This is the era of online deals where everything is just a single click away from us on the internet. Businesses today thrive depending on their online customer base, indicating that we live in a world dominated by eCommerce. Shopping in person and shopping online have many differences. Online shopping offers numerous advantages such as time-saving and easy access to products worldwide.

Digital eCommerce web design agencies help you to create business strategies and plans. You have a choice of many eCommerce web design companies that can build your dream online shopping website. They are capable of designing and developing online stores where you can sell your products as well as others’.

Most eCommerce websites share a common structure and theme, for example:

  • Homepage
  • Search Results Page
  • Product Details Page
  • Order Form Page
  • Order Confirmation Page
  • Login Form Page and Accounts Pages

Of course, there are many other pages too, but these are common across all eCommerce websites.

This is a simple quote always to be remembered in the eCommerce sector: “The better the site, the better the business.”

It is very important that the web/application should undergo thorough testing to keep the website performing well. Some typical tests include:

  • Functional Testing
  • Usability Testing
  • Security Testing
  • Performance Testing
  • Database Testing
  • Mobile Application Testing
  • A/B Testing

However, retail websites are highly dynamic; the site is not the same for a long time. It will keep updating with data such as new products, offers, new best sellers, and most popular products, etc.

Now, let’s discuss some important things to test in an eCommerce website or application.

Functionality Testing of eCommerce Applications

An eCommerce web/application must have important elements such as:

Main Pages: This includes pages for Home, Product, About Us, Site Map, Privacy Policy, etc.

Category Page: This is a page for product types, that is, it consists of product size, color, and type. Here, we should have a sorting feature to list all the items according to the customer’s need. It could be in terms of price ascending/descending, according to the brand, size, etc., that he/she chooses.

Product Description Page: It consists of product title, description, images, related products, add to cart features, etc.

Shopping Cart: This includes product list view, removing products from the list, different payment option list, etc.

Before we go for functionality testing, we should be familiar with the proposed eCommerce website or application. The features listed above are commonly found in eCommerce websites. Make sure all those features are available while testing.

Search: Search algorithms are very crucial in an eCommerce website. A customer usually starts by searching the product name or type on the website. So, they expect to see relevant results and products on their screen.

These are some common tests to be taken on search:

  • Search based on product name, brand name, or category. For example: Laptop, Sony Vaio E Series, ADIDAS Casual Shoes, Electronics, etc.
  • Search results should be relevant.
  • Results displaying per page.
  • Different filtering and sorting options.
  • Navigation and scrolling feature for multiple page results.
  • There should be suggestions for the customer while searching.

Testing eCommerce Application Workflow

This involves the complete testing of the web or application regarding its workflow. This workflow consists of:

  • Login and Signup Option
  • Search Function
  • Product Reviewing
  • Filter and Sorting Features
  • Add/Remove Functionality in Shopping Cart
  • Checkout Process
  • Order Number and Invoice Preparation
  • Payment Gateway and Payment Processing
  • Product Tracking and Delivery

Payment Gateway Functionality

Payment gateway functionality is another important feature we should concentrate on because each customer is valuable and their online transaction details should be highly secured. Here are some checkout and payment processes you must check:

  • Ensure the product price is the same everywhere it appears, including shipping charges, taxes, and discounts. Make sure the customer gets the exact bill for what they purchased. This can be tested by changing the delivery address, using a coupon code, altering the number of products, etc.
  • Check that payment is possible through different methods such as net banking, credit/debit cards (Master/Visa/RuPay), etc. You can test these with dummy accounts and cards. Also, check whether the order can be canceled and if the payment ID is sent back to the customer.
  • Ensure that invoices created are sent to the specified email ID after the payment process.
  • Finally, check the refund process, email notifications, and refund receipts to ensure they are working properly.

Performing Security and Vulnerability Assessment

Every eCommerce website deals with many transactions and holds many personal information details (including banking details). Thus, the chance of vulnerability to the account is very high. Hence, the application should undergo rigorous security testing. You can use testing methods such as SQL injections, ethical hacks on login, register, payment gateways, etc.

Web Browser Compatibility

Customers on an eCommerce website or application may use different platforms and web browsers. People may use web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, etc. So, you should make sure that your customers can use the application in every web browser without any difficulties.

Mobile Responsiveness

As the smartphone penetration rate continues to rise, mobile phones are overtaking laptops and desktop platforms in terms of internet usage. Companies emphasize the mobile view of the application first. You need to test the responsive design of the website for different mobile screen resolutions.

Performance and SEO Compatibility Checking

Web development companies always check the performance and SEO compatibility of all websites, especially eCommerce websites. Your eCommerce website should provide a tremendous user experience in terms of webpage loading speed, efficiency, throughput, data transfer rate, database performance, website traffic, etc.

To increase the performance rate, you need to implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques for the site. You need to test SEO strategies like image alt & title optimization, content duplication, URL optimization, etc.

Conclusion

There are many other common features that you need to test in an eCommerce website or application. It includes web page format, accessibility, readability, cookies, social media buttons, adding and removing content, analytics, etc. As a responsible web development company, we should conduct all types of testing.

“Testing is an infinite process of comparing the invisible to the ambiguous in order to avoid the unthinkable happening to the anonymous.” – James Bach

Testing never ends, and there exist no products without a single bug. By implementing thorough testing on your eCommerce website, you can reduce the number of errors before launching but cannot rectify 100%.