Shopping Carts
The Shopping Carts page lets you view and manage customer shopping carts. Access it from Admin > Shopping Carts in your admin panel.
See It in Action
Watch the AI shopping assistant handle a full shopping experience:
Overview
When customers interact with your AI assistant, they can add products to a shopping cart through natural conversation. The cart persists across sessions, so customers can start shopping in one conversation and complete checkout in another.
Key capabilities:
- Add, remove, and update items through chat or voice
- Cart persists across conversations and sessions
- Integrates with Shopify or external checkout systems
- Full voice support for hands-free shopping
Settings
Configure shopping cart behavior in your tenant settings under E-commerce.
Enable Shopping Cart
Toggle to enable or disable the cart feature:
- Enabled: AI can help customers manage their cart and checkout
- Disabled: Cart functionality is not available
Checkout Method
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| Shopify | Creates a Shopify draft order with invoice URL for payment |
| Webhook | Posts order data to your external system |
| Disabled | Cart available but checkout not enabled |
Cart Expiration
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Abandoned Cart Days | 7 | Days of inactivity before marking cart as abandoned |
| Cart Expiration Days | 30 | Days before expired carts are cleaned up |
How Carts Work
From Text Chat
- Customer asks about a product or says "add to cart"
- AI searches your catalog and finds matching products
- AI confirms the item and quantity with the customer
- Item is added to cart with an inline cart display
- Customer can continue shopping or proceed to checkout
- At checkout, contact info is collected and order is submitted
Example conversation:
Customer: "I'd like to order some vitamin D"
AI: "I found Vitamin D3 5000 IU for $24.99. How many would you like?"
Customer: "Two bottles please"
AI: "Added 2 bottles of Vitamin D3 to your cart. Your subtotal is $49.98. Anything else?"
Customer: "That's all, I'd like to checkout"
AI: [Shows contact form, then submits order]
AI: "Order submitted! Check your email for the checkout link to complete payment."
From Voice Chat
Voice interactions are fully conversational:
- Customer describes what they want
- AI finds products and confirms details verbally
- Customer confirms with voice ("yes", "add it", etc.)
- AI updates cart and confirms totals
- At checkout, AI collects contact info by voice:
- Asks for email and spells it back for confirmation
- Confirms name and phone
- Submits order after final confirmation
Example voice flow:
Customer: "Add omega-3 to my cart"
AI: "I found Omega-3 Fish Oil, 120 softgels, for $34.99. Should I add one to your cart?"
Customer: "Yes"
AI: "Added. Your cart now has $34.99. Would you like anything else?"
Customer: "No, let's checkout"
AI: "I'll need your contact info. What's your email address?"
Customer: "john@example.com"
AI: "That's j-o-h-n at example dot com, correct?"
Customer: "Yes"
AI: "And your name?"
...
Cart Persistence
Carts are per-user, not per-conversation. This means:
| Behavior | Description |
|---|---|
| Cross-session | Customer can close chat and return later — cart is preserved |
| Cross-device | If customer logs in on another device, same cart |
| Guest users | Guest users also have persistent carts tied to their browser session |
| One active cart | Each customer has at most one active cart per tenant |
Example: Cross-Conversation Shopping
Monday:
Customer: "Add vitamin D to my cart"
AI: [adds item] "Added. Your subtotal is $24.99"
[Customer closes chat]
Wednesday:
Customer: "What's in my cart?"
AI: "You have 1 item: Vitamin D3 ($24.99)"
Customer: "Add omega-3 too"
AI: [adds item] "Your subtotal is now $59.98"
Cart Lifecycle
A cart moves through these stages:
- Created — Customer adds their first item
- Active — Customer continues shopping or leaves items for later
- Converted — Customer completes checkout (becomes an order)
- Abandoned — No activity for 7 days (configurable)
- Expired — Cleaned up after 30 days of inactivity
Cart Statuses
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Active | Current cart, can be modified. One per customer |
| Converted | Order submitted successfully. Customer can start a new cart |
| Abandoned | No activity for configured period (default: 7 days) |
| Expired | Marked for cleanup after retention period |
Admin Page
Page Header
- Title: "Shopping Carts"
- Active Count: Shows number of active carts
- Refresh Button: Reload the cart list
Cart List
Each cart card displays:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Customer | Name or email (or "Guest" for anonymous users) |
| Items | Number of items in cart |
| Subtotal | Total value of cart |
| Status | Current cart status with color coding |
| Last Activity | How long since last update |
Filtering
Search: Find carts by customer name or email
Status Filter:
- All Status
- Active
- Converted
- Abandoned
Cart Detail View
Click any cart to see full details:
Customer Information
- Name, email, phone (if collected)
- User type (registered or guest)
Cart Contents
- Product name and variant
- Quantity and unit price
- Line total for each item
- Cart subtotal
Timeline
- Created date
- Last activity date
- Converted date (if applicable)
Linked Order
- If converted, link to the resulting order/draft order
Checkout Integration
Shopify Checkout
When Shopify is connected:
- Cart is converted to a Shopify Draft Order
- Draft order includes all line items with prices
- Customer receives invoice URL for payment
- Payment is processed through Shopify's checkout
- Order syncs back to your Shopify admin
External Checkout (Webhook)
If you're not using Shopify, orders can be sent to your own system:
- Order details are sent to your checkout system
- Your system processes the order and sends a payment link
- Customer completes payment on your website
This option requires technical setup — contact support for integration details.
Cart Actions
From the Admin Panel
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| View | See full cart contents and customer info |
| Export | Download cart data (coming soon) |
Automatic Actions
| Trigger | Action |
|---|---|
| No activity (7 days) | Cart marked as abandoned |
| Abandoned (30 days) | Cart marked as expired and cleaned up |
| Checkout complete | Cart marked as converted, linked to order |
Analytics
Track cart performance:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Active Carts | Number of customers with items in cart |
| Conversion Rate | Percentage of carts that become orders |
| Average Cart Value | Mean subtotal of active carts |
| Abandonment Rate | Percentage of carts abandoned |
Best Practices
Reducing Cart Abandonment
- Follow up on abandoned carts — Review abandoned carts and consider reaching out
- Streamline checkout — Ensure checkout flow is quick and frictionless
- Clear pricing — Make sure product prices are accurate and up-to-date
Optimizing the Shopping Experience
- Keep catalog updated — Sync products regularly so AI has current inventory
- Train on common requests — Add product synonyms and common phrasings to your knowledge base
- Test voice checkout — Verify the hands-free flow works smoothly for your products
Managing Guest Carts
- Guest carts persist by browser session
- Encourage account creation for cross-device persistence
- Guest carts convert to user carts if customer provides email at checkout
Troubleshooting
"Cart not found" errors
- Customer may be on a different device than where they added items
- Guest session may have expired
- Check if cart was converted or abandoned
Items not adding to cart
- Verify products are in your catalog with valid prices
- Check that e-commerce features are enabled in your account settings
Checkout not completing
- Verify Shopify connection or webhook URL is configured
- Check that contact collection is working
- Review error logs for API failures
Related Pages
- Orders - View submitted orders
- Follow-Ups - Customer assistance requests
- Data Management - Manage your product catalog