CommentSold shopping cart expirations determine how long products remain reserved in a shopper's cart before they are returned to available inventory. You can configure carts to expire after a set number of hours and minutes, on a weekly schedule, or at a specific one-time date and time.
This article covers the following shopping cart expiration settings:
- Standard shopping cart expiration
- One-time special cart expiration
- Night-Time Expire
- How active carts are affected when settings change
What Does Shopping Cart Expiration Do?
Shopping cart expiration helps you automatically return reserved products to available inventory when shoppers don't complete their purchases. You can use it to:
- Set a time limit for how long products remain in a shopper's cart.
- Automatically return unpurchased products to available inventory.
- Schedule regular or one-time cart expirations based on your shop's needs.
How Do I Set a Standard Shopping Cart Expiration?
The standard Shopping Cart Expiration setting determines when active shopping carts expire and their products return to available inventory. You can expire carts based on how long ago products were added or on a recurring weekly schedule.
- Select Setup in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Shop from the options listed at the top of the page.
- Locate the Shopping Cart section on the bottom-right corner of the page.
- Select Edit to the right of Shopping Cart Expiration.
- Choose your Expiration Preference:
- Expire items in carts based on how long ago they were added. Set the number of hours and minutes a product can remain in a shopper's cart before the cart expires.
- Expire items in carts on a weekly schedule. Choose a day and time when all active shopping carts will expire each week.
- Select Exclude current/active carts if you want the new expiration settings to apply only to carts created after the change. Existing active carts will not be affected.
- Select Save.
How Do I Set a One-Time Shopping Cart Expiration?
A one-time special cart expiration lets you choose a specific date and time when all applicable active shopping carts expire. This setting temporarily overrides your standard shopping cart expiration. After the one-time expiration passes, the standard expiration setting takes effect again.
- Select Setup in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Shop from the options listed at the top of the page.
- Locate the Shopping Cart section on the bottom-right corner of the page.
- Select Edit to the right of One-time Special Cart Expiration.
- Select Select an expiration date?, then select the day and time of the one-time expiration.
- Select Exclude current/active carts if you wish for your changes not to impact any currently active shopping carts.
- Select Save.
What Is Night-Time Expire?
Night-Time Expire controls whether shopping carts can expire between 11 PM and 7 AM based on the time zone configured for your shop.
- Select Setup in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Shop from the options listed at the top of the page.
- Locate the Shopping Cart section on the bottom-right corner of the page.
- Locate the Night-Time Expire and enable or disable based on your preference.
- If enabled, Shopping carts can expire between 11 PM and 7 AM.
- If disabled, Shopping carts do not expire between 11 PM and 7 AM. The cart remains active until the expiration period continues outside the overnight window.
Example: A shopper adds a product to their cart at 6 PM, and your standard cart expiration is 6 hours. If Night-Time Expire is disabled, the cart will not expire at midnight because midnight falls within the overnight period.
How Do the Shopping Cart Expiration Settings Work Together?
CommentSold uses different expiration settings depending on what you have configured. A one-time special expiration temporarily overrides the standard expiration. Night-Time Expire controls whether expiration can occur during the overnight period.
- Standard expiration: Your normal cart expiration rule.
- One-time special expiration: Temporarily overrides the standard expiration at the scheduled date and time.
- Night-Time Expire: Controls whether carts can expire between 11 PM and 7 AM.
- First Paid First Served: Uses different cart expiration behavior and should be reviewed separately.
FAQs
How long does a shopping cart last in CommentSold?
The length of time a shopping cart remains active depends on your shop's Shopping Cart Expiration settings. You can configure carts to expire after a specific number of hours and minutes or at a recurring weekly day and time.
What happens when a CommentSold shopping cart expires?
When a shopping cart expires, the products in the cart are returned to the shop's available inventory so they can be purchased by other shoppers.
How do I change the shopping cart expiration time?
Go to Setup > Shop, find the Shopping Cart section, select Edit next to Shopping Cart Expiration, choose your expiration preference, and select Save.
Can I make shopping carts expire on a specific day and time every week?
Yes. Under Shopping Cart Expiration, select Expire items in carts on a weekly schedule, then choose the day and time when active carts should expire.
Can I schedule a one-time shopping cart expiration?
Yes. Use One-time Special Cart Expiration to schedule a specific date and time when applicable active shopping carts will expire.
Does a one-time cart expiration override my standard expiration setting?
Yes. A one-time special cart expiration overrides the standard shopping cart expiration. After the scheduled one-time expiration occurs, the standard shopping cart expiration takes effect again.
What does Night-Time Expire do?
Night-Time Expire controls whether shopping carts can expire between 11 PM and 7 AM based on your shop's configured time zone.
What happens if Night-Time Expire is disabled?
When Night-Time Expire is disabled, shopping carts do not expire between 11 PM and 7 AM. Carts remain active during that overnight period even if their standard expiration time would otherwise occur.
What happens if Night-Time Expire is enabled?
When Night-Time Expire is enabled, shopping carts can expire between 11 PM and 7 AM according to your configured expiration settings.
What time zone is used for Night-Time Expire?
Night-Time Expire uses the time zone configured for your shop on the Shop tab of the Setup page.
Can I prevent existing shopping carts from being affected when I change the expiration setting?
The Exclude current/active carts option lets you exclude existing active carts when changing the expiration settings. Select this option if you don't want the change to affect currently active carts.
Does First Paid First Served change shopping cart expiration?
Yes. Shopping cart expiration works differently when First Paid First Served is enabled. Refer to the First Paid First Served documentation for the applicable behavior.