Can I add a cart to a static HTML site?

Yes. The embeddable approach needs no server. AddTheShop is two lines of HTML.

Do I need a merchant account?

A Stripe account, which you can create during setup in about five minutes.

Will a cart slow down my site?

A good embed loads asynchronously after your page. AddTheShop's script is small and renders after the page is interactive.

How to add a shopping cart to a website you already have

You have a website and you want people to buy things on it. The usual advice is to move to Shopify or install a plugin, both of which assume you are willing to change how your site is built. You probably are not. Here are the real options, ranked by how much of your site they ask you to change.

Option 1: payment links (no cart)

Stripe, PayPal and Square all let you create a link that opens a checkout for one product. Paste the link behind a button. It takes minutes and costs only the processor's fee.

Good for one product. Falls apart when someone wants two things, because there is no basket, no stock and no combined order.

Option 2: an embeddable cart

A script tag that adds a cart and checkout to your existing pages. Ecwid, Snipcart and AddTheShop work this way. Your site stays the same; the shop is a layer on top.

This is the right option for most existing sites. The differences are in fees (monthly versus per sale), where products live (in your HTML versus in a dashboard) and whether an AI can manage it.

Option 3: a plugin for your CMS

If you are on a CMS, there is a shop plugin for it. Powerful, but you take on updates, security and a heavier site, and the plugin shapes your whole site around the shop.

Option 4: rebuild on a store platform

Move the site to Shopify, Squarespace Commerce or Wix Stores. Right when the shop is the business. Wrong when the shop is one page of a site you like.

The two-line version

With AddTheShop the embeddable cart is two lines:

<script src="https://addtheshop.com/shop.js" data-store="pk_ats_YOUR_STORE_KEY" async></script>
<div id="addtheshop"></div>

That renders a product grid, a cart bar, a cart drawer with quantities and a "Pay with Stripe" button that opens Stripe's checkout on your own Stripe account. For buy buttons on pages you already designed, add data-addtheshop-buy="PRODUCT_ID" to any button.

If an AI built your site, you do not even paste: give it the prompt from your dashboard and it places the shop and matches the design.

What about the backend?

There isn't one for you to run. Products, stock and orders live in AddTheShop; payment runs on Stripe. Your site can stay static.

Checklist before you launch

Connect Stripe so payments land in your account.
Add products with real photos and literal names.
Turn on shipping address collection if you post things.
Buy one item yourself with a real card, then refund it in Stripe.