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E-commerce is more important than ever, and testing e-commerce has never been so vital. In the past couple of years, using e-commerce has become natural for many of us. From large corporations to artisan shops, online shoppers can get anything they want delivered to their doorstep. Meanwhile, when you launch an e-commerce website, you need to make sure that it works as expected across all devices and browsers but also that it’s accessible by all users everywhere. In this post, we are sharing our e-commerce testing guide and some recommendations about testing e-commerce.
E-commerce Testing Best Practices
Since 2008, our team has tested dozens of e-commerce websites for a large variety of brands. We have gathered data and created some guidelines for the best QA testing practices. We’ve created an e-commerce testing guide to share some of our knowledge about e-commerce testing and all the aspects you need to take into consideration before launching your e-commerce.
In this e-commerce testing guide, we cover some of the most important types of testing needed to ensure your e-commerce is successful. Learn more about functionality testing, compatibility testing, test automation, accessibility testing, performance/load testing, localization testing, security testing, and usability testing. We cover the basics of these testing types and how they relate to e-commerce.
Online Shopping Skyrockets Due to COVID-19
Due to COVID-19, shopping habits have adapted and online shopping is seeing a boom. As this unprecedented pandemic is far from over, especially in the US, it’s clear that e-commerce will remain important for the foreseeable future.
According to data analytics company Inmar Intelligence, 79% of the polled participants said they now shop for groceries online, compared with 57% before the pandemic. Since March of 2020, 12% of shoppers tried out grocery delivery or grocery shipments for the first time.
The impact of COVID-19 was also demonstrated during the 2020 holiday season. According to Adobe Analytics, e-commerce sales for the last holiday season saw two years’ worth of growth, reaching $188.2 billion, up a whopping 32 percent year over year.
Top E-commerce Challenges
Challenges often come from device and browser fragmentation. In this guide, we look at the different browsers on both desktop and mobile to give you recommendations. This will allow you to create a clear and practical test plan for future testing.
It’s also important to look at Android and iOS statistics and adoption rates when identifying the devices you plan to test on. Each year, new iOS and Android devices are released; we take a look at what devices have been the most popular and share these insights on our blog. Although it’s important to test on the newest devices, we also recommend including older devices when testing. We’ve covered the top devices for Android and iOS app testing for 2020, 2019, and 2018, so check out our previous posts for more ideas.
Making Your E-Commerce Accessible
Have you ever looked at how accessible your application is? Imagine the disappointment of a customer who comes to your website, tries to select a product and is not able to. Imagine if that same customer finally selects a product but cannot checkout. Then multiply that customer by hundreds of thousands. Accessibility is not an option but a requirement.
In the US, 26 percent of the population has a disability. If you don’t plan for accessibility testing with your e-commerce website, you could alienate a quarter of your potential customers. Accessible sites mean more users. Not only is having an accessible site the ethical thing to do but it also creates more opportunities for your e-commerce site to reach a larger group of consumers. Accessibility testing can be executed by testers who do not necessarily have a disability; however, it is recommended to work with an accessibility testing expert who experiences a disability first-hand. Learn more about why accessibility is so important in our previous blog post.
Focusing on Security
In 2021, it is more important than ever for e-commerce sites to be secure and accessible. Security ensures that you build confidence with consumers to continue repeat business. We're in a time where consumers are more aware of how their data is used. E-commerce sites must maintain their integrity by testing for any possible security risks.
Take a look at our e-commerce guide to find out if your site is ready for the future of e-commerce shopping.
When you have an e-commerce website it is important that you understand the different types of tools you can use and how to plan your test strategy to help your team have a successful launch. Download our e-commerce testing guide today to learn more about e-commerce testing, or watch the video below for a teaser.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions!