How to Set Up Your WooCommerce Shopping Cart: A Beginner’s Guide
So, you’re ready to sell online and have chosen WooCommerce! Excellent choice. WooCommerce is a powerful and flexible e-commerce platform built on WordPress, making it a fantastic option for everything from selling handcrafted jewelry to digital downloads. One of the most crucial aspects of your online store is the shopping cart. This article will walk you through the process of setting up your WooCommerce shopping cart like a pro, even if you’re a complete beginner.
Think of the shopping cart as the physical basket or trolley you use in a supermarket. It holds all the items a customer intends to purchase before they head to the checkout. A well-functioning and user-friendly shopping cart is essential for a smooth buying experience and can significantly impact your sales.
Prerequisites
Before we dive in, make sure you have the following in place:
- WordPress Installed: You need a working WordPress website. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to set one up first. There are plenty of tutorials online on how to install WordPress (for example, check the WordPress documentation page).
- WooCommerce Installed: The WooCommerce plugin should be installed and activated on your WordPress site. You can find it in the WordPress plugin repository by searching “WooCommerce”. Just install and activate!
- Basic Understanding of WordPress: Familiarity with navigating the WordPress dashboard is helpful.
- Cart: This is where customers review the items they’ve added.
- Checkout: This is where customers enter their shipping and payment information.
- My Account: Where customers can view order history, addresses, etc.
- Shop: The page where your products are listed.
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products.
- Check the box next to “Add to cart behaviour: Enable AJAX add to cart buttons on archives”.
- Save your changes.
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products.
- Check the box next to “Add to cart behaviour: Redirect to the cart page after successful addition”.
- Save your changes.
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Options.
- Ensure that “Enable the shipping calculator on the cart page” is checked.
- Save your changes.
- Go to Appearance > Customize.
- Look for a section related to WooCommerce (it might be called “WooCommerce” or “Colors”).
- Find the settings for button colors (background color, text color).
- Experiment with different colors to find the right look.
- Click Publish to save your changes.
- “Add to Cart” button not working: Ensure you’ve configured your product types correctly (simple, variable, etc.). Also, check for plugin conflicts by temporarily disabling other plugins.
- Cart page displaying an error: Make sure the Cart page exists and has the `` shortcode.
- Shipping costs not calculating correctly: Review your shipping zone settings and shipping methods in WooCommerce settings.
- Using plugins for advanced cart features: Plugins can add features like persistent carts (saving cart items even when the customer leaves the site), cross-selling and upselling suggestions on the cart page, and more.
- Custom coding: For ultimate control, you can use custom code (HTML, CSS, PHP) to modify the appearance and functionality of the cart. However, this requires some programming knowledge.
The Default WooCommerce Shopping Cart: Works Right Out of the Box!
The good news is, WooCommerce automatically creates the essential pages you need for your store, including the Cart page, during installation. You typically don’t need to create it manually. However, it’s always a good idea to double-check!
To verify this, go to Pages > All Pages in your WordPress dashboard. You should see pages titled:
If you *don’t* see a Cart page, don’t panic! You can create one. Just create a new page, title it “Cart,” and add the shortcode `
` to the page content. Publish the page, and you’re good to go!Example: Let’s say you sell handmade soaps. A customer browsing your shop adds a lavender soap and a peppermint soap to their cart. When they click on the “Cart” icon or link, they’ll be taken to the Cart page where they can see the two soaps, the quantity of each, and the subtotal.
Important WooCommerce Settings Related to the Cart
While the Cart page is automatically created, let’s explore some key WooCommerce settings that influence how your shopping cart functions:
1. Enable AJAX add to cart buttons on archives:
This setting allows customers to add products to the cart directly from product category pages or your shop page without needing to reload the entire page. It provides a smoother and faster user experience.
Why is this important? Imagine a customer browsing your shop page and seeing three different t-shirts they want to buy. Without AJAX, they’d have to click into *each* product page and then add the product to the cart. With AJAX enabled, they can simply click “Add to cart” directly on the shop page, making the process much quicker and more convenient.
2. Redirect to the cart page after successful addition:
This automatically redirects the customer to the cart page immediately after they add a product. Some store owners prefer this behaviour because it encourages customers to review their cart and potentially proceed to checkout.
When would you use this? If you sell fewer, more complex products, you might want customers to review their cart immediately after adding something. For example, if you sell furniture, you might want customers to carefully check the dimensions and options they’ve selected.
3. Enable shipping calculator on the cart page:
This allows customers to estimate shipping costs based on their location *before* they reach the checkout page. Transparency about shipping costs can prevent surprises and reduce cart abandonment.
Why is this important? Hidden shipping costs are a *major* reason why people abandon their shopping carts. Providing a shipping estimate early on allows customers to factor in the total cost before committing to the purchase.
Customizing Your WooCommerce Shopping Cart (Basic)
WooCommerce is highly customizable, but for beginners, let’s focus on a couple of simple tweaks you can make using the WordPress Customizer.
1. Adjusting Button Colors:
The Customizer allows you to adjust the colors of your WooCommerce buttons, including the “Add to Cart” button, to match your brand.
Example: If your brand colors are primarily blue and white, you might want to change the “Add to Cart” button to a shade of blue that complements your website’s design.
2. Using a Theme with WooCommerce Compatibility:
Choosing a theme that’s specifically designed to work well with WooCommerce is crucial. These themes often provide built-in customization options for the shopping cart, making it easier to create a visually appealing and user-friendly experience. Look for themes advertised as “WooCommerce compatible” when choosing your WordPress theme.
Common Shopping Cart Issues and Solutions
Beyond the Basics: Advanced Shopping Cart Customization
As you become more comfortable with WooCommerce, you can explore more advanced customization options, such as:
Example of a small customization using code (use with caution and back up your site first!):
Let’s say you want to change the text of the “Update Cart” button to “Recalculate Total”. You can add the following code snippet to your theme’s `functions.php` file (or better, a custom plugin):
add_filter( 'woocommerce_update_order_review_args', 'change_update_cart_text' );
function change_update_cart_text( $args ) {
$args['update_totals_text'] = __( 'Recalculate Total', 'woocommerce' );
return $args;
}
Remember: Always back up your website before making any changes to the code.
Conclusion
Setting up your WooCommerce shopping cart is a fundamental step in creating a successful online store. By understanding the basic settings, making simple customizations, and addressing common issues, you can create a smooth and enjoyable shopping experience for your customers, ultimately leading to increased sales. Don’t be afraid to experiment and explore the various options WooCommerce provides to create a cart that perfectly suits your brand and your customers’ needs. Happy selling!
