As an ecommerce store owner with over 15 years of experience, I can tell you that adding a sliding side cart should be one of the first things you do to increase conversion rates.
Research shows that side carts can boost conversion rates by between 15-40% by reducing cart abandonment. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll dive deep on how to seamlessly integrate one into your WooCommerce store.
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Why Side Carts Are Essential for Any Ecommerce Site
Before we get into the implementation steps, it‘s important to understand why a sliding side cart is such a valuable addition:
1. Prevents Cart Abandonment
According to Baymard Institute, the average shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.57%. Side carts help lower this by keeping the cart visible at all times. Shoppers don‘t have to worry about forgetting items they wanted to purchase.
2. Encourages Impulse Purchases
Placing the cart just one click away makes it effortless for customers to add more items. If you pair the side cart with smart upsells and cross-sells, you have a recipe for higher order values.
3. Provides a Seamless Experience
Your customers now expect a consistent experience whether they‘re on desktop or mobile. A sliding cart adapts smoothly across all devices unlike a standalone cart page.
4. Speeds Up the Buying Process
Checking out from any page removes extra steps from the purchase process. Reducing friction leads to higher conversion rates.
As DC Maxwell, Head of Ecommerce at Shopify puts it: "Side carts are an essential tool for stores. They reduce barriers getting in the way of completing transactions."
Now let‘s look at how to implement one.
How to Add a Basic Sliding Side Cart in WooCommerce
The easiest way to add a basic sliding side cart to your WooCommerce store is by using a plugin. My top recommendation is Cart for WooCommerce since it‘s free and simple to set up.
Step 1: Install the Plugin
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New. Search for "Cart for WooCommerce" and install the plugin. After it finishes installing, click Activate.
Step 2: Access the Cart Settings
Find the Cart for WooCommerce settings at FunnelKit > Cart in your dashboard. You‘ll see a preview of the sliding cart on the right side.
Step 3: Choose Where to Display It
Decide whether you want to show the cart icon sitewide or only on WooCommerce pages. Sitewide works well for marketplaces while WooCommerce pages keeps it focused on product pages for simpler sites.
Step 4: Pick an Icon Position
Select whether you want the cart icon to appear at the bottom left or bottom right. I suggest bottom right, but you may want to test which converts better.
Step 5: Customize the Elements
Tweak the cart heading, coupon field, checkout button text, and other elements to match your branding. You can really customize the look and feel here.
Step 6: Enable and Publish
Turn on the cart by toggling Enable Cart to on and click Save. The side cart will now be live on your store!
With those simple steps, you‘ve added a shopping cart that will help convert more of your store visitors. But there‘s so much more you can do to take it up a level…
Adding an Advanced Sliding Cart with Promotions
If you want to include promotional features in your side cart, I recommend upgrading to the FunnelKit Cart Pro premium plugin. It unlocks powerful upselling, cross-selling, and discount capabilities.
Here are the advanced features you‘ll get access to:
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Upsells and Cross-Sells – Encourage shoppers to spend more by recommending complementary or higher-priced items based on what‘s in their cart. You can create unlimited rules.
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Rewards – Automatically offer free gifts, discounts, or free shipping when customers hit certain spending thresholds. Great for building loyalty.
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Gamification – Display progress trackers showing how much more customers need to spend to unlock a reward. This provides motivation to add more items.
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Smart Coupons – Accept coupon codes directly in the side cart for instant savings. Works great with plugins like Advanced Coupons
Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugins
After purchasing Cart Pro, install FunnelKit Cart Pro, FunnelKit Funnel Builder, and FunnelKit Cart from your dashboard. Activate all 3 plugins.
Step 2: Configure Promotions
In FunnelKit Cart Pro, create your upsell and cross-sell rules. These can be based on categories, brands, price points, or anything.
Next, build out your rewards incentives. I suggest starting with a discount reward applied via a smart coupon.
Step 3: Customize and Tweak
Make sure your messaging matches your brand voice. Show progress trackers and unlock notifications to highlight rewards.
Step 4: Turn on Your Sliding Cart
Enable the live cart and start monitoring your results. I suggest A/B testing promo variants to find the optimal mix.
With Cart Pro, you can turn your basic side cart into a powerhouse for generating more revenue. The additional personalization makes customers more likely to purchase more items and come back to spend again.
Optimizing Your Side Cart for Conversions
Now that you‘ve added a sliding side cart to your WooCommerce store, let‘s discuss some best practices to maximize its impact:
Match Your Brand Style
Take advantage of color and font customizations to seamlessly match your cart to your brand.
For Shopify stores, I recommend using a color palette like #3a3a3a for the background, #FFFFFF for text, and #F96854 for buttons. But feel free to get creative!
Show Relevant Images
Displaying product images or your logo in the side cart helps reinforce your brand. I‘d suggest 70x70px thumbnails next to products. Limit to 3 images so it doesn‘t slow loading.
Write Compelling Messages
Every bit of text is an opportunity. Use friendly, benefit-driven copy – like ensuring customers they won‘t miss out on anything in their cart.
Adjust Sizing for Mobile
You‘ll likely want to tweak the cart width or layout to optimize for smaller mobile screens. 400-500px wide works for most responsive side cart layouts.
Strategically Place the Icon
Consider using shortcodes to add the cart icon to high-value pages like product category pages, checkout, or key landing pages.
Make Empty Carts "Shoppable"
If a visitor opens an empty cart, use it as a chance to provide coupons or product suggestions to kickstart their shopping session.
Troubleshooting Common Side Cart Issues
When implementing your side cart, here are some potential issues to watch out for:
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Page layout interference – May overlap page elements in certain themes. Try adjusting cart position or width.
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Slow page loading – Too many high-res images can slow things down. Optimize images and limit to 3-5 max.
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Small text on mobile – Be sure to tweak text sizing for smaller screens with media queries. Minimum 14px fonts.
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Cart totals incorrect – Syncing the live cart totals relies on JavaScript. Use debugging tools to fix any JS errors.
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Coupons not applying – The cart and checkout process have separate coupon fields. Make sure coupons work in both.
Don‘t hesitate to reach out to your plugin‘s support team for troubleshooting help. A bit of fine-tuning will have your cart converting in no time.
Additional Tips to Take Your Side Cart to the Next Level
Beyond the basics, there are a few more advanced tactics that can help you get even more value from your WooCommerce side cart:
Use Behavior-Based Upsells
Segment your upsells based on interests shoppers have shown via their browsing behavior or purchase history. This makes them more relevant.
Highlight Fast Shipping
If you offer expedited shipping, you can tout this in the cart to encourage larger orders. Be sure to advertise this at checkout too.
Limit Time Promotions
FOMO is powerful – try denoting some coupons or promotions in the cart as expiring soon to create urgency. But don‘t overuse this.
Make It A/B Testable
Use a testing tool like Google Optimize to trial different cart formats, promotions, or flows to optimize your conversion strategy.
Integrate With Retargeting Ads
Sync your cart abandonment data with platforms like Facebook to serve relevant ads encouraging users to complete their purchase.
Wrapping Up
Installing a smart sliding side cart is one of the best tactics for maximizing revenue from your WooCommerce store. Follow the tips in this guide to set up a high-converting experience.
The key is reducing friction wherever possible while personalizing the shopping journey. With the right combination of promotions and rewards, your customers will look forward to opening that side cart and finishing their purchases.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m always happy to help fellow ecommerce store owners implement solutions like this.
