ecommerce testing Archives - Testbytes Software

How to Test an Ecommerce Website: Points To Remember

Posted on August 6, 2018 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

It is very complex to set up an E-commerce website. It is subject to various market-specific variables. Testing becomes compulsory and important in order to maintain the integrity of E-commerce website. Testing a website helps to add value to your product or service and prevents errors. The main objective behind testing an E-commerce website is to ensure software quality, reliability, optimum performance and capacity utilization.

Sometimes you may wonder why it is so important to test an E-commerce website. In order to get success in an online business, you must ensure that your website is well designed to attract conventional traffic. Your website should offer a great customer experience.
In order to ensure these things, a website has to be tested. In a study of UNCTAD, it has been suggested to focus on testing the E-commerce websites as it is an essential part of online business future.

How to Test an E-commerce Website
Every website has to go undergo some basic tests whether it is an E-commerce website or any other.

Functional testing: It is basically done to ensure the smooth functioning of a website without any faults. It includes testing web pages, cookies, database etc.
Usability testing: It is done to make the website effective and user-friendly. This testing is suitable for the websites that are concerned with manual process. The important aspects of usability testing are sitemap, navigation etc.
Security testing: The main aim of security testing is to protect data and maintain functionality as planned. It stops unauthorized access in order to secure web pages. It includes testing like CAPTCHA testing, SSL testing etc.
Performance testing: As the word suggests, it tests the performance of your website in different scenarios. It typically involves load testing, scalability testing, stress testing etc.
Database testing: Database testing includes testing performance related to database, data validity testing, integrity testing etc. It also tests procedures functions and triggers.
Mobile application testing: Some website verifications are concerned with mobile versions. A number of people are mostly using mobile phones for internet. Hence, mobile application testing is very important for any website.
A/B testing: A/B testing is conducted to compare two versions of a single variable. It can run simultaneously between two or more web pages to check which of them converts the best for your E-commerce store.

As far as E-commerce business is concerned, we need to take care of different testing as it is all about buying and selling goods and services online. E-commerce is mainly concerned with product display, timely delivery, payment gateways and browsing compatibility etc. Well if we talk about E-commerce website testing, following tests need to be conducted in order to test the performance of an E-commerce website.

Also Read : 8 Important Things to Test in Ecommerce Web and Mobile Applications

Ecommerce website Testing Checklist
Browser Compatibility Testing: A good E-commerce website is the one which supports all type of web browsers such as Google Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc. You need to test the browser compatibility of your E-commerce website to ensure that the end users will not face any difficulty to access your website. Browser testing should cover core platforms such as Linux, Windows etc. Try using different tools to ensure whether the site is compatible with other browsers.
Page Display Testing: Page display is an important element of an E-commerce website. It is the core of E-commerce website as the customer gets attracted towards excellent product display or display home page. Product page plays a vital role in the success of an E-commerce website. Customers visit an E-commerce website for shopping purpose. They check various websites to compare the products and services online. If they found good quality product and promising services then only they take a purchase decision. So, your product page should be correct, attractive and error free.
Display page consists of different pages such as home page, product page, about us, sitemap etc. In order to get good business, you must test the product display page. Following is the checklist for product display page:
Product images, price, specification, reviews, delivery options, shipping information, multiple images and colors available for the product, in stock and out stock information etc.

Content Testing: The contents of your website should not be offensive and misleading. You should avoid litigious contents on your website. The images you put on your website should not be copyrighted and should not have a watermark of any other company. The content that you are writing for your website should be catchy and precise. Your content page should have descriptive text, headlines, promotional banners etc.
Shopping Cart: It is one of the important elements of an E-commerce website. You should test your shopping cart while conducting E-commerce website testing. Your shopping cart should be updated with the latest stock of products available in the market. You should display all the items and the total number of products in your cart. You must add new products and remove old products from a shopping cart. The checklist for shopping cart testing is as follows:-
Product list view, cash on delivery and other payment options, order processing, payment processing etc.
Workflow Testing: The checklist for complete workflow testing of an E-commerce website comprises of following points:

Sign up and login options
The search functionality of product and service
Customers review posting
Sorting feature
Check out process
Order number generation
Payment options and payment gateways

