Top E-Commerce Test Cases

According to eMarketer, worldwide retail e-commerce sales grew 27.6% during the last year and accounted for $4.280 trillion in total. Analysts predict that the growth will be slower in 2021, given the rebound of brick-and-mortar businesses. Many people started shopping online because of the lockdown, and this newly-acquired habit is likely to stick.

So, on the one hand, online shoppers become more demanding in terms of the functionality they want to use. On the other hand, retailers have a bunch of new users who need simple and intuitive resources. Creating a functional online store for a vast audience may seem a complicated task under such circumstances. But that’s where software testing services can help out.

We’ve collected some of the top e-commerce test cases our specialists run to ensure online that a store meets user requirements and client’s expectations. In this article, we will focus on manual test cases for an e-commerce website, so store owners have important details to be ready to hire QA engineers.

Homepage Test Cases

A homepage in e-commerce is more than a nicely designed cover. It is also a promising marketing tool. This page usually features clickable banners or an auto-scrolling slideshow that redirect visitors to specific pages.

When testing a homepage, QA engineers focus on the logo, top navigation for logged and unlogged users, and go through the keyword search. The task of a QA team is to review the page layout, content visibility, and features. The latter include banners, newsletter subscriptions, social media links in the site footer, etc. Here are some sample test cases for e-commerce website:

• Page loading speed is acceptable.
• It takes the expected time for a user to log in with the correct credentials.
• Color coding and fonts of the homepage are standard.
• Controls work in different browsers.
• The carousel autoscrolls and the scrolling interval.
• A click on a CTA button/banner leads a user to the intended page.
• The links take a user to the right pages.
• Sign Up button, Log In button, and shopping cart are easy to locate.

So basically, homepage test cases encompass a bit of logging, navigation, and UI test cases we are covering in more detail further in the text.

Registration and Login Test Cases

QA engineers validate registration and logging data during smoke testing. If something doesn’t work at this stage, QA engineers won’t be able to check other features. A product released hastily without smoke testing risks ending up being inaccessible for users. Testing the basic scenarios helps keep a platform properly functioning and ensures simple navigation at the initial stages. Below, you can see some positive and negative test cases for an e-commerce site.

Positive Test Cases

• A user clicks on the Register button – a registration form opens.
• A user enters registration details in the correct format – registration is successful.
• A user enters the correct credentials – they log into the account.
• A logged user clicks on Sign Out – the system logs a user off.
• A user clicks on Forgot Password – a password change form pops up.
• A user signs in with a new password entered – the system logs a user in.
• A user checks Remember Me in the checkbox – the system keeps them logged in for the next visit.
• A user can log in by pressing Enter after typing in the credentials.
• After entering a username, a person can switch to the password field with Tab.
• A user logs in with the same credentials in different browsers – login successful.

Negative Test Cases

• A user tries to register with invalid credentials. Such cases should consider:

• A user tries to register with invalid credentials. Such cases should consider:
• Quantity of symbols allowed.
• Specific password requirements.
• Email format.
• Phone number format.

• A user enters incorrect credentials – can’t log in. The options that fall under this case:

• Incorrect login + incorrect password.
• Correct login + incorrect password.
• Incorrect login + correct password.
• One of the fields or both are empty.

• The account with the given username is not registered in the system – can’t log in.
• A user is not logged in – only features and areas for non-logged users are available.
• A user signs in with an old password entered after password change – can’t log in.
• A user signs in with a new password before passing verification via email – can’t log in.
• A user signs in with an unverified email address – can’t log in.
• A user signs in with a blocked email address – can’t log in.
• A user presses the Back button after logging out – remains logged out.

Navigation Test Cases

Website navigation in e-commerce websites is usually quite complex. There are at least three essential components QA engineers need to pay attention to during testing:

• Search feature.
• Filters & sorting.
• Breadcrumbs.

