Okay, so I kept hearing about adding a WooCommerce menu cart to my site and how it makes things “better.” But I didn’t really get what the big deal was. Like sure, it adds a little cart icon to your header and shows people their stuff without going to another page… cool?
Still, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it. People were saying it helped their checkout process, made shopping easier, and that the Extendons Mini Cart for WooCommerce is considered one of the best ones to go with. So I finally gave in, installed it, and started playing around.
And you know what? I actually did notice some pretty clear changes. Some I expected, some kinda surprised me, and a few just made me wonder why I didn’t try it earlier.
This blog is me just talking about what changed—no hype, no promo, just actual stuff I noticed after adding a woocommerce cart in menu setup.
First Things First: Why I Even Bothered
Honestly? My cart page was boring and lowkey annoying. People had to click away from what they were doing just to check what was in their cart. I wanted something that felt more chill, like… just hover over it, see your stuff, done. That’s where the whole WooCommerce menu cart idea came in.
And right off the bat, it kinda did what I hoped it would—made the cart feel like part of the shopping, not this separate thing way off on another page.
People Were Actually Using It (A Lot)
This was probably the most obvious change. Before, I could see that not many people were even going to the cart page. Now, after adding the woocommerce cart in menu, people were clicking the cart icon way more.
You could just hover over the little icon in the header and boom—see all your stuff, totals, and even go straight to checkout. I feel like it gave shoppers this quick way to stay on track without leaving the page they were on. Especially on mobile, this made things feel more… natural, I guess? Less clicky.
It Made My Site Feel Less Annoying
Okay so one thing I totally didn’t expect was how it changed the vibe of my store.
Before the WooCommerce menu cart, the process was kinda clunky. People had to click to view the cart, wait for it to load, then click again to go to checkout. Now? They could just add an item and peek at their cart without being pulled away from where they were.
It’s not about being flashy or anything—it just felt easier. Even for me when I was testing things out. I didn’t realize how annoying my own checkout process felt until it wasn’t annoying anymore.
I Spent Less Time Answering “Where’s My Cart?” Messages
I used to get emails and messages like, “I added something to my cart, where is it?” or “Why can’t I see my cart anymore?” Stuff like that.
After I added the woocommerce cart in menu, that pretty much stopped. The cart icon was always right there. You couldn’t miss it. And when you added something, it would update instantly with the number of items. Like, finally something that just worked.
Not saying it fixed every support issue ever, but it definitely cleared up that particular one.
I Had to Clean Up My Header Though
One thing I will say—it didn’t look perfect straight out of the box. The WooCommerce menu cart kinda just inserted itself wherever it could in my header. For me, it landed in the middle of my menu and looked weird.
So I had to go in, rearrange some stuff, adjust the spacing, and make sure it was easy to see but not in-your-face. Took a little trial and error, but once I got it right, it made the whole header layout look cleaner.
Customers Were Adding More Stuff to Their Cart
This one surprised me. I wasn’t expecting it to have any effect on actual sales or anything. But I noticed people were adding more items than usual—and they were checking their cart more often.
I think it’s because they could always see it. Like, when something’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. But now with the woocommerce cart in menu showing the item count and dropdown preview, it’s always there as a reminder.
Kind of like your cart is just chillin’ in the corner saying, “Hey, you’re still shopping, don’t forget about me.”
It Didn’t Slow My Site Down (Thankfully)
I was worried it might mess with my load times or make the site buggy, especially since I already had a bunch of plugins running. But nope, it worked smoothly.
And for what it’s worth, I heard the Extendons Mini Cart for WooCommerce is considered one of the better ones out there when it comes to stability. So I guess that helped. Either way, my store didn’t slow down, and nothing broke—which is always the dream when adding anything new.
It Made Mobile Shopping Way Less Stressful
This was a huge one for me.
Before, shopping on mobile felt like a mess. You had to tap the menu, find the cart, click it, wait for the cart page to load, then decide what to do next. Not fun.
But now with the WooCommerce menu cart, people could just tap the little icon in the header and see everything right away. It was fast, clear, and way less annoying. I even noticed that mobile checkouts started happening more often.
I didn’t change anything else during that time, so I’m guessing this feature had something to do with it.
I Ended Up Customizing the Look (Because Why Not)
So yeah, after a while I started playing around with how the cart looked. Some plugins let you change the icon, the colors, the text, and all that. I messed with it a bit so it matched my site’s vibe better.
Turns out, when it looks better, people actually trust it more. Like if your cart looks off-brand or weirdly styled, customers might think twice before clicking it. But now mine fits right in, and it just makes the whole store feel more put together.
My Analytics Got More Interesting
Since I could see people using the mini cart more, I figured I should probably track it better. I added some events in Google Analytics to see when people open the woocommerce cart in menu, when they go to checkout from it, and stuff like that.
It’s not like I’m obsessed with numbers or anything, but it was super helpful to actually see what people were doing. And honestly, I wouldn’t have thought to track that if I hadn’t seen how many people were using the cart dropdown instead of the full cart page.
Would I Use It Again? Yep.
I’ll be real—I didn’t expect the WooCommerce menu cart to make much of a difference. I figured it would be this small cosmetic thing that no one really noticed.
But turns out, it changed the way people shopped on my store. It made things easier, faster, and more fun to use (yes, shopping carts can be fun, apparently).
Not everything was perfect from the start. I had to fix the layout, tweak the settings, and play around a little. But once I got it dialed in, it just worked.
So yeah, I’d definitely use it again if I was building another WooCommerce store. And if anyone asked me what mini cart plugin I’d recommend—not saying you have to use it—but the Extendons Mini Cart for WooCommerce is considered one of the best, and honestly, I get why.
Final Thoughts (a.k.a. Stuff I Wish I Knew Before)
If you’re thinking about adding a woocommerce cart in menu, here’s what I’d tell you:
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Don’t expect it to look perfect right away—be ready to do a little customizing
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Test it on mobile first—it matters more than desktop sometimes
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Keep it simple—don’t cram too much info into the dropdown
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Pay attention to where the cart icon shows up
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Watch your analytics—you’ll probably see some cool changes
That’s it. No promo, no fluff, just real stuff that happened after I added the WooCommerce menu cart plugin. Try it out if you want, skip it if you don’t—but now you know what to expect if you do.
