Welcome to another edition of Shopify Theme Basics! Today's topic: carts. Let's get rolling!

Your store’s cart is fundamental. It may seem like a simple utility but in reality it’s a critical part of your customer’s journey. A thoughtfully designed cart can guide decisions, reduce friction, and create trust.

What do I need to know about my cart?

The cart experience begins as soon as your customer clicks “Add to cart.” In fact, the “cart” can be seen as three connected components:

• The cart icon in the header, often accompanied by an add-to-cart confirmation

• A quick cart that displays an order summary on any page

• The full cart page, as the last step before the checkout

Add-to-cart notification

When a customer adds an item to their cart, they shouldn’t be left wondering what just happened. An add-to-cart popup message gives immediate feedback and can present next steps to continue shopping or head to the checkout. This isn’t technically part of the cart layout, but it’s crucial for user experience.

Quick cart

Most Shopify themes support a quick cart: a slide-out drawer that displays a summary of items, prices, and quantities. Customers can view the quick cart by clicking the header’s cart icon, or it can automatically open when they add a product (instead of the popup notification). They can then make changes or proceed to the checkout. Many themes also have advanced in-cart features to increase conversion rates and average order rates, which we will take a look at below.

Cart page

While the cart page is used less often today, it’s still useful if you need to display extra information, like detailed shipping policies or custom messaging. You can customize the cart page with sections just like any other page to provide a full cart experience. Otherwise, quick carts have become more comprehensive and will often send customers straight to the checkout page.

How do I set up my cart?

You’ll find settings for your cart either in the theme settings or a “cart” section in the theme editor side panel. The first setting you’ll want to find is for your cart type: choose to enable your theme’s quick cart or send customers directly to the cart page instead.

You’ll also want to customize any style options. Most themes will have options to choose what product information to display, change the size or shape of the product images, or customize the cart icon.

What cart features should I use?

​​Some themes provide additional in-cart features to improve the purchase flow and even increase your average order value. We’ll cover a few of them, starting with a basic but important cart notes feature before looking at some powerful features commonly found in premium themes. (If you're not using a premium theme and want to add features to your store's cart, check out our app Flash Cart).

Cart notes

Need to collect extra details—like gift messages, delivery instructions, or special requests? Cart notes are a simple way to do that. A basic feature found in quick carts and cart pages, they can be enabled in your theme settings and appear as a text field in the cart before checkout.

Empty cart promotion

In themes like Eclipse or Stiletto, you can display featured products or links to popular collections when the cart is empty. Whether your customers open the cart without any items or have removed all items, an empty cart can be like a brick wall in the purchase flow; with in-cart promotions, customers can seamlessly go back to shopping.

Low inventory warning

Just before checkout, there’s always a moment of hesitation. A low inventory warning can help keep your customer’s momentum with a touch of urgency. When an item in their cart is close to selling out, you can show a ‘low stock’ message to encourage them to complete their purchase before they miss their chance.

Free shipping bar

Unexpected shipping costs are one of the top reasons for cart abandonment. A common tactic is to offer free shipping on orders above a minimum value (learn how to set up discounts on Shopify here).

In many themes, you can use a free shipping bar in the cart to gain the full benefit of offering this discount. A free shipping bar shows customers how close they are to unlocking free shipping. It will both motivate customers to add more items and also help customers take the next step to check out by easing their mind about shipping costs.

Cross-sells

With cross-sell sections in the cart, you can show complementary or popular products just before customers check out. Depending on your theme, this might be built in—or you can use an app to add dynamic product suggestions. Your cart is the best place and time to multiply your sales before customers check out.

Available features will vary from theme to theme, so be sure to check your theme’s documentation to make the most of your store’s cart.

That wraps up our cart overview! Check out our other Shopify Theme Basics articles.

How else can we help?

At Fluorescent, we love building relationships with our customers! We’re here to support your business and help you grow.

If you are…

… looking to add features to your cart, check out our app Flash Cart.

…already using one of our themes and need some assistance, head over to our documentation.

…looking for a new theme, check out our themes Eclipse, Stiletto, and Cornerstone.

…an agency or freelancer, read about our partner program and how it can help grow your business.