Recently Viewed

Showcase recently viewed products to increase sales

Is this for me?

If a shopper bounces between three or four products before deciding, Recently Viewed gives them an easy way back. The app quietly tracks the products each customer browses and shows them in a carousel on your product pages, cart page, and homepage — so the items they liked stay one click away. No manual setup per product, no merchandising rules to maintain. Turn it on and it works.

It's most useful for stores with catalogs deep enough that shoppers comparison-browse (apparel, jewelry, home goods, anything with variants). On a tiny one-product store, it won't have much to show.

Before you start: The carousel only appears once a shopper has viewed at least one other product — it won't show on the very first product page they land on. If your store has a cookie consent banner (GDPR, etc.), tracking only starts after the customer accepts.

Where the carousel can appear

You choose which of three pages show the widget. Each is an independent on/off toggle.

When to use Cart page placement: This is usually the highest-impact spot. The shopper has already decided to buy something — surfacing one more item they liked is a natural nudge toward a bigger order. Leave it on unless your cart page is already crowded.

When to use Home page placement: Best for stores where shoppers often return over multiple sessions to make a decision. If most of your traffic converts in one visit, it adds little.

Setup, Step by Step

1. In your Vitals dashboard, open Recently Viewed and toggle it on.
2. Decide which pages show the carousel — Product, Cart, Home. Product and Cart are on by default.
3. Turn on the card extras you want — star ratings (if you use Product Reviews), Wishlist hearts (if you use Wishlist), Product Labels badges. Each only works if the matching app is active.
4. Optional: turn on Show the variants selector and "Add to Cart" Button if you want shoppers to add items straight from the carousel without leaving the page.
5. Tweak the heading and any button labels to match your store's voice.
6. Save, then browse a few products on your storefront to populate the carousel and see how it looks.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of It

• Match the carousel to your theme. By default, the Add to Cart button copies your theme's ATC styling — leave this on unless you have a specific reason to customize. A mismatched button screams "third-party app."
• Test on mobile first. Most Shopify traffic is mobile. Open your storefront on your phone, browse a few products, then check the carousel on the cart page — that's where it earns its keep.
• Don't over-stack the card. Star ratings + Wishlist + Product Labels + discount badge + compare-at price on a small mobile card gets noisy fast. Pick the two or three that matter most for your brand.
• Be honest with discount badges. If you turn on the discount label, only use it on products that are genuinely on sale. Fake urgency erodes trust.
• Skip the carousel on tiny catalogs. If you sell three products, the widget will either be empty or repetitive. Save the page real estate.
• Watch your cart drawer. If your theme uses a slide-out cart drawer instead of a full /cart  page, the carousel won't appear inside the drawer (see FAQ below).

FAQ

Why isn't the carousel showing on my store?

A few common reasons: the customer hasn't viewed any other product yet (it won't appear on the first product page they land on), the placement toggle for that page is off, or the customer hasn't accepted tracking consent. If you're previewing in the Shopify theme editor, sample products show automatically — useful for styling.

Does the carousel show the product the customer is currently viewing?

No. The current product is always excluded, even if they've viewed it before.

How many products does it show?

Up to 6, ordered newest-viewed first.

Will browsing history persist if the customer comes back later?

Yes — it's stored in their browser, so it sticks around across sessions on the same device and browser until they clear their browser data. It doesn't follow them to a different device.

Does it work with a cart drawer?

The cart-page placement targets the full /cart  page. If your theme uses a slide-out cart drawer that never navigates to /cart , the carousel won't appear in the drawer — it'll only show if the shopper opens the full cart page.

Can I show star ratings inside the carousel?

Yes — turn on Show rating stars from Product Reviews. The ratings come from the Product Reviews app, so it has to be active too.

Does the app respect customer privacy consent?

Yes. On stores with consent banners (GDPR, etc.), the app waits for tracking consent before recording or displaying anything.

Can I move the carousel somewhere other than the bottom of the page?

Yes. Use the available location options inside the app to have it placed in a common Shopify product page location. Alternatively, you can also insert it via your Shopfiy Theme Editor to have a more precise location. Just look for the Vitals Recently Viewed app block in the available app blocks that can be inserted.

Can customers add to cart straight from the carousel?

Yes, if you turn on Show the variants selector and "Add to Cart" Button. They can pick a size or color and add without leaving the page.

What happens if a recently viewed product is now out of stock?

The card still shows, but unavailable variants display an "Out of stock" label in place of the ATC button (only relevant if you have the ATC button enabled).

Settings Reference

Page Placement

General Display

Product Card Extras

Add to Cart Button

Translation / Labels

The app lets you rewrite a handful of customer-facing strings — the Add to Cart button label, the "From" prefix on price ranges, and the "Out of stock" message — to match your store's language or tone.