A complete guide to retail software testing: what e-commerce tests are, how they work, and why you should run them.

Considering digital buyers now account for more than a third of the world’s population, it’s safe to say that e-commerce is growing at an exponential pace. Modern retail applications are expected to scale in step with this unprecedented growth, which is a daunting task for any business, regardless of size.

Ensuring your digital storefront is stable, functional, and user-friendly practically requires a proper testing framework. However, retail software presents unique challenges that require a specialized approach.

E-commerce testing is a crucial process that systematically evaluates software used in retail environments. It presents a specific methodology for software QA designed to tackle the needs and goals of e-commerce applications.

E-Commerce Software Testing Guide

This article offers a deep dive into e-commerce testing, its importance, and the various implementations found in today’s industry. It also highlights the main goals and specifics of retail QA as well as a step-by-step guide to what the process actually involves.

What is E-Commerce Testing?

E-commerce software testing involves systematically inspecting the functionality, security, performance, and user-friendliness of retail software. Put bluntly, it’s software QA designed specifically for e-commerce applications.

Like any quality assurance process, the ultimate goal of this testing is to ensure everything runs as intended. This includes everything from technical optimization to user experiences, security, and even regulatory compliance. Moreover, proper retail testing can also identify new avenues for improvement.

For example, testing a digital store would involve fully examining every step of a customer’s journey: browsing, navigation, checkouts, payments, as well as any potential post-purchase actions. The test would then highlight any issues whether they’re slow loading times, safety concerns, bugs, crashes, or any details that would hinder the customer’s experience.

Of course, the exact process can vary depending on the goals of the testing and the needs of the business itself. It’s important to consider what the testing is trying to achieve, which is why you should at least be familiar with the various types of e-commerce QA.

Does My Business Require QA Testing?

To be frank, QA testing is crucial for pretty much every piece of software. However, e-commerce testing is suitable only for retail applications. If you’re wondering whether your business requires e-commerce tests, here are the most common types of products and services in retail software testing.

  • E-Commerce websites – Online platforms where customers buy products are the most common use case for retail software testing. Testing ensures using the site is a smooth, stable, and generally positive experience.
  • E-commerce apps – Testing dedicated applications involves validating functionality, optimizing performance, and examining the usability of the app’s design.
  • Payment gateways – Payment gateway tests focus on safety, compliance, and consistent performance – especially with high traffic or unstable network conditions.
  • Inventory management systems – Software used for tracking product stocks or availability also falls under the purview of e-commerce tests. In these cases, extra attention is given to compatibility with third-party systems (such as suppliers) and the ability to handle large volumes of transactions.
  • Customer management systems – Similarly, software used for managing customer data requires a specific approach to testing. It focuses on accuracy, smooth integration, and secure data handling.

Of course, this list is by no means exhaustive. Every product owner should carefully consider their approach to testing based on the characteristics of the software itself and various other factors.

Key Factors to Consider

So what are these factors we need to consider with e-commerce testing, then?

Here are some key points you should explore before implementing a retail QA test :

  • Business objectives – Start by identifying the exact goals of your product. How do customers use your software, and what can you do to improve that experience? What is the most effective way to cater to your audience?
  • Business requirements – You should also evaluate the specific needs of your business. For instance, consider the average volume and frequency of transactions. You should also keep regulatory compliance in mind, especially if you’re working in a highly regulated market.
  • User scenarios – Retail testing should account for all types of users who may interact with the software. For instance, returning customers usually experience a store much differently than new users – especially those who are new to online shopping in general.
  • Test data – Tests should work with realistic data that is actually pertinent to your product or service. For instance, retail testing typically relies on simulated products and customer profiles that are based on real-world products and customers.

Goals and Benefits of QA Testing in E-Commerce

Perhaps the best way to understand what retail software testing is all about is to understand what it’s trying to achieve.

With that in mind, let’s consider what e-commerce testing brings to the table, so to speak. Here are some of the main benefits of well-implemented retail QA.

Benefits of Retail Software Testing

1. Eliminating Bugs & Issues

The most fundamental goal of every QA process is to ensure everything works as intended. A good, properly tested product is free of bugs, glitches, technical issues, or similar problems.

This sounds simple enough, but it requires a systematic approach. Otherwise, small or fringe-case problems can slip between the cracks, which can cause serious problems down the line.

E-commerce testing stamps out these bugs before they ever get a chance to impact your customers. It’s not just about ensuring a positive user experience, either – it’s about protecting your business. After all, broken or malfunctioning features can lead to losing a potential customer.

2. Enhancing User Experiences

Every piece of software is ultimately built to provide a certain function or service to actual people. Any sort of structured test keeps this fact in mind and aims to make interacting with the software a smoother, easier, and generally more pleasant experience.

