WooCommerce: Identity and Fix Common Cache Issues

I get messages all the time from people who are experiencing weird issues related to the cart or checkout with WooCommerce. Mostly the issues are related to their cache plugin or cache settings, so before you go crazy let’s go over the most common cache issues for WooCommerce stores and how to fix them.

This is a follow-up post from different cache types and recommended settings you can use with your WordPress & WooCommerce sites.

Common Issues

There are 100s of different caching plugins for WooCommerce, therefore I’ll mention the common issues and what settings you should double-check in your preferred cache plugin.

1. Wrong Items in Cart

If you see that the wrong items appear in your cart or they cannot be removed, then it’s likely because the cart has been cached. You are essentially seeing the items of another user’s cart or a “shared” cart.

Fix: Make sure your cache plugin settings are set to bypass the cache for:

• Bypass cache on the cart page and checkout page
• Bypass cache on the cookie woocommerce_items_in_cart

2. Mini cart not updating when adding products

Often people will only bypass cache on the checkout and cart pages. However, the mini cart appears on every page and those may be cached.

Fix: Make sure your bypass cache as soon as the customer has an active cart using the cookie woocommerce_items_in_cart

3. Checkout has other customer information

This issue is easy to identify as you’ll see the checkout contains the wrong customer information and product. The wrong information is displayed to you because it was cached when the original customer filled out the checkout form. We’ve heard this issue has caused customers to pay for another customer’s orders.

Fix: Ensure your cache plugin is set to bypass cache on the checkout page and the cookie woocommerce_items_in_cart .

4. “Out of stock” products still showing “in stock”

Products showing incorrect (outdated) information can also be caused by the page being cached. Incorrect product information will likely be displayed on the single product page, category pages, and shop page.

Fix: Purge cache when a post is updated, product updated, and when a WooCommerce order has been created.

5. The Account page or the “Order Recieved” page are incorrect

Your customer area and personal information might not be displayed correctly because of cache.

Fix: You should ensure that cache is bypassed for all logged-in users.

Wrapping up

Have you encountered other issues related to incorrect caching with WooCommerce sites? If so let me know and I’ll add them to this post.