Cart tags read the current visitor's WooCommerce cart in real time. They are ideal for abandoned cart reminders, free-shipping nudges, and "complete your order" messages.
Unlike product tags from your catalog, cart tags change as the visitor adds or removes items.
Prerequisites: WooCommerce Setup for Notifal and Cart Tags enabled under Managing Tag Categories in Settings.
See also What Are Dynamic Tags? and WooCommerce Product and Order Tags.
Available cart tags
| Tag | Shows |
|---|---|
{cart_total} | Cart contents total (excludes shipping and tax) |
{cart_subtotal} | Subtotal before discounts |
{cart_discount} | Total discount applied |
{cart_item_count} | Total quantity of all items |
{cart_unique_products} | Number of different products |
{cart_coupons} | Applied coupon codes (comma-separated) |
{cart_url} | Cart page URL |
{cart_checkout_url} | Checkout page URL |
{cart_first_product_name} | Name of the first product in the cart |
All money values use your store's currency formatting.
Example messages
| Goal | Example |
|---|---|
| Abandoned cart | You left {cart_item_count} items worth {cart_total} in your cart |
| Coupon reminder | Your codes ({cart_coupons}) are still applied |
| Checkout push | Complete checkout (in HTML or button link) |
| Product mention | Still thinking about {cart_first_product_name}? |
Cart tags vs product tags from cart
| Feature | Cart tags | Product tags + Cart Products content source |
|---|---|---|
| Data source | Live cart session | Products linked to cart, upsells, cross-sells |
| Updates | When cart changes (including Ajax add to cart) | Rotates products from content source rules |
| Best for | Totals, counts, checkout URLs | Product name, image, price in rotating promos |
For rotating {product_name} from items in the cart, configure Content Source → Product Restrictions → Cart Products on the notification.
Display rules for cart notifications
Pair cart tags with display rules so messages show at the right moment:
- Visitor has items in cart
- Visitor does not have items in cart (for "start shopping" promos)
- Specific pages (cart, checkout, product pages)
Cart tags work for guests and logged-in customers as long as WooCommerce maintains their session cart.
Empty cart behavior
When the cart is empty:
- Count tags show
0or empty values - Total tags show formatted zero or blank depending on context
- Plan your copy so an empty cart still makes sense, or restrict the notification with display rules
Enable cart tags
- Go to Notifal → Settings → Tags.
- Under WooCommerce Tags, check Cart Tags.
- Save.
Cart tags only register when WooCommerce is active.
Dynamic Tags series
| # | Article |
|---|---|
| 1 | What Are Dynamic Tags? |
| 2 | User, Post, and Page Tags |
| 3 | WooCommerce Product and Order Tags |
| 4 | Cart Tags (WooCommerce) (you are here) |
| 5 | Counter Tags |
| 6 | Custom Meta Tags |
| 7 | Date Formatting Tags |
| 8 | Comment Tags (Pro) |
| 9 | Tags Generator for Custom Post Types (Pro) |
| 10 | Managing Tag Categories in Settings |