Enhancing this experience involves more than simply identifying problems or slip-ups. It’s also about finding room for improvement. For example, retail testing can streamline navigation or find new ways to encourage users to stay in your store and consider making additional purchases.

In the long run, optimizing retail UX leads to much higher customer satisfaction. This, in turn, translates into higher conversion rates as well as users who will want to keep coming back for more.

3. Ensuring Security and Data Protection

Whenever people think back to big scandals or slip-ups involving digital storefronts, it usually has something to do with cybersecurity. Think of it this way – if a certain feature of your site doesn’t work properly, you fix it and move on. However, a data breach brings the kind of reputation that seemingly never goes away, and it’s not a reputation you want for your business.

Needless to say, security tests are a big part of all software QA. However, e-commerce specifically deals with highly sensitive information such as personal data, payment details, and purchase history.

This means that you need to check, double-check, and triple-check any potential vulnerability before a customer is ever exposed to it. As such, retail software security testing is crucial for protecting both the store and its customers.

4. Mitigating Potential Losses

This point refers to the fact that e-commerce tests also examine updates or changes before implementation. The idea is simply to find and solve issues before they ever reach the live version of the software.

As we’ve already established, broken features lead to lost profits. However, this goes beyond simply identifying technical issues. For example, retail testing can also find points in the customer journey in which users decide to give up on their carts or leave the store. A proper test can help figure out why this is happening and suggest actionable solutions, leading to increased revenue.

5. Optimizing Performance

Studies have shown that 53% of online shoppers will abandon an online store if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. With that in mind, don’t let anyone tell you that squeezing out every little bit of performance is a waste of time.

E-commerce QA helps find and eliminate performance bottlenecks. This refers to problems related to load speeds, responsiveness, or resource use – all of which have been found to directly impact online retail profits.

It’s especially important to account for scalability whenever we’re discussing performance. Preparing for massive traffic spikes and peak seasons can be very difficult in today’s rapidly changing market, which is why proper testing is a must for anyone who wants to be prepared for the future.

6. Improving Marketing Strategies

According to some estimates, more than 40% of users “bounce” off e-commerce sites before ever reaching the second page. Other studies show that almost 70% of online store carts are abandoned at some point. If you want to know why this happens on your own site and how to address the issue, consider a systematic UX test.

Testing your platform is a great way to understand what your customers experience and, by extension, what they want. This process provides valuable insights that can be leveraged to improve marketing and sales.

Moreover, these same insights can allow you to fine-tune your existing marketing strategies and adapt them to your platform’s unique needs and advantages.

7. Ensuring Cross-Platform Compatibility

A high-quality e-commerce platform performs consistently across all sorts of devices and browsers. However, achieving such reliability is no small feat given the increasing number of operating systems, devices, and even internet browsers out there.

The only real solution is comprehensive, systematic compatibility testing that covers all possible bases. Such a process can be invaluable for growing the reach and audience of an e-commerce business because it ensures a consistent experience for all users, regardless of what they’re using to access the platform.

8. Establishing Regulatory Compliance

The retail sector is generally subject to various regulatory requirements. The complexity and restrictiveness of these regulations vary depending on the industry itself. However, if you’re trying to sell anything online, you’re going to have to adhere to certain standards.

Payment regulations, data protection laws, privacy laws, and customer protection legislation are all things a retail business has to consider, and they can all vary from region to region.

That’s why establishing a proper QA framework is crucial for any online business. From a purely business perspective, testing can help you protect yourself from lawsuits or fines due to non-compliance. However, compliance tests also have operational benefits, such as ensuring data integrity, accurate reporting, and making your business better prepared for future audits.

Types of Retail Software Tests

Software testing in retail offers a lot of benefits, which is why it can involve a wide range of actions. Achieving all of these goals typically requires specialized strategies that aim to address specific aspects of the software.

As such, various types of e-commerce testing exist because they’re designed to systematically address certain components of a retail application. Here are some of the most common types of tests.

1. Functionality Testing

Functional tests in e-commerce ensure that every feature and functionality of the software works as intended.

Testing involves both checking individual components, such as product searches or purchasing features, and a top-to-bottom examination of whether everything delivers the expected results.

As such, this approach can be further divided into sub-types such as:

  • Unit testing – testing specific features or components of the software
  • Integration testing – making sure that integrations such as payment gateways, inventory management systems, or customer care processing work as intended.
  • Regression testing – ensuring that core elements of the software work properly after new changes or updates

2. Usability Testing

Improving UX is one of the core goals of retail software testing, and usability tests specifically focus on this one area.

This type of testing involves simulating user interactions with the platform and identifying problems, common pain points, or simply areas which can be improved. It closely examines the UI, layout, design elements, navigation tools, and other customer-facing features.

