Shoppers rarely buy the first product they see. They compare, open five tabs, leave, come back. When they return, the product they hesitated on is often lost in the catalog. A “Recently viewed” section brings it back in one glance.
Where to show it
- Under the product: the other products they compared, right where the decision is made.
- On the cart page: a last reminder of what they liked.
- On the empty cart page: instead of a dead end, a way back to their favourites.
- On the home page or 404 page for returning visitors.
What makes a good section
- 4 products are enough, with picture, name and price.
- The most recent first, without the product being viewed.
- Updated prices and sales, not a stale copy.
Speed and privacy
Many solutions store the list in a cookie and build the section on the server, which breaks page caching. A better approach keeps the list in the visitor’s browser and loads the products with the WooCommerce Store API: no cookie, cached pages stay cached, and nothing personal is stored on your server.
Combine it with honest signals
On the product page, real information helps the decision: how many units are left, how many people are looking at the product right now, how many were sold recently. Only if it is true: read our take on live visitor counters.
Set it up
Viewly adds recently viewed products under product pages, on the cart and empty cart page, and anywhere with a shortcode, plus live viewers, low stock and recent sales messages based on real data. Try it on the demo.
Frequently asked questions
Does a recently viewed section slow down the site?
Not if it is built in the browser with the Store API: pages stay cached and the products load in one small request.
Is a cookie needed?
No, the list can be kept in the visitor’s browser storage only.
How many products should it show?
Four is a good default: enough to compare, not enough to distract.