Search

Users demand convenience in online shopping. Therefore, the search algorithms had to evolve, becoming more sophisticated and more precise. As a user, you expect search results to be relevant. So QA engineers focus on the relevance when they test a search bar. Here are some examples of the cases:

• Check the search using a product name, brand name, or category name.
• Depending on the requirements, only direct matches or related products are displayed.
• Product image, name, and price are displayed in the search results.
• Results from all categories and subcategories are displayed if else is not specified.
• If a user specifies a category for search, only the results from a corresponding category are displayed.
• The most relevant products appear at the top of the list.
• Every page features different items. The items don’t repeat.
• If an item belongs to several categories, it appears on the list of search results only once.
• If a user enters an item name with a typo, a system displays a suggestion.

Filtering and Sorting

These are two slightly different but closely related features that greatly enhance an e-commerce website experience. The bigger the selection of items is, the more significant search filters are, especially for mobile versions. Annoyed by the endless scrolling, users prefer to abandon a website rather than view a list of irrelevant suggestions.

The filtering feature enables users to navigate the categories, pass to sub-options, and have the exact results displayed in front of their eyes. Meanwhile, sorting allows users to organize items in the preferred order, based on a product name, brand, pricing, etc. To ensure a seamless experience, QA engineers need to pay attention to the following:

• When a user applies a new filter, it doesn’t turn off a previous filter.
• The number of filters a user can apply is not limited.
• There is an immediate and obvious confirmation that filters have been applied.
• There is an overview of all applied filters at the top of the list.
• Users have a quick way to remove the chosen options.
• After a user applies the sorting feature, all items appear in the specified order.

Breadcrumbs

According to the Baymard Institute, 20% of desktop and 65% of mobile websites don’t have breadcrumbs. And that’s not a positive trend. Breadcrumbs help shoppers understand where they are on a website and provide access to different hierarchy layers. Therefore, users are more likely to check out other pages and find more items to order. So if there is nothing to check, a QA team should advise on the improvements, ensuring the following:

• Breadcrumbs reflect the complete user journey.
• Each item of the hierarchy is separated from the rest.
• All items are clickable.
• The breadcrumbs are linked to the correct page.

Shopping Cart Test Cases

B Shopping cart is one of the strategic areas that are critical to cover during testing. If website visitors cannot add items to the cart, they have no reasons to stay. Therefore, testing cases should feature all kinds of operations with a chosen item. In other words, shopping cart functionality has to process calculations that are quite complex sometimes. Promotions have the set time frames, coupons, vouchers, and discount codes come with some specific conditions, and it all should fit in the cart logic.

Positive Test Cases

• Website users can easily add/remove products to/from a shopping cart.
• Users can add the same product multiple times and change their quantity in the cart directly.
• It is possible to add the same products in different variations – color, size, etc.
• Users can add products from different categories to the cart.
• Items in the cart are displayed with correct names, images, and prices.
• The items are clickable, and the links lead to corresponding product pages.
• An order price updates when a user adds/removes a new item to/from the cart.
• Price alterations, like vouchers, discounts, special offers, etc. are automatically accounted into the total price.
• Custom and one-time codes work correctly and are applied within the set timelines.
• Shipping charges are included in the total price but displayed separately along with the other parameters.

Negative Test Cases

• If an item is out of stock, a user cannot add it to the cart.
• A user cannot add identical items if they become unavailable (out of stock) during shopping.
• When a user removes all items from the cart, nothing is displayed and the total price equals zero.
• When a user closes a tab with a shopping cart, the items should remain in the cart.

Checkout Flow Test Cases

This part of the shopping flow can be tricky due to the variety of payment systems existing nowadays. The task of QA engineers is to make sure the merchant enables the use of various options: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc. Meanwhile, the site should also automatically calculate the total cost by applying specific charges a chosen payment method implies (if any).

• There is a prompt to log in or register before completing the purchase.
• Customers can check out and pay as guest users without registration.
• Returning logged-in users can use pre-saved shipping and billing information.
• All types of supported payment methods work correctly.
• If a certain payment method comes with extra charges, the prices are correct.
• Sensitive information, including payment details, isn’t stored after the payment.
• An order confirmation page appears after a successful checkout.
• A user receives an order confirmation message via an email or text message.
• Order status is available in the account for registered users.
• After completing the payment, a user is able to continue navigating through the site.

