Why to Automate eCommerce Website Testing Is a Good Idea

57% of Europeans admit that they’ve started shopping online more actively than ever before. Over a third of them are people over 65s. Online grocery in the UK is expected to grow by 33%, which is a huge break compared to the last year’s 2.9%. Along with this data, eCommerce News reports that the impact will last beyond the restrictions.

It is not hard to doubt, taking into consideration the US practices. Last year, eCommerce already represented 56% of overall retail sales. The experts believe that by 2023 this number will grow from $600 billion to over $6 trillion.

Tech companies working in online retail niche are to experience massive opportunities and fierce competition. Paying enough attention to software QA, and automation testing service, in particular, is what can help to withstand current and upcoming challenges.

Types of Testing to Cover

Automation testing for eCommerce website enables a fast check of core functionalities on a variety of devices across different configurations. The diversification is essential, as more people start using mobile devices to research items and shop online.

We’ve discussed test cases for eCommerce website in an earlier blog post. Now, let’s focus on what we’d recommend to automate – API, functional, and GUI testing.

API Testing

A quick reminder: API works as a messenger that takes a user request, tells a system what they want to do, and returns the response. API testing is crucial, as it is a vulnerable interface.

The first task for QA engineers is to verify that API works. Then, they check how it integrates with other systems and performs in stress conditions. The list of important elements to check includes:

• Product information. There is an API that allows retailers to access product information, like ID, descriptions, specifications, pricing info, etc. from any global database.
• Website catalog. Another API makes managing a product catalog possible. It integrates inventory control, points of sale, and a website. This is how users and sellers see what is in stock.
• Shopping cart. A webshop has to process different kinds of discounts, promo codes, and coupons, calculate the total and generate an invoice. An API is responsible for this, too.
• Website search. Direct search is a half of success, or even less than that. Partial results, relevant suggestions, and search by reference are what make an eCommerce platform good. International sites require testing queries on different languages.

At this stage, QA specialists often find bugs that could cause problems during GUI testing, which is a more complicated and time-consuming process. Sounds like a solid reason to automate eCommerce testing 😉

Functional Testing

At this stage of eCommerce website testing, the team always checks the system against the requirements to verify it works accordingly. Functional testing covers a complete user workflow, from entering a website to proceeding through all steps and making a purchase successfully. The core elements are navigation, main page and category pages, product details, sorting feature, wishlists, pop up banners, etc. It is essential to map correct errors with meaningful explanations so users don’t get confused.

It is reasonable to automate functional testing for core features that are stable but can be modified. Automated testing is not suitable for the checkup of new features. QA specialists need to conduct manual testing first, and it becomes the basis for the future automation.

GUI Testing

The graphic interface is what a user encounters when they enter a website, and the first impressions count. QA specialists check the interface and controls, like buttons, all types of bars, forms, links, etc. Here are some of the points automation testing of e-commerce platform can verify:

• layout and all features work properly on all screens;
• input forms work, as well as auto-completion hints;
• all fields support proper format (all letters, just numbers, dates, etc.);
• images and banners are displayed correctly on different screens;
• sections on the screen are on the proper places;
• scrolling works correctly.

Automated GUI tests simulate user behavior on a website, modeling different cases and sequences a person performs with functionality.

Analytics Developers & CTOs Get from Automated Testing?

When we get functional requirements, automation QA engineers start to prepare a list of tests approved by manual QA engineers. We set up a test environment, prepare an automation framework/scripts, and provide clear feedback after every check.

The reports are generated automatically after each build. Developers and CTO can find the information on:

• list of all tests and their duration;
• a number of tests passed, failed, and pending illustrated by a pie chart;
• stories and related test cases;
• steps executed in each test case;
• screenshots of the results for each step;
• error logs for tests that failed.

Bottom Line

Both simple adjustments (like page layouts and button design) and adding new features affect website functionality and require thorough testing. Taking into account the scope of work an eCommerce site provides for the QA company and the variety of devices customers use to access a webshop, testing gets very time-consuming.

Automation is a game-changer that helps optimize the quality assurance process. Tests can be executed multiple times, reports are generated automatically, and manual QA engineers pay attention to areas that require the human approach.

Professional implementation of automation testing services maximizes website potential. If that’s what you are interested in, contact us for more information.