Catalog checkout processes encounter the error "Cannot checkout with empty cart" - Support and Troubleshooting

Catalog checkout processes encounter the error "Cannot checkout with empty cart" Description  Catalog checkout processes encounter the error "Cannot checkout with empty cart"

Background The checkout process can break for various reasons. KB0598810 describes four main potential causes and recommended workarounds for each of them. This article expands on Potential Cause #3 , "Base system files skipped after upgrade and not yet reviewed."

Beginning with the Helsinki release, new shopping carts are available other than the DEFAULT shopping cart (as described in KB0622908 ). The relevant UI Pages, UI Macros, and Script Includes were updated to handle the new shopping carts. If any customizations were made to base system files, the customized files will be skipped during the upgrade. The checkout process might still be referring to DEFAULT or or a custom shopping cart even though these carts might be empty.

Symptoms Some of the symptoms observed are as follows:

The shopping cart widget shows the catalog item but the checkout indicates that the cart is empty. The Order Now checkout indicates that the cart is empty. The Order Guide checkout indicates that the cart is empty. Even after successfully adding items to the cart, the checkout indicates that the cart is empty. After files were reverted to base system, custom fields no longer appear on the checkout screen. For information about how to identify skipped files and revert to base system files, refer to KB0598810 .

Best Practice Note the following recommendations to safely customize parts of the checkout process:

When using a custom cart, provide a cart name to be able to retrieve this specific custom cart during checkout. If no cart sys_id or name is provided, the DEFAULT cart will be used during checkout and it might be empty. To add custom fields on the checkout screen, create new macro widgets and column widgets on the appropriate cart layout with your customization to prevent base system files from being skipped and retain your customization. Review the previous customization in light of the new/modified system components deployed beginning with Helsinki to check whether they still meet your business requirements and whether you need to do further adaptation.

Additional Resources KB0622908 , "Different Types of Shopping Carts Available on an Instance" The following product documentation topics: Configuring Cart Layout Configuring Widgets and Column Macros Creating Macros for Cart Layout