Cart Links let you create a URL that, when clicked, takes a customer directly to checkout (or cart) with specific products already loaded. You can also pre-fill contact details, apply a discount code, and attach an order note, all in one link.
| Setting | Description |
|---|
| Link name | Internal label for this link |
| Products | One or more products with quantities |
| Discount code | Automatically applied when the link is opened |
| Redirect to cart | Send customer to the cart page instead of going straight to checkout |
| Customer email | Pre-fill the email field at checkout |
| First name / Last name | Pre-fill the shipping name fields |
| Address line 1 / 2 | Pre-fill the address fields |
| City / Province / Country / Zip | Pre-fill remaining address fields |
| Order note | Attach a note to the order |
- Go to Cart Links and click Create cart link.
- Enter a link name (internal only).
- Select the products and quantities to include.
- Configure optional fields: discount code, redirect preference, pre-filled customer info, order note.
- Click Save.
- Copy the generated URL from the listing and use it in emails, ads, or anywhere else.
- Cart links work for any customer and login is not required.
- The generated URL encodes products as variant IDs and quantities in Shopify’s standard cart URL format.
- If
Redirect to cart is off (default), the link goes directly to /checkout. If on, it goes to /cart/....
- Discount codes applied via cart links follow the same rules as codes entered manually (usage limits, expiry, etc.).
- If linked products are out of stock, Shopify handles the out-of-stock state normally.
- If a linked product is deleted from your store, the cart link will fail to load that product. Update or retire the link if you remove products.
| Use case | How to set it up |
|---|
| Email campaign: send customers directly to checkout with a recommended product | Add product + discount code, leave redirect off |
| Influencer campaign with a tracked discount | Add product + unique discount code per influencer |
| Abandoned cart recovery: pre-fill their last cart | Add abandoned products, pre-fill email, apply a win-back discount |
| Wholesale order form: send a B2B buyer directly to checkout with their standard order | Add standard SKUs, pre-fill their shipping address |
- Use a unique discount code per campaign link to make it easy to track which link drove conversions.
- Test your cart link in an incognito browser before sharing to see the exact customer experience.
- Keep link names descriptive (e.g. “BF2024 - Bundle A - Influencer XYZ”) so they’re auditable later.
- If you have a time-limited discount, set an expiry on the discount code in Shopify as the cart link itself has no expiry.
