StoreConnect administrators can build a cart directly in Salesforce and send the customer a link to complete checkout. This is useful when you want to curate specific products for a customer, apply custom pricing, or assist a customer who cannot configure their own cart.

## Requirements

Before building a cart for a customer:

-   The customer must have a **Contact** record in Salesforce.
-   The customer must be able to **log in** to the webstore — cart selection requires an authenticated session. This means one of the following must be true:
    -   The customer has previously registered an account on the store themselves.
    -   An account has been created for them in Salesforce and they have accepted an invitation link to set their password. See [Invite customers to create an account](invite-contacts-to-create-an-account-on-your-website) for how to send an invite.
-   The cart must be linked to the customer's Contact record so it appears in their account.

## Step 1: Create the cart record

1.  Navigate to **Carts** in Salesforce.
2.  Click **New**.
3.  Set the **Store** field to the store the customer will check out on.
4.  Set the **Contact** field to the customer's Contact record.
5.  Leave **Source** as **manual** — this is set automatically for carts created in Salesforce.
6.  Leave **Status** as **open**.
7.  Select **Save**.

## Step 2: Add cart items

1.  On the Cart record, scroll to the **Cart Items** related list.
2.  Click **New** for each product you want to add.
3.  For each cart item, set:
    -   **Product** — the product to add.
    -   **Quantity** — the number of units.
4.  Click **Save**.

The cart item price is calculated from the product's standard price book entry by default.

### Set a custom price with Override Price

If you need to charge a price that differs from the product's standard or variable pricing, use the **Override Price** flag:

1.  On the Cart Item record, select the **Override Price** option.
2.  Set **Variable Price Amount** to the price you want to charge (in the store's currency).
3.  Click **Save**.

When **Override Price** is selected, the value in **Variable Price Amount** is used directly — bypassing the product's normal pricing rules, minimum price constraints, and any variable pricing amount restrictions. This applies to the item's price, points cost, and earn points calculation.

:::note
Override Price is an admin-only field. It has no equivalent in the Direct to Cart URL feature. Direct to Cart custom pricing still requires variable pricing to be enabled on the product and respects minimum price rules. See [Direct to cart link](direct-to-cart) for details.
:::

## Step 3: Send the customer a link

Cart selection requires the customer to be **logged in** to the webstore. There is no anonymous shareable URL that loads a specific cart.

### Via the account carts page (recommended)

If your store theme includes an account carts page, the customer can see all carts linked to their Contact record after logging in. They can switch to the admin-built cart from that page.

1.  Ask the customer to log in to the store.
2.  Direct them to their account carts page (for example, `/account/carts`).
3.  The cart you built appears in their list — they click the button to switch to it and are taken to the cart page to continue checkout.

### Via a custom Liquid page (developer option)

A developer can build a Liquid page that renders a form targeting `cart.select_path` for the specific cart. This can provide a more direct experience — for example, a page that auto-switches the customer to the cart as soon as they land on it (after logging in).

## Limitations

-   The cart must remain in a **resumable status** (open, customer, shipping, terms\_and\_conditions, payment, or failed) and must not be marked as **Abandoned**.
-   Manual carts are excluded from the automated abandoned cart job, so they will not be automatically cleaned up.
-   If the customer logs out, clears cookies, or uses a different browser, the session is unaffected — the cart is linked to their Contact record, not their browser session, so it remains accessible from any device once they log back in.

## Related approaches

-   **[Direct to cart link](direct-to-cart)** — generates a URL that adds specific products to a new cart. Does not require a Salesforce cart record. No login required.
-   **[Manage multiple carts per customer](manage-multiple-carts-per-customer)** — how to view and manage all carts linked to a customer's Contact record.