Cart restore
Sending a customer back to a cart they abandoned.
Getting a link#
On the dashboard’s Highest-Value Abandoned Carts widget, the Share action copies a restore link for that cart.
The link is a front-end URL on the site where the cart was started, of the form:
https://your-site/actions/best-sellers/cart/restore?number=<cart number>The cart number is Commerce’s own order number, not the reference. The URL needs no other parameters. The widget offers Share only for carts with an email address.
What happens when the customer opens it#
Opening the link makes the cart the visitor’s active cart, shows a “Your cart has been restored” notice, and redirects to the page set in Commerce’s Load cart redirect URL setting.
Who can restore a cart#
| Cart belongs to | Visitor | Result |
|---|---|---|
| No customer | Anyone | The cart is restored. |
| A guest | Logged out | The cart is restored. |
| A registered customer | That customer, logged in | The cart is restored. |
| A registered customer | Logged out | A “Login Required” page, with a login link that returns to the restore URL. |
| A guest or a registered customer | A different logged-in user | The same page, saying the cart belongs to another account. |
Here, a registered customer has an active or pending user account, and a guest has neither, which is how Commerce records checkout by email alone. The Customers report counts pending accounts as guests. A link to a guest’s cart, or to a cart with no customer, restores for any logged-out visitor, so treat those links as secrets.
When a link stops working#
- The cart has been completed. The link reports that the order is already complete.
- The cart has been purged. Commerce deletes inactive carts on the schedule set by its Purge inactive carts settings, After Commerce deletes a cart, the link returns a 404 error. The dashboard widget shows the store’s purge duration, or says purging is disabled.
- The cart number is missing or wrong.
Requirements#
The route is a front-end action, so the visitor needs no control panel access. Restoring sets the cart on the visitor’s session, so it takes effect in the browser that opened the link.