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How to Create a Single Shopping Cart Across WooCommerce Multisite

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MultiSite Shopping Cart WooCommerceIn our previous article, about creating a Single Shopping Cart and Checkout for WooCommerce Multisite Stores, we introduced the need and advantages of having such a feature. But the idea of a global shopping cart, is rather a simplified perspective. In reality, we would have to achieve a lot more. This would be clear when we divide each requirement as a module, and take a deeper look at it.

The Login and Accounts Module

Here, we have to elaborate on the concept of a ‘Global Shopper’. A Global Shopper is a single user, who can access all shops. If the user signs into a single shop, he is signed into all shops. It is similar to how Google websites work. Say you’ve signed into Gmail. When you switch to YouTube or Google+, you’ll be logged in, to your account there as well.

Global User and Global Cart WooCommerce Multisite

When we look at a multisite network, only a Super Admin has the privilege, to be logged into all sites. A Super Admin is a user created at the network level, with the login capabilities (and many other capabilities). We will have to create a new user, with the login privileges, but restrict other capabilities. Every user account created, on any shop, would create a user with this role.

The user will be able to access and view all sites. Since the user will be a single user on all shops, the information, such as shipping and billing addresses will be shared. The WooCommerce Account page, will have to be maintained on the main site. The ‘My Account’ Page will show orders made across all sites.

The Search Interface

Search MultiSiteEvery shop has a search option. The search lists products from the current shop. If you want to display products from all shops, the search functionality should be provided by the main site. The main site which stands above all the network sites, will have to provide a Global search option. The Global Search, will search across all sites and post results. Thus, the results page will be present on the main site. To purchase a particular product, the user will have to click on a product link which will redirect him to the shop, which is selling the product.

A plugin like Global Site Search, can be used to provide the search feature. We would need to ensure, that search happens only for products. We will also have to create a search results template, to display relevant information in the results.

The Global Cart

The Shopping cart for a user has to be the same across all stores. We cannot achieve this using the current WooCommerce cart. We will have to provide our own cart, which will be compatible with the WooCommerce. The cart will be present at the network level, that is to say, that there will be single cart across all sites in the multisite. It will behave the same way as the WooCommerce cart. The Cart Page will be present on the main site because information in the cart will be of products across various shops.

As simple as the functionality sounds, it involves intensive effort in its implementation. Apart from recreating the entire cart functionality, we have to ensure a secure solution. Since WooCommerce uses sessions to save cart, we will have to provide an alternative solution, by saving values as user meta or using cookies.

Read More about the Single Global Cart and the Checkout and Order Creation Process.

The Checkout Page

Checkout Page WooCommerce MultiSiteFinally, the cart and checkout page will be redirected to the main site. The products in the cart, will have to be grouped by each store. This is just to make it simple when coupons are involved. For coupons associated with a single store, can be applied on products belonging to that store. Store specific discounts and rewards can be accordingly handled as well.

At the time of purchase, customer information will be input only once. Orders will be sent to individual stores for further processing, as well as the entire order will be maintained on the main site.

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When you think about it, there is quite a bit of effort involved. But the approach has to stem from a specific requirement. Because then it becomes clear to deduce a solution. The overview we have provided, might not necessarily meet your exact specifications. That is why we need feedback from you, to understand what is expected from a user’s perspective. Do be sure to leave your comments, in the comment section below.

Pooja Mistry

Pooja Mistry

18 Responses

  1. I need this! Can you send me an Email when you create this plugin?? If I have ideas I’ll tell you!!

    1. Hi,

      We are not currently developing this plugin. But we can build it as a custom solution.

    1. Hi Dan,
      The effort required to build this solution is 100+ hours. Do let me know if you are interested. The Business Development team will then contact you.

  2. I am interested in smething like this. I have a mulitisite network. 3 of 6 sites in the multisitenetwor are related. I have 3 different sites because I need 3 different checkouts: 1 for physical swim courses, one for onlinecourses (membershipbased) and one for physical products. It would be nice to be able to upsell f.eks. online course and goggles for everyone buying a physical swimcourse, withaout asking for their details 3 times. Could there be a solution to that?

  3. What i want is – Project Definitaion ( Global Coupons) :

    1) There are 3 different woocommerce website.
    2) I want to synchronize coupons for all those woocommerce website.
    3) Please note that woocommerce site are not linked with each other.

    if above things is not possible then please note that

    4) Those are multisite woocommerce.

  4. We have a global site, with a country selection option i.e. Australia, South Africa and UK. If a user selects Australia, we would like them to shop within the Australian shop only. They can only add Australian products to the shopping cart. Then, when processing the payment, we want the Australian payment process to be linked to an Australian payment gateway provider. Can this be done with woocommerce and WordPress multisite. I look forward to your response

    1. Is there anything close to this project on the market now?
      Would woomultistore for instance work in similar way? I guess no, but I’m not an expert, it lacks of a global search directory with taxonomy and categories.
      All it does is replicate the content of a store through the network or to some selected stores.
      What I’d need is a primary page that works as directory where users can browse through the categories of products that are originally uploaded by sellers from their own subsites.
      Of course a global cart and checkout that recognizes different transactions for each seller’s product would be a must.
      I’m surprised I still didn’t find anything close to this structure of marketplace system in a multisite scenario. Developers would make thousands of $ every week by such a plugin considering how it would innovates the market.
      Please, if anyone know some plugins or other ways I’m missing, I’ll be very glad to read your replay.
      Thanks all

  5. Please do start developing this plugins.
    This will be helpful to marketers and this plugin might become “superstars” in the market.

    Please contact me if this plugin exist.
    Good luck!

  6. This sounds like what I’m looking for. @jason, wooglobalcart takes over your entire multisite so you cannot provide other users with their own single sites which leads me to the following question. If I have 30 sites on my multisite but I only want to link five of them and leave the other 25 alone with the option to have their own single shop, can this be achieved with what you’re referring to here? Also If I have 30 sites and I want to link 5 of them as I stated above but then also have a separate group of linked sites, would this be possible? Example: 5 Sites linked that sell car parts, each site is focused on a specific model of car but the user checks on on the main site controlling the ‘Car Shop’ and then another client wants to have 4 sites linked, one for women’s clothing, one for men’s clothing and one for children’s clothing with a main site promoting the three stores and acting as the Hub. I hope you understand what I’m talking about here. The linking process would be done through blog id’s, not urls. While at the same time allowing other sites to install woocommerce and manage it as a single site that isn’t affected by the other installs. It seems like it should be a simple process but I’m barely intermediate when it comes to writing code for something like this. I purchased the wooglobalcart and it takes over your entire system.

  7. 1) i have two woocommerce multistore
    2) user will purchase something from store one an chcekout
    3) same user will than go to second store and purchase something from there and checkout
    4) when is login and go to my account , the first name , last name , email is shared across both websites admin panel (my -accoount)
    BUT , each website shows its own unique orders. i want to share orders also , so when user login into first site or second site . he will see orders from both sites.
    is it possible?

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