Cart persistence
A persistent shopping cart saves a reference to the customer’s account on the current device, ensuring cart contents remain accessible when the logged-in session expires.
If a customer is remembered, the contents of their shopping cart remains accessible on the current device when the logged-in session expires. After the session expires, the customer’s shopping cart is accessed using the persistent cart session. If the same customer logs in on another device or browser and adds something to their shopping cart, and then returns to the device with an active persistent session, their shopping cart is updated with the added items.
Using a persistent shopping cart can reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts and increase sales. The persistent shopping cart does not expose sensitive account information at any time.
To manage the use of cart persistence for your site or within specific store views, you can configure persistent shopping cart settings. For more information about how these settings affect the shopper experience in your storefront, see Persistent cart workflow.
Persistent cart workflow
When the persistent shopping cart is enabled, the workflow depends on:
- The values of the Enable Remember Me and Clear Persistence on Log Out settings
- The customer’s decision to select or clear the Remember Me checkbox
- When the persistent cookie is cleared
When the customer session expires, a Not Jane Smith? link displays in the page header under the following conditions:
- the logged in customer has selected the Remember Me option and a persistent cookie is applied
- the customer logs out when the system is configured with Clear Persistence on Sign Out set to
No.
The system retains a record of the shopping cart contents on the current device, even if the logged-in session expires. The Not Jane Smith? link allows the customer to terminate the persistent session and start working as a guest, or to log in as a different or the same customer.
If the customer checked the Remember Me checkbox when logging in, your store creates and maintains a separate persistent cookie. This cookie helps keep the customer’s shopping cart accessible even after they close the browser or navigate to a different site and their logged in session expires.
If this same customer visits your store using multiple browsers while logged in or while a persistent session is active, the changes the customer makes to the shopping cart content in one browser are reflected in other browsers when the page is refreshed.
“Remember Me” checkbox behavior
Customers can select the Remember Me checkbox on the login page or when creating a new account to keep the contents of the shopping cart accessible on the current device when the logged-in session expires.
Clear Persistence on Sign Out behaviour
When the customer logs in or registers with the Remember Me option selected, the configuration of the Clear Persistence on Sign Out option determines the Persistent Cart behavior.
An example of an open session on a shared computer
Jane is finishing her holiday shopping as a Remembered logged in customer. She adds a present for John to her cart, and something for her mother. Then, she goes to the kitchen for a snack and her login session expires.
John sits down at the computer to do some quick shopping while Jane is in the kitchen. Without noticing the Not Jane Smith? link at the top of the page, John finds a nice present for Jane and adds it to the cart. When he checks out, he notices that the shipping and billing addresses are pre-filled and thinks that he is signed in. John is in such a hurry that he does not notice the additional items during Order Review, and submits the order. Jane’s cart is now empty, and John bought all the gifts.
Configure a persistent cart
During the setup of a persistent shopping cart, you can specify the lifetime of the cookies, and which options you want to make available for various customer activities.
To use the persistent shopping cart, the customer’s browser must be set to allow cookies. There are two types of cookies used for shopping cart operations:
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Session cookie – A short-term session cookie exists during a single visit to your site. This cookie expires when the customer logs out or when the session expires.
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Persistent Cookie – A long-term, persistent cookie continues to exist after the logged-in session ends. This cookie ensures that the contents of a customer’s shopping cart remains accessible when the customer logs out or the session expires.
For more information about how the these configuration settings affect the customer workflow, see Persistent cart workflow.
Yes - Displays the Remember Me checkbox.No - Does not display the Remember Me checkbox, and the persistent cookie is used only for customers who already have it.Yes or No.
Yes - The wish list contents are saved when the session ends.No - The wish list is not saved when the session ends.
Yes or No.
Yes or No.
Yes or No.
Yes or No.
Yes - The state of the customer’s group membership and segmentation data is saved when the session ends.No - The state of the customer’s group membership and segmentation data are not saved when the session ends.