The purchase flow represents the customer journey from item selection to payment completion within the Wix eCommerce platform. This process transforms browsing customers into buyers by processing catalog items through a structured 2-stage sequence: cart management and checkout processing. Successful completion of the purchase flow creates an order for post-purchase processing and fulfillment.
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The platform supports 2 fundamental approaches to moving customers through the purchase flow:
Cart-to-checkout flow: Customers add items to a persistent cart, review and modify selections, then continue to checkout for payment processing. This familiar eCommerce pattern allows customers to browse, compare, and refine their selections before committing to purchase. The cart maintains state across sessions for logged-in users.
Direct checkout flow: Skip cart management and proceed directly from item selection to checkout. This "buy now" approach reduces friction for single-item purchases, appointment bookings, or scenarios where immediate purchase intent is clear.
The purchase flow provides extensive customization options through service plugins and configuration APIs:
Purchase flow extensions: Integrate custom logic for additional fees, discounts, shipping rates, tax calculations, and validations through extensions that enhance cart and checkout processing.
Checkout behavior: Configure policies, terms of service agreements, and user interface elements through the Checkout Settings API to align with business requirements and legal compliance.
Pre-configured checkouts: Create standardized checkout experiences using Checkout Templates with predefined items, pricing, or promotional offers. Templates enable consistent experiences for flash sales, product bundles, or recurring purchase scenarios while working with either flow pattern.
Abandoned checkout recovery: Implement customer re-engagement strategies using the Abandoned Checkout API to recover lost sales from incomplete checkout sessions.