Usability tests also cover accessibility, ensuring a diverse range of customers can have a positive experience on your platform.

A/B tests are also a common retail usability testing strategy. The strategy involves comparing two versions of the site or application and seeing which one receives more positive reactions from users.

3. Performance Testing

These tests are designed to measure the software’s ability to handle large spikes in traffic or under increased loads.

Performance testing and functional testing have relatively similar goals. However, function tests check whether everything works properly under “normal” circumstances. Performance tests instead check whether everything will still work even if the conditions are far from ideal.

This process involves simulating massive traffic, typically beyond a site or app’s operational capacity. The goal is to then identify potential bottlenecks or scalability issues.

This knowledge can be used to optimize the software’s performance during both normal operation and unexpected spikes.

4. Security Testing

As the name implies, security testing checks whether the e-commerce platform is able to safeguard sensitive information and withstand cybersecurity threats. It focuses on protecting customer data and payment information as well as preventing downtime due to threats like DDOS attacks.

The whole idea is to stay one step ahead of potential malicious actors by identifying potential weaknesses. This involves ensuring proper data encryption, scanning for potential security weaknesses, and simulating cyberattacks to find potential exploits.

Well-implemented security testing in retail can save you a lot of headaches down the line – not to mention financial losses and stains on the reputation of your business.

5. API Testing

API testing for e-commerce applications focuses on integrations with third-party systems. It’s an important step in today’s industry landscape where pretty much every e-commerce business is supported by a wide range of integrations such as payment gateways, shipping providers, inventory and customer management tools, and so on.

In some ways, API testing combines several other e-commerce testing strategies such as functional tests, security tests, and performance examinations. It’s all about ensuring that external services mesh well with your own software and that it all works together regardless of the conditions.

6. Compliance Testing

E-commerce compliance tests check whether the platform meets various legal, regulatory, or industry standards.

The exact process depends on the requirements of your business. For instance, a business operating in the EU will have to comply with GDPR standards on data privacy and protection. Other regulatory standards, such as the PCI Security Standards, are important for pretty much any business that involves online payments.

Compliance tests typically go hand-in-hand with security audits because many of these regulations specifically address safety concerns and data protection.

Other Types of E-commerce Software Tests

Systematic retail testing can theoretically employ any number of strategies depending on its objectives. Here are a few additional types that are commonly found in e-commerce software QA:

  • Database testing verifies the integrity and security of any data stored on the platform and ensures that the storing and retrieving of this data goes smoothly.
  • Localization testing ensures that the website or app is properly localized and adapted for different markets and regions. It focuses on checking translated content, currency displays, date and measurement formats, etc.
  • Compatibility tests generally include cross-browser and cross-platform testing, making sure that the store performs consistently in all use cases.

How Retail Software QA Works In Practice: Step-by-step Guide

Everything we talked about so far may seem a bit abstract, especially if you don’t have any hands-on experience with software testing.

As such, it’s time to look into the actual, real-world process of testing e-commerce software.

Note that the exact methodology may vary depending on who’s performing the tests. However, pretty much every approach involves a few crucial steps that we’ll outline below.

E-Commerce Testing Process

Step 1: Identifying and Analyzing Requirements

The first step is to define the specific needs of the software. After all, if you want to ensure that the platform is performing as expected, you’ll need to know what those expectations are in the first place.

These early stages involve closely working with the owners, stakeholders, and existing developers behind the product. You also need to consider external factors such as business analyses, industry standards, and compliance requirements.

Step 2: Defining the Scope of the Testing

The next question you need to ask is what the testing is supposed to achieve.

Start by defining objectives such as bug-fixing, ensuring stability and performance, or verifying security and compliance.

At this point, you also need to establish criteria for successful testing. This involves setting quality standards, performance benchmarks, or other goals that will guide the entire testing process.

Step 3: Creating a Test Plan

Now it’s time to determine what the actual testing process will look like. Broadly speaking, this involves three main points:

  • Preconditions – define the setup, resources, and conditions required to execute the test.
  • Testing process – step-by-step instructions for what the test involves and how it’s expected to progress.
  • Expected results – Clearly outline the expected outcome of the testing.

A proper test plan should also define the testing approach, applicable methodologies, and priorities for different test cases.

Step 4: Setting Up the Test Environment

Software tests are performed in special environments that are created specifically with this goal in mind. After all, you can’t just go around fiddling with the live version of the software.

The test environment should mimic the real platform and how it functions as much as possible. For instance, usability testing should simulate customers based on real-world data and resemble real interactions as much as possible.

Moreover, conditions of the testing environment such as connectivity and available resources should accurately reflect the conditions in which the software will be used.

Step 5: Execution

Execute the test according to the goals, scope, and process defined in the previous steps.

