Let’s talk about the not-so-fun side of adding a WooCommerce menu cart plugin.
I know the hype. Add a slick mini cart, put it in your header, and boom—cleaner checkout, better shopping experience, maybe even a few more completed orders. I jumped into it expecting all that, especially after reading that the Extendons Mini Cart for WooCommerce is considered one of the best ones out there.
But yeah… reality didn’t hit until I actually started using it. Turns out, even a small feature like a woocommerce cart in menu can lead to weird issues if you’re not careful. Some of them were totally my fault. Others, I didn’t even realize were a problem until customers pointed them out.
So if you’re thinking about installing one, or maybe you already have and something feels “off,” here’s a list of mistakes I made, how I figured them out, and what you might want to keep an eye on.
1. Thinking It Was a One-Click Setup (It’s Not)
I assumed I’d install the plugin, check a box, and the WooCommerce menu cart would just show up perfectly. But nope—it wasn’t that magical.
Sure, some plugins are better than others, and like I said, the Extendons one is considered a solid choice. But you still have to tweak settings, test layouts, and make sure it actually fits into your header without looking like a last-minute sticker slapped on your design.
What to do instead: After installing, take the time to really test it out on both desktop and mobile. Check how it behaves when empty, when full, when items are added. Make sure it doesn’t overlap your logo or get lost in a busy header.
2. Ignoring How It Looks on Mobile
This one hit me hard. The woocommerce cart in menu looked totally fine on desktop. But when I opened it on my phone? It was a mess. The icon was way too close to the burger menu, sometimes it didn’t even show up, and the dropdown cart overlapped the entire screen.
It made the whole thing feel broken, and a few customers actually messaged saying they couldn’t even check out on their phone.
Lesson learned: Always preview your changes on mobile before going live. Don’t just trust what you see on your desktop. If your plugin doesn’t auto-optimize for mobile (some don’t), you might need to add custom CSS or adjust spacing in your theme.
3. Forgetting to Disable the Old Cart Page Link
Here’s a weird one—I had both the new WooCommerce menu cart and my old “View Cart” button in the main menu. That confused the heck out of people. They’d click one, end up on a full cart page, then go back and click the other and get the mini cart dropdown. It just felt inconsistent.
How I fixed it: I removed the old cart page link from the main navigation and let the new woocommerce cart in menu take over. It made the shopping flow smoother and didn’t overwhelm customers with too many similar options.
4. Letting the Cart Icon Get Buried in the Header
Okay, so this one might sound simple, but it actually caused real problems.
At first, I just let the plugin insert the WooCommerce menu cart wherever it wanted. For me, it landed between two links—“Shop” and “Blog”—and honestly, it looked like just another menu item. Customers didn’t even notice it was there.
Fix: I moved the cart icon all the way to the far right of the header and added a slight icon animation when an item gets added. That subtle move made it way more noticeable and user-friendly.
5. Overloading the Mini Cart With Too Much Info
The plugin gave me options to display item thumbnails, prices, quantities, subtotals, and even shipping estimates… all in the dropdown. So naturally, I turned everything on.
Bad idea.
The dropdown ended up looking like a full-blown checkout page. It was clunky, slow, and honestly too much for a quick cart preview. A woocommerce cart in menu isn’t supposed to be a whole storefront—just a quick snapshot.
What I changed: I stripped it back to the basics—item name, quantity, price, and subtotal. That made it cleaner, faster, and easier for customers to actually use.
6. Skipping Compatibility Checks With Other Plugins
This was probably the biggest mistake.
I had a currency switcher plugin running in the header. And when I added the WooCommerce menu cart, things got weird—cart totals would show in the wrong currency, or sometimes just not show up at all.
I didn’t notice it at first because I wasn’t testing with multiple currencies. But a few international customers sure noticed, and let me know real quick.
Tip: If you’re using any plugin that touches product prices, checkout, or cart behavior, make sure it works properly with your new woocommerce cart in menu. Sometimes it’s just a setting issue, other times you’ll need developer help.
7. Not Updating My Analytics
This is one of those “didn’t think of it” things.
My Google Analytics setup was tracking cart page visits, but not interactions with the WooCommerce menu cart. That meant I was missing data on how people were actually adding, removing, or checking items directly from the dropdown.
Why it matters: Without proper tracking, you can’t measure whether the new cart is helping or hurting conversions. After adjusting event tracking to include mini cart opens and “checkout” clicks from the dropdown, I finally had a better idea of how people were shopping.
Bonus: Assuming It Would Solve Checkout Issues Alone
Let me be real—I lowkey thought adding a woocommerce cart in menu would fix my cart abandonment problem. Like, maybe people just weren’t seeing their cart enough. But the truth? It helped a bit, sure, but not enough on its own.
I still had to deal with shipping issues, trust signals, and confusing coupon rules before things actually improved.
So yeah, the WooCommerce menu cart made the flow cleaner, but it wasn’t a silver bullet. Just something to keep in mind if you’re expecting miracles.
The Takeaway
Adding a woocommerce cart in menu can make your store feel more modern, interactive, and easier to use. But only if you set it up right.
I learned the hard way that even small features can throw things off if you’re not paying attention. Layout issues, mobile bugs, plugin conflicts, and bad settings—these things all affect how people shop on your site.
The good news? Once I fixed those mistakes, the mini cart actually did what it was supposed to do. It made shopping feel lighter, faster, and less clunky. People could quickly check their items, update their cart, and move to checkout without a ton of steps.
And again—not pushing anything—but the Extendons Mini Cart for WooCommerce is one of the better options out there if you’re looking for something stable and customizable.
Quick Checklist If You’re Setting Up a WooCommerce Menu Cart
- ✅ Test the cart placement on both desktop and mobile
- ✅ Disable extra cart links to avoid confusion
- ✅ Don’t overload the dropdown with too many details
- ✅ Check plugin compatibility with currencies, translations, and shipping
- ✅ Track cart interactions with your analytics tools
- ✅ Customize the icon so it stands out
- ✅ Don’t expect it to fix everything—but use it as a solid UX upgrade
That’s it. Hopefully this saves you a few headaches if you’re planning to add a WooCommerce menu cart to your site. Small things go a long way, but only when you actually do them right.