Have you ever put items in your online shopping cart, left the website, and then come back to find your cart empty? It’s an annoying behaviour, and it makes plenty of shoppers abandon their total purchase. If shoppers are forced to experience these minor inconveniences in a retail store, then they may just end up not buying anything.
Save and share cart plugins for WooCommerce help alleviate this risk. They provide a great way for customers to easily save their shopping cart for later use, as well as share their shopping cart with friends or coworkers. Like all plugins, however, they can encounter complications.
Let’s examine the Save Cart WooCommerce plugin and its basic functionality, the common issues that users generally face, and suggestions for addressing them so as not to disrupt your store.
What Is the Save Cart WooCommerce Plugin?
The Save & Share Cart for Later plugin for WooCommerce allows the customer to save what’s inside their cart so that they may purchase it later, at their convenience. The plugin also allows individuals to share cart links with someone else to underscore functionality when shopping together or for companies that place group orders regularly.
Here’s the feature gist:
- Customers can save their cart items with a single click.
- A unique link is created that they can use to retrieve the cart later.
- You can also pass along this link to others—great for gift registries, group purchase, or B2B clients who order the same few things on a regular basis.
- Typical Problems with Save & Share Cart Plugins
- These can be very helpful, but can sometimes work erratically. This commonly happens if they are not configured properly or conflict with another plugin. Here are some
1. Saved Cart Link Does Not Work
Problem
Customer clicks on the saved cart link, and it does not open, opens an error page, or opens a blank cart.
Possible Reasons:
- Broken or expired cart URL.
- Cart data was not saved properly.
- The plugin conflicts with another extension (especially cart customizers or security plugins).
Solutions:
- Make sure to have permalinks set up to “Post name” under your WordPress settings for the proper URLs to be generated.
- Clear your WooCommerce and browser cache to ensure that you are not trying to load old session data.
- Deactivate other plugins one at a time to troubleshoot a conflict.
- Re-save your permalink structure, and refresh the saved cart.
2. Cart Doesn’t Restore Items Properly
Problem:
The saved cart restores only part of the items, or item variations (like size or color) are missing.
Potential Problems:
- Out-of-stock products are no longer available.
- Variable products or custom fields are not correctly recognized.
- Product IDs changed or removed after the cart was saved.
Fixes:
- Confirm product availability – there are limitations on what the plugin can restore. If it is not in stock or published, it will not restore products.
- For variable products, confirm all of the variations are still active and not deleted.
- Avoid changing product SKUs or IDs for items used in existing saved carts.
3. Cart Share Button Not Showing
Problem:
The save/share button doesn’t appear on the cart page for users to click.
Possible Causes:
- Theme compatibility issue.
- Short code or PHP function not placed correctly.
- Plugin settings not enabled.
Fixes:
- Switch to a default theme (like Storefront) to confirm if it is theme-related.
- If your theme isn’t putting the short-code for the saved cart button ([save_and_share_cart_button]) in the right place, make sure you put it in the right place on the cart page.
- Check the plugins settings in your WooCommerce dashboard to confirm that the feature is indeed enabled.
4. Shared Cart Links Expire Quickly
Problem:
Customers report that the shared cart links stop working after a short period.
Possible Causes:
- Session timeout settings too low.
- The plugin is configured to purge old carts too soon.
Fixes:
- Increase the cart session duration set in WooCommerce > Settings > Accounts & Privacy.
- Go to the plugin settings and increase the expiration time for a saved cart, or leave carts indefinitely if needed.
5. Logged-out Users Can’t Use the Feature
Problem:
Some stores restrict save/share features only to logged-in users.
Fixes:
Change plugin settings to allow guest users to save and share carts. Ensure your data handling and privacy policy agree with this option.
Ways to Prevent These Problems All Together
Here are ways to help the Save Cart WooCommerce plugin work better in the first place:
- Test the plugin in staging before using it on your live site
- Stay up to date on all plugins and themes
- Backup your site before updating or customizing
- Educate your support team on how to help customers using shared cart links
- Use developer tools or console logs to identify invisible errors.
Final Thoughts
The Save Cart WooCommerce plugin is a small feature that can make a significant difference! It reduces cart abandonment, adds convenience, and promotes an easier checkout process. However, like most features, it requires proper installation and some regular maintenance to work well. Most of your challenges can be resolved by making some simple changes, without sophisticated coding.
By knowing the common challenges and using these simple fixes as a reference point, you will create a smooth cart-saving experience that results in more completed purchases and customers returning to your site!