Any testing should be systematic and followed by ample documentation. This means that testers run through all of the test cases necessary to complete the test, carefully logging any issues or failures to meet pre-defined standards.

Importantly, the documentation should include clear and detailed steps on how to reproduce detected issues.

Step 6: Analysis

This step involves collecting and evaluating the results of the test. Any detected problems are classified based on their severity and importance, and steps are defined on how to address and fix these issues in collaboration with the development team.

Moreover, potential areas for improvement are noted and highlighted. These can then be presented to the platform’s owners or management, suggesting how to improve the platform above and beyond its pre-test capabilities.

Step 7: Deployment and Maintenance

Before the software goes live, additional processes such as regression testing are performed to ensure a smooth transition. As a reminder, regression tests ensure that the implemented fixes and changes don’t have any unintended consequences.

After the principal testing process is over, you should also consider continuing to perform routine checks to ensure everything will continue to work as intended. At this point, it’s important to consider how the testing process can be streamlined or automated for increased efficiency.

E-Commerce Software QA Automation

Automated e-commerce testing refers to the process of using various software tools to execute tests, analyse results, or implement solutions.

Automation in retail testing can be used in several ways, such as:

  • Generating large volumes of realistic test data, which can be very useful for systems that handle a lot of traffic or regularly tackle huge chunks of information.
  • Automatically generating test cases based on certain specifications. This can improve test coverage and streamline the test planning stage.
  • Automation can also be used to simulate peak traffic conditions for the purposes of performance testing.
  • Automating certain tests is especially valuable for tests that require a lot of repetition. For instance, automating regression tests or executing scripts such as repeat logins can save a lot of time and man-hours.

Should You Automate Your Retail QA Testing?

The development of AI technologies has been a game-changer in the world of e-commerce testing and software QA in general. However, there are limits to what AI can do, and there are cases in which test automation is best avoided.

As such, automated testing is most often used to handle specific tasks, such as:

  • Repetitive test cases that require frequent execution
  • Test cases that require multiple data sets
  • Regression testing, due to its often repetitive nature
  • Test cases that are significantly prone to human error
  • Compatibility testing, where automation can easily simulate cross-browser and cross-device traffic

It should be pretty clear by now that retail QA automation has certain benefits, but also some drawbacks and limitations. You can find some of the main pros and cons on the table below.

E-Commerce Testing Automation – Pros & Cons

Pros Cons
Efficiency – automation is one of the best ways to reduce the time needed to perform tests. High proficiency requirement – Creating and maintaining automated tests demands a high level of technical expertise.
Reusability – automated tests can be used on different versions of the same application, saving time and resources. Limitations – Automation cannot test elements that only affect people, such as UX or usability.
Consistency – automated tests deliver consistent results and eliminate the possibility of human error. Maintenance – Automation relies on software that can have its own bugs and problems, which requires a separate debugging process.
Programmability – tests can be custom-built to test specific components, allowing for a more targeted testing process. Potential for Errors – AI can also make mistakes. However, detecting these mistakes can be more difficult than identifying human errors.
Cost-effectiveness – In the long-term, properly implemented automation can significantly decrease resource drain. Not Suitable for All Projects – Ultimately, automation works best for stable projects with well-defined objectives. This isn’t always the case, limiting the usefulness of automated testing.

Useful Tools for Retail Software QA Automation

The automation we just discussed is typically deployed using a number of handy tools. There are quite a few of them out there these days, but here are some of the most common and useful options:

  • Selenium – A widely-used open-source tool that essentially automates web browsers. It’s highly versatile, supports multiple programming languages, and it’s easy to use and integrate.
  • Appium – An open-source automation framework used to test Android and iOS applications. Appium is highly valued because it can write UI tests for multiple platforms using the same API.
  • JMeter – Open-source software designed for executing load tests. It can simulate heavy server loads and analyze overall performance, practically automating performance testing.
  • Playwright – Microsoft’s open-source library that mainly allows you to automate browser tasks for the purposes of testing. It can create reliable end-to-end tests and supports multiple languages.
  • Cypress – A popular frontend test automation tool mainly used for regression testing of web applications.

Conclusion

E-commerce software testing is crucial for ensuring that your online retail platform runs smoothly and successfully.

While QA tests are vital for all software, e-commerce applications are exposed to higher levels of risk because they work with sensitive data and are subject to strict regulatory standards. This makes testing all the more important, highlighting the need for quality testing frameworks.

Successful testing ensures your e-commerce platform not only works as intended but also delivers a top-notch experience to your customers. This is proven to result in higher conversion and better customer retention. Moreover, it protects you from losses by ensuring operational security and regulatory compliance.

If you believe your e-commerce site or app can benefit from a thorough test, check out some of the services we offer here at TechTailors. You can also book a free consultation to find out how our e-commerce testing company can help you and your business.