What is the difference between open basket and closed basket?
Understand the difference between open and closed baskets in Shoporama - stock reservation, customer experience and which type is right for your online store.
In Shoporama, you can choose between an open cart and a closed cart. The two types handle the order process differently, and your choice affects both inventory reservation and the customer experience.
Closed Cart
When a customer adds an item to the cart, the order is created immediately, and the item is reserved in inventory. This means that other customers cannot purchase the same item if there is only one in stock.
Advantages
- Items are reserved so that two customers cannot purchase the same item
- You can send payment reminders via payment_mail.html
- The order is already created when the customer proceeds to checkout
Disadvantages
- Items are "locked" if the customer does not complete the purchase—others cannot buy them
- The customer cannot change the order after reaching the payment window
- Unpaid orders require manual or automatic cancellation
Auto-cancellation: You can configure Shoporama to automatically cancel unpaid orders after a specified number of minutes. Find this setting under Settings → Auto-cancel order in your admin panel.
Open Cart
With the "Open Cart" feature, the order is not created until the customer completes payment. Items are not reserved in inventory while they remain in the cart.
Advantages
- Items are never “locked”—they’re always available to other customers
- The customer can freely edit their order right up until payment
- No unpaid orders that require cleanup
Disadvantages
- Two customers can have the same item in their cart, even if there’s only one in stock
- If one customer purchases the item, the other may be left with a sold-out item
- You must manually handle situations where items sell out during checkout
Which one should you choose?
The choice depends on your online store:
- A closed cart is a good option if you sell unique or limited-quantity items where stock reservation is important
- An “open cart ” is a good choice if you have ample stock and prioritize a flexible customer experience
You can change this setting under the gear icon (Settings) in your admin panel. Also read about the transactional emails that apply to both cart types.
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