Trying to skip the WooCommerce Cart page and send customers direct to the checkout to improve your conversion rate?
It’s a long established theory that the Cart page creates an added barrier to the customer entering their credit card details and clicking “place order” – so skipping the WooCommerce cart page altogether feels like a quick win improvement from this default WooCommerce functionality that adds buying friction to the checkout process.
After you have read this article, you’ll have methods of skipping the Cart page and redirecting to the Checkout page in WooCommerce – both using code based solutions and CODELESS solutions (which we love!)
Use WooCommerce default settings to skip cart page
a) Redirect Cart page link to the Checkout page
To access the WooCommerce section of your website, go to “WooCommerce” on the left-hand side menu, then below that, you go to “Settings”, which is then followed by “Advanced” in the horizontal menu (in red.)
As you can see from the below screenshot, “Basket page” is highlighted in red. Usually, there’s an option above that called “Cart page”. You would then click “Checkout” on the drop-down menu (usually the first option). Once this option has been exercised it will then make the Add-to-cart button redirectable to the Checkout page, rather than the Cart page itself. This then saves time and is more likely to keep the customer interested throughout their whole online journey.
b) Redirect Cart page after successful addition
As you can see from the above screenshot, you to to “Settings” located underneath “WooCommerce”, which is then followed by “Products” on the horizontal menu. You can see Add to Basket behaviour but in this case, it should be Add to cart behaviour which is then followed by a tick right next to “Redirect to the cart page after successful addition”.
You then save this to settings for future reference. It is a simple but effective way of working.
C) Concealing Cart page from the Main Menu
It’s common for E-Commerce owners to list the cart page on the main menu of their website.
However, if you wish to remove the cart page from the main menu, you can simply do so by going to Appearance > Menu on settings. You continue the process by going to Menu Structure, Cart, and then click remove as shown on the below screenshot.
The cart item is usually listed on the Main Menu so you select that as an option in this case and then click “Remove selected items.”
Optional Extra Enhancement: Change Add-to-cart button wording
Changing Add To Cart Text With Code Snippets
As you can see from our demonstrations despite the fact the Add to cart button now leads to the checkout page, the text still displays “Add to Cart” – ideally it should say “Buy Now” or something similar so shoppers know to expect the checkout page.
In order to change the Add To Cart button wording in WooCommerce, you need to add the below code snippet.
Now you can add this in the functions.php file of your activated website theme (this will get overwritten with theme updates). You can find this file under Appearance > Editor > click on functions.php files listed on the right.
Or you can use the “Code Snippets” plugin to allow you to add code to the theme that WON’T get overwritten by theme updates.
Here’s the code to change the Add To Cart button into a “Buy Now” button on the WooCommerce product page AND Shop Page.
add_filter( 'woocommerce_product_single_add_to_cart_text', 'fsm_cart_bttn_text' );
add_filter( 'woocommerce_product_add_to_cart_text', 'fsm_cart_bttn_text' );
//Changing Add to Cart text to Buy Now!
function fsm_cart_bttn_text() {
return __( 'Buy Now!', 'woocommerce' );
}
The Add To Cart button now says “Buy Now” not “Add To Cart” as below
Not everyone (including us!) wants to be messing with code, so let’s look at some plugins.
Plugins to change Add To Cart Text in WooCommerce
If you are not comfortable or familiar with adding a code snippet, don’t worry there are some free plugins designed to customize WooCommerce Add to cart buttons.
Here’s some more information on some plugins to edit the WooCommerce add to cart button:
Woo Button Text – OUT OF DATE
Thanks to this plugin you can set up a custom Add-to-Cart button text for both product and shopping pages. It also provides a customization option for Place Order on the Checkout page. It is not just limited to this as the plugin also allows you to change the colour and/or style of the button(s). Click here to download the free plugin.
This plugin is hideously out of date – despite having a few good reviews. It wouldn’t be my first choice.
WC Custom Adds to Cart Labels
This plugin allows you to customize the Add-to-Cart button text based on certain product types. You can set custom text for simple, grouped, external, variable, and bookable products for single product pages as well as archive/shop pages. Click here to download the free plugin.
This plugin isn’t as hideously out of date as the Woo Button Text plugin, but it’s still not as up to date as I’d like. It’s also just 3.5 stars which typically means we’ve got some compatibility issues.
Plugins to skip the cart page in WooCommerce
The purpose of plugins in this case is to give WooCommerce store owners more room for customization and convenience when it comes to achieving that checkout goal. WordPress offers that platform with their most popular plugin for skipping cart pages which is called WooCommerce Direct Checkout.
Click here if you wish to download it now.
Not only does this free plugin allow you to skip the cart page therefore redirecting you to a custom page, it also allows you to set a custom Add-to-Cart button text.
Using a Code snippet customization to skip the cart page
Last, but certainly not least, this method involves involving a code snippet for skipping the WooCommerce cart page. This method is also simple like the other options which was previously explained in this article.
Here’s the code snippet you can add to your functions.php file (not recommended, it will get overwritten) or insert using the Code Snippets plugin (recommended!)
add_filter('add_to_cart_redirect', 'lw_add_to_cart_redirect');
function lw_add_to_cart_redirect() {
global $woocommerce;
$lw_redirect_checkout = $woocommerce->cart->get_checkout_url();
return $lw_redirect_checkout;
}
This code will redirect you to Add-to-Cart action from the shop page and individual page to the Checkout page.
You also need to change the Add-to-cart button text. Refer to the previous methods mentioned above!
We hope the recommended methods will make it easier for you to go straight to the checkout page on your WooCommerce store, making it simpler and smoother for both you and the customer on their journey.
If you’re trying to customize your WooCommerce Checkout page or customize WooCommerce cart page and customer journey – going beyond just skipping the cart page, you should be taking a look at WooFunnels – it’s the industry leading, standard setting Plugin to drive more sales from your WooCommerce store!
Take a look at our WooFunnels review here
If you’re weighing up the pro’s and con’s of Cartflows vs WooFunnels – take a look at our side by side comparison here