User Account Test Cases

Users may need to update their personal information for different reasons. It can be the expiration of a payment card, change of the shipping address, a mistake made during registration, etc. You can see several examples of test cases below:

• A logged user can access the My Account area and related settings.
• A user can update and edit their account information, including contacts, shipping address, password, etc.
• A user can view and/or manage order status in the My Orders area.
• Users can view and repeat their previous orders.
• A user can log out using the corresponding button.

UI Test Cases

UI testing often goes hand in hand with UX, but we’ll discuss them separately. So, UI test cases cover all the graphical elements that let users interact with the coded features. Some of the UI items you can find on different websites are:

• buttons;
• links;
• checkboxes;
• radio buttons;
• dropdown lists;
• toggles;
• text fields;
• date pickers;
• search fields;
• tags;
• sliders;
• pagination;
• tooltips;
• accordions;
• input fields, etc.

In addition to the functionality of UI elements, it is essential to check layout, icons, and images for visual consistency. Output elements, such as notifications, alerts, badges, pop-up windows, etc. fall under this category, too. As for the sample test cases, here are some you should keep in mind:

• A user can enter their credentials in the signing and logging forms.
• Users can type texts in the text fields, such as comments, reviews, etc.
• All buttons are clickable and perform the programmed actions.
• Breadcrumbs, tags, and other navigational elements are clickable and linked to the correct pages.
• Toggles change their position after a click/slide, and each position is visually distinctive.
• The performance and design of UI elements don’t vary depending on a user’s device.

This list is long and varies a lot depending on the requirements and pages. For example, there may be a set number of checkboxes a user is allowed to check. Thus, make sure to study requirements closely before writing test cases.

UX Test Cases

Recently, companies and online business owners try to focus more on usability and user experience. Although visual design plays its part in a brand image, it is significant to make sure that an e-commerce website is intuitive and convenient to use. The following test cases help with this task:

• Sorting functionality considers all the key parameters.
• If search results go beyond one page, it is easy to navigate between the pages.
• The font color and size make information easy to read.
• Product descriptions are relevant and free of mistakes.
• All category pages feature relevant products.
• A user has a good overview of the page, without pop-up elements covering much information.
• The design is consistent across different devices and screens, as well as the branding in general.

These are only some of the core UX test cases. This type of testing requires thorough user research and sometimes business analysis for efficiency improvements.

Performance Test Cases

Last but not least, it is essential to test website performance. This aspect becomes crucial during the holiday shopping season and big marketing campaigns. Still, it is not something to neglect on regular days under average load either. For this, a QA team should check, in particular:

• Page loading speed.
• Traffic load tolerance for different conditions.
• Uptime.
• Throughput.
• Error messages.

The cases for performance testing are highly individual. The configurations and results always depend on the expected average number of users and business goals in general.

Test Cases for E-Commerce Application

Test cases for e-commerce mobile applications aren’t fundamentally different from test cases for an e-commerce website. Therefore, the majority of cases will work for both channels. Just remember to check them against the app requirements before using those cases. One of the aspects that will differ considerably is app performance. It will require adding some additional scenarios to the test suite. Here are several examples:

• An application should be available at different battery conditions, including charging.
• The application should work seamlessly when a user switches between Wi-Fi and mobile data.
• A user should be able to log in from different devices simultaneously.
• The information from different devices should synchronize momentarily.
• When a user switches to a banking app to confirm a purchase, an e-commerce app should continue running in the background without resetting the last actions.
• A user should be able to log in when making a call via any messenger in the background.
• The application should not cause device heating or battery draining.

To Sum Up

There are some features an e-commerce platform owner can evaluate without involving QA services. However, only professional third-party expertise helps to make sure your business is functioning at its full potential. Hopefully, this article will help QA teams to create more efficient test cases. And if you are an e-commerce platform owner looking for essential ways to test your website and/or app, feel free to contact us and discuss the details.