Login and Security Testing: Well this is very important to test login and security options of your E-commerce website. The login id or accounts of your customer should be secure from any kind of hacking or virus. It contains login capability testing, access control, computer virus scanning; protection from web attacks, insecure information transmission, digital signature etc. E-commerce websites contain valuable information regarding the customer’s personal and banking data. Therefore, a security test should be conducted in order to secure the customer’s data. You can use various testing methods like ethical hacks on customer login, SQL injections etc.
Payment Gateway Testing: It is another important test in E-commerce website testing. Payment gateways are the mode of payment through which a customer pays for his shopping. In order to test the payment gateways functionality, you can make dummy accounts and demo credit card numbers. By using these accounts, you can check whether the payment is processed correctly or not. The methods of payment such as net banking, credit and debit card, PayPal, Paytm etc are working on desired parameters or not. You should check whether the emails and invoice generated after payment process are sent to the customer or not. You should also make sure that refund process, refund receipt is working properly or not. If the above-mentioned things are not working properly you should take corrective actions for the same.
Mobile Responsiveness Testing: As we know people are using the internet mostly on their mobile phones rather than desktop or laptop. That’s the reason companies are taking mobile phones as the first approach to their E-commerce website. So you need to make sure that your E-commerce website or application should be mobile friendly and suitable for various size screen.
Performance and SEO Testing: Performance testing shows how well your website is performing in the online market. Performance of your website depends upon request coming on your website per second, transactions taking place per minute, the time duration between clicking and seeing your web page etc. Performance testing can be conducted on various parameters such as loading speed, tolerance of traffic load, data transfer rate etc.
Your website should have high visibility on a search engine so that you can get huge traffic on your website. You can raise the visibility by implementing search engine optimization on your E-commerce website.
Product Filtration Testing: Product filtration is to choose the product according to size, color, material etc. For example, if someone searches for a formal shirt on your website, he can select it from filtration according to required size like small, medium, large etc or he can also have a color preference like blue, white, yellow etc. You should test whether product filtration is working properly or not before living the website in order to provide a great customer experience.

So, this is how you can test an E-commerce website on different parameters using various techniques. Website testing is a crucial step before launching your E-commerce website in the market. A well-tested website or application performs well and gives desired results to the business owners and customers as well. We hope this article has served you well and provided you with the required and important information that you want related to your E-commerce website.

Also Read : How to Select An Test Automation Services Provider For Your Software

Why is it Important to Test an Ecommerce Application

Posted on September 28, 2017 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

Browsing through products in online stores and ordering them online is just one facet of e-commerce. E-commerce is a multifaceted way of conducting business online. Both B to C and B to B businesses use and rely on e-commerce these days. In fact e-commerce is driving changes in the traditional market and giving rise to new trends.

The changing trends are reflected in almost every sphere of business. Online fund transfer, digital marketing, integrated inventory management, supply chain management etc are some of the examples of e-commerce applications that have changed the face of business permanently. All these ecommerce applications have contributed significantly to transparency in day to day activities of businesses, real time inventory management, finances etc in a B2B environment. In the B2C front e-commerce applications have made life easier and even less expensive in some cases.

Here, are a few reasons why its important to test an e-commerce application:

1) Customer Friendly Designs and Features

In a B2C environment you need extreme customer friendly designs and features in e-commerce applications. However, such designs and features may sometime be at odds with the functionality of the site. This is more so because e-commerce websites may need to handle huge amounts of traffic for certain period of time followed by certain periods of lull. So it’s important that you test the functionality of a site when the traffic goes up very high. You need to see that it retains the functionality at extreme level of traffic and at the same time have customer friendly designs and features.

2) Different Browsers

E-commerce sites are loaded with JavaScript plug-ins, rich images, social media integration, product description, informative videos etc. These are the features that enhance customer experience and help visitors convert to customers. These sites are opened in multiple browsers like Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Opera etc. The developers need to ensure that the site offers a smooth experience to the customer irrespective of the browser that he or she is using. So, testing of ecommerce sites and applications should be a continuous process as any glitch would rob the company of a significant amount of revenue.

3) Different Platforms

People access e-commerce sites from a number of devices such as smart phones, tablets, computers, laptops etc. Therefore, a company needs to ensure that customers have a seamless experience across all devices. And for this, testing e-commerce sites and applications Is necessary.

