What is an E-commerce Mini Cart?
An online mini cart is a portable shopping cart that contains essential order details and floats over the pages of an e-commerce store to show consumers what they're buying without leaving the page they’re currently on.
A pop-up mini cart with real-time updates can be a great addition to a traditional, full-sized shopping cart page.
It might not seem like much at first, but when done right, it helps online stores speed up the whole checkout process and even increase the Average Order Value (AOV) and checkout page conversion.
Mini cart vs. a full-size shopping cart page
Mini carts and full-size shopping cart pages serve different roles in the shopping experience. The mini cart is all about convenience. It gives shoppers a quick snapshot of their items without pulling them away from browsing.
It can be a cart icon or a bag icon that reveals the order summary when moused over, or a sidebar that pops up after adding a product.
On some ecommerce sites, the mini cart appears in the upper right corner, giving customers an easy way to access their order details. Easy shopping process with minimum hassle.
On full-size shopping carts, on the other hand, let shoppers review every order detail, apply promo codes, calculate shipping costs, and finalize their order. Usually, it's the last customer journey stop before checkout.
Both have their place. The mini cart keeps things easy and accessible, while the full-size cart is there for more detailed actions. Together, they make shopping feel easy and intuitive.
Benefits of a mini cart for e-commerce websites
Let's review what causes shoppers to abandon shopping carts and how a mini cart setup helps online stores resolve that — and more.
Reduce shopping cart abandonment
Online checkout experience makes or breaks sales. If it's not user-friendly, it leads to frustration and cart abandonment, which means your customers choose to drop out of the shopping process to go elsewhere.
Abandoned shopping carts mean your online shoppers choose not to continue shopping — and it happens more often than you think. The average shopping cart abandonment rate in e-commerce business remains as high as 69.8%. You're missing out on 70 out of 100 potential orders.
Most common reasons include poor user experience (UX) design, account creation, unexpected delivery costs, inconvenient shipping methods, and so on. Having a mini cart with essential order details allows you to avoid an awkward back-and-forth and be as transparent as possible from the get-go.
Create a smooth shopping experience
Switching between multiple product tabs or loosing one's browsing progress can be hard as it is. It's also possible a customer will add a t-shirt to the shopping cart, only to realize at checkout that they added a pair of slacks — they got the product pages wrong.
An online mini cart makes a big impact with a small change, adding clarity and fluidity to the shopping journey. It notifies users of added items without disrupting browsing and helps avoid mistakes, like adding the wrong product.
Letting shoppers keep track of the shopping cart content and value without going to the actual checkout screen makes online shopping just... seamless.
Total order estimates and delivery times
As mentioned, consumers tend to abandon their carts when you hit them with extra costs for delivery. It's the most common cause of shopping cart abandonment — it accounts for about half of abandoned online orders.
Be clear about your delivery costs upfront. We're way past the point where the total cost of the delivery belongs at the end of the checkout journey. Add it to your mini cart — make it one of the first things your consumers will encounter and expect.
You can similarly add a zip code field through your delivery management provider and display an accurate delivery promise when it comes to shipping times and available methods.
Add cross-selling and upselling
Related items, matching accessories or popular products, commonly known as a 'people also buy' category, can easily be shown inside a mini cart to encourage (more) purchases.
To boost AOV and reduce you shipping costs, you can offer free or premium delivery options upsell once a certain amount of order total is reached. Displaying this incentive in the mini cart pop-up before checkout increases the likelihood of conversion and more sales.
Successful online mini cart example: Nudient
Take Nudient as an example. Their mini hopping cart design actually serves as an e-commerce checkout page, making it easy to double-check the order summary, choose from available delivery options and place the order in just a few clicks.
E-commerce mini cart best practices
The mini cart is all about keeping things simple and seamless. It gives shoppers everything they need within reach — reviewing items, making quick updates, or jumping straight to checkout. Here’s what you need to include in your mini cart.
1. Names of the added items
Display item names with clickable links to product pages for quick access.
2. Overview of the customer’s exact choice
Show clear thumbnails or images of the selected products.
3. Item attributes
Include important details like size, color, and dimensions to avoid confusion.
4. Product quantity with editable options
Allow customers to adjust quantities directly within the mini cart.
5. Product price and order total
Clearly show item prices, order totals, and any applicable discounts.
6. Shipping costs and delivery options
Include transparent shipping costs, a free shipping progress bar, and available delivery methods.
7. Clear checkout CTA
Provide straightforward buttons for actions like 'continue shopping', and a prominent checkout button to guide customers through the purchasing process with ease.
UX shopping cart design tips
Get your mini shopping cart design right, and it keeps online shoppers engaged and moving toward checkout. Get it wrong, and they might leave before you even realize it. Here’s how to get it right.
Keep it clean
Clutter make customers leave. Stick to the essentials like product names, images, attributes, and totals. And make sure your mini cart is always within reach, no matter where shoppers are on your site.
Nike’s mini cart is simple, clear, and, importantly, has CTA buttons that allow the user to view the entire contents of their basket or simply proceed straight to checkout.
After you click 'add to bag' on the Nike website, a temporary pop-up appears in the top right corner. This displays the product’s important information and the text 'added to the cart'.
Make it mobile-friendly
We’re long past the days when mobile optimization was optional. Your mini cart needs to work perfectly on every device — responsive, quick, and easy to use.
ASOS uses a mini cart that provides a clear overview of selected items, available discounts, and a straightforward checkout process, streamlining the user experience on mobile devices.
Make changes simple
No one wants to reload a page just to fix an item. Let shoppers adjust quantities, remove products, or update their cart right in the mini cart itself.
Adidas uses a permanent modal overlay that appears when an item is added to the cart, allowing users to view their cart contents and make adjustments without navigating away from the current page.
Guide shoppers and build trust
Show progress toward free shipping and highlight discounts upfront. Add trust signals like secure checkout icons, SSL badges, and payment logos to reassure customers.
Gymshark’s mini cart is clear and functional. A progress bar tracks free shipping, while shoppers can adjust quantities, view details, and add discount codes. Secure checkout icons and payment logos boost trust.
Small changes for a big impact
Shoppers add products to cart so that they can review the order summary, check whether the total value fits the shopping budget or if they qualify for free shipping.
From this you get an idea why the mini cart is an important user experience component of your online store.
It makes it easier for your customers to complete a successful purchase, which means they hit your conversion rates KPI or follow through on your call to action (CTA).
By optimizing the mini cart, you can ensure a smoother sales funnel, leading to higher conversion rates and improved customer satisfaction.
