “YITH WooCommerce Catalog Mode”

Install and activate your chosen plugin.

2. Configure the Plugin: Navigate to the plugin’s settings page (usually found under WooCommerce or Settings in your WordPress dashboard). The options may vary depending on the plugin, but you’ll typically find settings to:

• Remove the cart icon from the menu.
• Remove the cart page.
• Disable the “Add to Cart” button.
• Redirect “Add to Cart” buttons to a custom page (e.g., a contact form or a product inquiry page).

3. Save your Changes: Make the desired configurations and save the changes. Check your website to confirm that the shopping cart functionality is removed.

This method is user-friendly and requires no coding knowledge. However, relying on plugins can sometimes introduce compatibility issues or performance overhead.

Method 2: Using Code (For Advanced Users)

If you’re comfortable with PHP and have a child theme set up, you can remove the shopping cart using code snippets. Always use a child theme to avoid losing your changes when updating your main theme.

#### Hiding the Cart Icon

To hide the cart icon from your website’s menu, you can use CSS. This method only hides the cart; it doesn’t remove the underlying functionality. Add this code to your theme’s `style.css` file (or the child theme’s `style.css`):

.woocommerce-cart-menu-item {

display: none !important;

}

#### Removing the “Add to Cart” Button and Related Functionality

To completely remove the “Add to Cart” button and related functionality, you’ll need to add some PHP code to your child theme’s `functions.php` file.

First: Remove the Add to Cart button on product pages and archive pages:

 <?php // Remove add to cart buttons on product pages remove_action( 'woocommerce_after_shop_loop_item', 'woocommerce_template_loop_add_to_cart', 10 ); remove_action( 'woocommerce_single_product_summary', 'woocommerce_template_single_add_to_cart', 30 ); 

//Remove the cart item from mini cart

add_filter( ‘woocommerce_widget_cart_item_visible’, ‘__return_false’);

//Remove the cart page

function remove_woocommerce_cart_page ($pages) {

unset($pages[‘cart’]);

return $pages;

}

add_filter(‘woocommerce_page_permalink’, ‘remove_woocommerce_cart_page’);

// Remove cart fragments

add_filter(‘woocommerce_add_to_cart_fragments’, ‘__return_empty_array’ Explore this article on Woocommerce How To Display By Catagory );

//Disable the cart link

add_filter( ‘woocommerce_get_cart_url’, ‘__return_false’ );

?>

Explanation:

• `remove_action()` removes the “Add to Cart” button from the product loop (archive pages) and single product pages.
• `woocommerce_widget_cart_item_visible` removes items from the cart widget.
• `remove_woocommerce_cart_page` removes the cart from permalinks.
• `woocommerce_add_to_cart_fragments` disable the cart fragments.
• `woocommerce_get_cart_url` disables the cart link.

Important: Be extremely cautious when editing your `functions.php` file. A small error can break your website. It’s always best to test code changes in a staging environment before applying them to your live site.

#### Redirecting “Add to Cart” Buttons (Alternative to Removing)

Instead of completely removing the “Add to Cart” button, you could redirect it to a custom page (e.g., a contact form). This can be useful for generating leads or providing more information about a product before Check out this post: How To Set Up Shipping Rates Per Item In Woocommerce a purchase.

 <?php add_filter( 'woocommerce_add_to_cart_redirect', 'redirect_to_custom_page' ); 

function Check out this post: How To Add Button In Woocommerce Single Product Page Plugin redirect_to_custom_page( $url ) {

// Replace ‘your_custom_page_url’ with the actual URL of your custom page

return ‘your_custom_page_url’;

}

?>

Replace `’your_custom_page_url’` with the URL of the page you want to redirect to.

Method 3: Using Catalog Mode

If your primary goal is to turn your WooCommerce store into a catalog, several plugins and code snippets can achieve this. YITH WooCommerce Catalog Mode is a popular and well-regarded plugin for this purpose. It allows you to easily disable the shopping cart functionality and replace it with a “Contact Us” button or other custom options.

Follow the steps outlined in Method 1 to install and activate the YITH WooCommerce Catalog Mode plugin. Then, configure the plugin settings to:

• Disable the “Add to Cart” button.
• Remove the cart page.
• Customize the message displayed instead of the “Add to Cart” button.
• Add a link to a contact form or other relevant page.

Conclusion

Removing the shopping cart from WooCommerce can be a valuable strategy for tailoring your online store to specific needs and business models. Whether you opt for the simplicity of a plugin or the flexibility of code-based modifications, the methods outlined in this guide will empower you to remove the shopping cart and customize your WooCommerce experience. Remember to always use a child theme when making code changes and test thoroughly to ensure a smooth and user-friendly website. Choosing the best approach depends on your technical skills and the desired level of customization. If you’re not comfortable with code, a plugin is the best option. If you need more control and flexibility, code is the way to go.