Twice in the last few days I’ve spent some time choosing some online purchases and then got distracted or had real life intervene.
I’ve left that browser window open and when I come back to it the next day I have attempted to complete the purchases only to find that the shopping cart has expired. Is there a security risk here that I can’t see that makes it necessary to have a time-out on shopping carts? I can’t think of one. I haven’t entered any personal details at this point and if someone else used my computer and discovers that I was about to purchase 400g of Jack Links’s Peppered Beef Jerky and some inkjet cartridges then I can withstand the shame and embarrassment.
So I may or may not get around to making those purchases now. I may go to a different supplier or I may decide that I don’t need that much beef jerky. That’s a lost purchase that is down to a programming decision that may not have even been made consciously. The coder may have used used a default without really thinking about it. I bet it wasn’t discussed by management at any point…
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It’s a really good point. time-outs should apply to security of the credit card / account details, not the shopping cart contents.
If you like jerky, maybe you should get one of these.
…at least being able to save your shopping cart…that would be an option..
But think about if you leave your cart for 2 days in a grocery stor
ok that’s stupid..