Is the cart page the most overlooked cart upsell spot?

Store Design
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Topic summary

Debate over whether the cart page is an underused place for upsells and how it compares to cart drawers in driving higher AOV (average order value). The OP argues simple, relevant offers (e.g., gift wrap, priority handling, complementary accessories) on the cart page can lift AOV without overwhelming users.

Pro cart page upsells: The cart page is a committed moment in the journey, making low-friction, targeted add-ons effective. Many shoppers still reach it via header links, “View Cart,” returning from checkout, or shared links; it also serves as a robust fallback if drawers (JS-heavy) fail.

Pro drawer focus: Most traffic goes from drawer to checkout, especially on mobile where drawer and cart page feel similar. Drawers update in real time via AJAX, while cart pages may require refresh for upsell/free-shipping logic; in practice, few stores invest in cart page changes.

Technical notes: PDP = product page; AOV = average order value; AJAX = asynchronous updates. Shopify’s Ajax Cart API can keep cart-page upsells in sync; one app was cited as handling this well.

Status: No consensus. Suggested actions: A/B test drawer vs. cart-page strategies, keep upsells simple and relevant, choose reputable drawer implementations, and maintain a functional cart page as fallback.

Summarized with AI on December 11. AI used: gpt-5.
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I’ve been noticing a pattern across a lot of Shopify stores I check out:

Product pages often contain several or more (sometimes too many) optimisations/upsells, cart drawers are also packed with offers… but the cart page itself is almost an afterthought. And yes, many shops now use drawers instead of the classic cart page, BUT in many themes, 9 times out of 10, the cart page is still reachable from the header icon or from checkout, yet it’s mostly empty.

Some may think that it’s disabled/switched off, and most are probably unaware of the potential revenue they’re leaving on the table.

A simple add-on there can go a long way in boosting your AOV significantly over time:

  • A checkbox / tick box / toggle for something like a gift wrap, a handwritten note, or priority packing

  • A small accessory that clearly pairs with what’s in the cart (e.g. cleaner, refills, a matching item, coffee + chocolate, etc.)

  • One clear, calm block rather than multiple competing offers in different places around the page

The key is to not overwhelm customers at this point – no extra steps, no confusing layout, items that the customer already has shown intent for. And if the offer is targeted by product/collection/tag so it’s relevant, it feels like a helpful option, not a distraction.

Curious how others are using the cart page today - do you treat it as a serious upsell surface, or is everything happening in the drawer and on PDPs?

3 Likes
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Hi Justas, if you have drawer then most chances are customer will go from drawer to checkout, also on click on cart icon if drawer opens then definitely no one going to cart page, so you should add upsell on drawer, if wanted to show more you can skip drawer and on add to cart take them to cart page that way they can feel it but its unnecessary as most users are on mobile and cart page and drawer have same size on it, better to have it on drawer

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Hey @Justas_AugmentStudio

The thing is, the cart page represents a really unique moment in the buying journey. The customer has already decided what they want and they’re moving toward checkout, so they’re in a buying mindset. They’re not browsing anymore - they’re committed. That’s actually the perfect time to offer something complementary that enhances what they’ve already chosen, as long as it’s done thoughtfully.

I love your examples of gift wrap, priority handling, or relevant add-ons. These work because they’re low-friction and genuinely useful. A checkbox for gift wrapping doesn’t feel pushy - it feels like a service. A suggestion to add coffee with chocolate when someone’s already buying one of those makes total sense. The key difference between good cart page upsells and annoying ones is relevance and simplicity.

What doesn’t work is cramming the cart page with the same aggressive upselling tactics people use everywhere else. If someone’s already seen product recommendations on the PDP and in the cart drawer, hitting them again with another wall of suggested products on the cart page just creates decision fatigue. At that point, you’re more likely to lose the sale than increase AOV because you’ve made the experience exhausting.

So yeah, treating the cart page as a serious but subtle upsell surface makes total sense. The philosophy should be “helpful suggestion” not “last chance sales pitch.” Keep it relevant, keep it simple, and make it feel like it’s adding value to what they’re already buying.

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@Ahsan_ANC ,

Thanks for your reply. What I meant is that even when drawers are used (which does not mean always), customers do still end up on cart page for many reasons.

  • Header cart icon leads to cart page, not drawer, in many shops/themes, meaning not everyone uses drawers

  • Many cart drawers contain “View Cart” links, a clickable header icon that leads to cart page, or simply continues to cart page with its only CTA

  • Customers may come back from checkout to edit orders/quantities - it’s not necessarily the most common scenario, but it’s not unheard of

  • Shared links/bookmarks can sometimes lead to cart page directly

It’s not either drawer or cart, but simply that in practice, a non trivial chunk of people still end up on the cart page, be it by design as their main surface or even when they use a drawer.

Also, saying that cart drawers and cart pages work the same on mobile is not always true. Drawers depend heavily on JS logic and theme customisations and can break more easily. Cart page is more robust than drawers.

Even if you do use a cart drawer, having a cart page as a fallback mechanism is a good idea if anything goes wrong with your drawer, so making it useful and monetised is a low-risk upside.

AFAIK, some CRO folk skip the drawer on purpose to reduce distractions and focus on checkout, and that might be useful if the cart pages is doing something useful.

Might be worth A/B test different strategies for a specific store, but my main argument is: given the cart page exists anyway on most stores, and is still used in the main checkout journey on many, not using it is pure opportunity cost.

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yes, the cart page will be there anyway. what i said is on working on 50+ stores i have change the default cart page less then 10 stores, drawer is updated in real time with ajax JS so it is up to date and on other hand cart page is also but not every time and some time it needs refresh to have updated data like the upsell when you change product in cart the upsell should also update or any free shipping mechanism which is handled good on drawer, as far i said the look is same on mobile it is only difference is any section other then cart items is added on cart page.
so my final thought is you are not explicitly sending to cart page investing on it is not good option keep it default for those non trivial chunk of people if they land on it

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@Ahsan_ANC ,

I understand your POV, and it’s not wrong, and I believe we can agree on the fact that there are pros and cons to both, as I’ve outlined in my previous message.

Plus, on the cart page not updating when upsell is added - I’ve seen apps not handle that well, yes, but the Shopify’s official Ajax Cart API is there for that reason, and the app I’ve built, AS Check & Toggle Cart Upsells, been tested in various scenarios and handles that without issues, despite what other buggy apps might be doing.

And same goes for cart drawers - since you already know it is custom JS code heavy, it’s prone to a lot of issues, so it’s even more important to choose a reputable cart drawer since there’s a lot of threads in this community that highlight various issues of drawer being covered by product pages, not opening, and various other issues - that’s where the default, standard, shopify-built cart page has less risk.