The Problem
Bayers Roasted Coffee approached us with a frustrating UX issue on their Shopify store.
They sold coffee blends in multiple formats — Whole Beans, Ground, and Pods — each with its own image. While product pages displayed the correct variant images, once an item was added to the cart, Shopify defaulted to the product’s featured image, not the selected variant.
This led to:
- Customer confusion
- Increased support tickets
- Risk of wrong-item orders
Shopify stores often overlook how cart behavior affects conversions. The platform defaults to showing the main product image in carts, even when a specific variant has its own assigned image.
We knew the fix didn’t need a bulky app or complicated middleware — just the right hook into Shopify’s Liquid templating system.
Our Approach
Shopify doesn’t fix this natively. Apps could help — but bloat performance and UI.
Instead of adding plugins, we dug into the Liquid theme code and implemented a precise, no-bloat solution.
We updated the theme’s cart-items.liquid file and swapped this:
{{ item.product | img_url: 'medium' }}
with:
{{ item.image | img_url: 'medium' }}Shopify’s
item.imageobject grabs the specific image attached to the selected variant — not the generic product image.
The Result
- 100% accurate variant images in cart and checkout
- No additional apps or performance loss
- Reduced cart abandonment (based on feedback)
- Clean, maintainable code within Shopify’s native setup
Visual confirmation is everything. Whether you’re selling coffee, clothing, or collectibles — customers expect to see exactly what they chose, all the way through checkout.
If your store relies on product variants with unique visuals, this teeny tiny hack can make a huge difference.
What This Shows
Sometimes the most annoying Shopify problems don’t need big apps — just small, smart code interventions.
Need help optimizing your Shopify experience without third-party clutter?