4) Security and Vulnerability

Ecommerce sites and applications are more prone to security and vulnerability threats than others. Since people are using these applications to purchase products using their confidential banking data like card number, PIN number etc, it is of utmost importance that security and vulnerability of applications like Payment Gateway are always checked and updated.

5) Billing

E-commerce sites need to ensure that billing of products is done correctly. These companies offer various discounts and coupons to consumers. Sometimes the discounts are for targeted consumers such as those who make a certain amount of purchase. The billing application needs to take into account everything that goes into determining the price of the product or service availed. This will ensure customer confidence and allegiance. It also needs to take into account applicable taxes correctly. Then there are automated processes like generation of invoice and emails etc. that are integral to the billing process. To ensure all these, the business needs to conduct repeated tests on all these applications.

Final Verdict

The retail industry is highly volatile and ever evolving. Choosing the right methods and doing the right tests is recommendable before the e-commerce site is launched. By performing a strict test on your e-commerce website/application, you can certainly reduce the number of errors that crop up when the website is made live to your customers. This depicts that the site doesn’t always stay the same for too long. Therefore, it could get inordinate for many.

9 Important Things to Test in Ecommerce Web and Mobile Applications

Posted on May 8, 2017 by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

It is important to test e-commerce websites and mobile applications so that it won’t compromise on various crucial factors such as user experience, mobile responsiveness, customer data security, quick load time, and secure transaction. Also, the success of your e-commerce website (or mobile application) depends on the proper functioning of these factors and do not have any bugs in it. Thereby, you can give your customers a nice and enjoyable experience.
Types of e-commerce websites/apps

Ecommerce works mainly work based on who is buying and who is selling. Yes, of course, it’s the same for any other market place. However, based on these e-commerce websites/apps have been divided into 5 and those who wish to start an e-commerce business should decide where do they belong before strategizing a business model.
B2C(business to customer) Ecommerce
B2C means business to customers. The main focus of this type of business will be on direct customers. And whenever people hear about eCommerce this type of business model comes to their mind. Instead of a physical store, there will be an online store from which people can buy goods.
Example of B2C business– Amazon, Pandora, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Uber, Zillow, Pandora, etc.
B2B (business to business) Ecommerce
The main intention behind this business model is to provide good to another business with the help of an online platform. Wholesale sellers of products such as desk, computer table, chairs, files, etc.
B2B not so common compared to B2C. When it comes to supplies BRC might have limitations on the other hand B2B eCommerce will be completely dependant on its inventory.
Examples of the B2B market is Amazon business, 3DXTech, Alibaba.com, etc.
C2C (customer to customer) Ecommerce
Customer to customer business model can be a bit new to us. However, the concept is not that new.
In this type of business, an individual will be selling his product directly to the customer. For instance, a person has opted to go online when it comes to selling his cakes. All the necessary things that need to be done such as website maintenance, product listing, shipping, etc has to be maintained by the person who is running the shop.
C2B (customer to business Ecommerce
In this type of business, an individual will be selling his product to big companies
Eg: Freelancers, writers, artists, web designers, etc.
What’s bad about the C2C type of business is that they are not scalable and are not flexible. So what happens is that C2C sellers often become B2C and the transition cost can be a bit hefty.
C2A (consumer to administration) eCommerce
Here the business transaction will happen between the individual and public administration.
For instance, you are booking an appointment with a doctor using an online portal. That’s C2A for you
C2C (consumer to consumer)
This kind of transaction usually happens between 2 consumers using a medium such as Paypal, Gpay etc.

Testing is Crucial for Your Ecommerce Success
E-commerce applications have lots of users worldwide as they deal with finance, marketing, retail & wholesale, manufacturing, and auctions.

In addition, the global e-commerce industry is witnessing huge growth for the past few years and it is estimated to be worth $22.1 trillion, according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Organizations need to be given more focus on testing their website or mobile app and make it as an essential part of their future e-commerce application development.
There have been many cases of e-commerce application failure and these failures can be avoided by implementing better testing techniques.
The main reasons for testing your e-commerce application is to check the usability of the application, its user-friendliness, and to make your eCommerce website/application bugs-free.
Also, you need to keep in mind that you have to maintain Quality Assurance standards to show commitment to delivering your quality e-commerce product to your customers. Here are seven important things on how to test an eCommerce website or application.

