How are anonymous carts handled?

Answer

As soon a user arrives at the MCS homepage, an anonymous cart is created for the user, an entry is made in database and the cart id is stored in a cookie also.
If the user does not add any items in the anonymous cart and then logs in, the system does not do anything and leaves the anonymous user cart as it is.
If the user adds some items to the anonymous cart and logs in,the following use cases can occur:

1. The logged in user’s preference is 'multi-cart':

System changes the ownership of the cart to the logged in user and deletes the cookie.  


2. The logged in user’s preference is 'single-cart':

2.1 If the logged in user’s shopping cart does not have any items added from the previous visit:  
The system changes the ownership of the cart from the anonymous user to the logged in user and deletes the cookie.


2.2 If the logged in user’s shopping cart have some items added from the previous visit:  
Since in this case both the anonymous user’s cart and the logged in user’s cart have some items the system displays the user following three choices:

i. Leave Items and add new Items: System will move items from the logged in user's shopping cart to the anonymous user’s cart. Soft delete (Set active flag to 'N') the logged in user's cart. Changes the ownership of the anonymous user's shopping cart from anonymous user to the logged in user and then deletes the cookie.

ii. Delete Items: System deletes items from the logged in user's shopping cart. Soft delete(Set active flag to 'N') the logged in user's cart and changes the ownership of the anonymous user's shopping cart from anonymous user to the logged in user and then deletes the cookie.

iii. Move them to my Wish List: System moves items in the logged in user's shopping cart to the users default wish list, soft delete the logged in user's shopping cart. Changes the ownership of the anonymous user's shopping cart from anonymous user to the logged in user and then deletes the cookie.

The user will always have one shopping cart and one default Wish List if the user’s preference is set to single-cart. Also the cookie is deleted once the ownership changes from anonymous user to the logged in user.

There is a toggle option under Preferences in the User detail called User Cart  Mode.

UserProfile-->Preferences-->UserCartMode-->SingleCart  

In “Single cart” option there can only be one active cart at any given time. You can switch between single cart and multiple cart during your session as per the requirement.