1) Testing E-commerce Application’s Functionality

An e-commerce web or mobile application has four important elements in its structure, and they are:

Main Pages – Homepage, Product page, Special Offers, About Us page, Sitemap pages, Privacy Policy page, Press Releases page, etc.
Category / Product Type Pages – The product page consists of options such as product size, color, and type. There is a sorting feature to filter out products based on price, model, size, etc. There is also the “Add to Cart” or “Add to Wishlist” feature present in the category pages.
Product Description Page – Consists of the product title, description, product images, related products, Add to Cart feature, Product comparison, additional product info, etc.
Shopping Cart – Products list view, removing the product from the list, cash on delivery option, Select delivery option, card payment, pay now option, etc.

Image: E-Commerce Web App Architecture
Before you conduct functionality testing, we need to understand the e-commerce website or application very well.
The above-mentioned features are commonly found on all e-commerce applications, yet most of them are customized as per business requirements.

2) Testing E-commerce Application Workflow

The testing of the complete workflow of your e-commerce web/mobile application consists of:

Login and Signup options
Search functionality
Product review posting feature
Sorting feature
Applying filters for choosing the desired product(s)
Add/remove functionality in the shopping cart
Check out process
Order number and invoice generation
Payment gateway and payment processing

3) Payment Gateway Functionality

Another important functionality to test is the payment gateway and you have to conduct multiple tests to ensure it functions properly and provides security while doing online transactions. Here are the checkout and payment processes that you need to test:

You need to check the product price is correct, shipping charge, VAT, discount codes all are applied and the price customer has to pay is the right amount. You can test this payment process by making changes in the final list of products, applying different discount coupon codes, choosing a different region to see the change in shipping charges.
You need to check whether the payment is processed correctly, by using all kinds of payment methods such as net banking, Credit/Debit card, PayPal, etc. You can check all these using dummy accounts and demo debit/credit card numbers. Also, you need to check whether the orders are canceled, and the payment ID sent back.
Check whether the invoice and emails generated after the payment process are sent.
You need to also ensure the refund process, email, and refund receipt all are working properly.

4) Performing Security and Vulnerability Assessments

Since e-commerce applications hold valuable information (customer’s personal and banking data) you need to conduct security testing to check for security and vulnerability issues in them. You can use testing methods like SQL Injections, ethical hacks on the login, Register, Payment gateway, and other various pages.

5) Checking Compatibility with Web Browsers

It is important for e-commerce applications to work on all types of web browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc. You need to test the browser compatibility of the application to make sure that your customers are able to use your e-commerce website without any hassle.

6) Testing for Mobile Responsiveness

Nowadays, mobile devices are taking over desktop platforms in terms of internet usage and companies are taking a mobile-first approach in their e-commerce applications. You need to test the responsive design of your application in mobile devices of various screen sizes.

Also Read: Top 20 Programming Languages For Mobile App Development

7) Checking Performance and SEO-related Things

Another important thing in e-commerce testing is to check the performance of your website/application. You need to conduct performance testing on parameters such as webpage loading speed, throughput, data transfer rate, efficiency, uptime, database performance, website traffic load tolerance, error messages, etc.
You need to make your e-commerce website is having high search engine visibility so that you can get considerable user traffic to your site. You can do this by implement search engine optimization (SEO) on your website. You need to test whether SEO strategies such as title tags, meta descriptions, URL structure, image alt tags, etc are implemented correctly.

8) Other Common Things to be Tested

There are other common things in your e-commerce application you need to test and they include website content, webpage format, website accessibility, cookies, social buttons, adding/deleting content, removing/adding links, web standards, analytics, and making changes to shipping settings.

9) Social Media Integration

Be it an e-commerce application or website social media is one of the most important factors for its success. However, you have to make sure that social media integration is aligned with website architecture and workflow. A/B testing is the best way to test social media workflow.
A/B testing will make sure that the content is working or not with a specific audience.
Integration testing will reveal Social Media API is working fine on your website. And is doing what it’s supposed to do

Types of Testing performed on E-commerce Application

11 important Features to Test in an E-commerce Application

Home Page hero image
Search button
Product details page
Shopping cart
Payment module
Order From page
Login forms
Account pages
Filter for products
Category page
Social media buttons

Conclusion
By conducting thorough e-commerce website application testing, you can significantly reduce the number of errors that crop up when the website is made live to your customers.