How to do a Test Order on Shopify
Testing, testing, and more testing! It’s really the process to know if “something” is actually working. From time to time we get asked the questions of: “why is my post-purchase email not working?”, “Why are my changes not reflected?”, and “Why are my orders not showing?”
And our response? “Have you tested the flow?”.
The simple truth is if you don’t test you cannot capture problematic flows, bugs, and anything else besides.
What Industry Experts Have to Say About E-commerce Testing
VWO
“eCommerce testing can be defined as the process of testing various eCommerce website elements such as design, specifications, functionalities, pages, and features to check their sanity and ensure they’re not harming the performance of the site in any manner possible."
When done correctly and continuously, testing can not only improve your site visitors’ overall experience but significantly increase conversions as well. Mentioned below are some reasons explaining the importance of testing and optimizations”
- Source: VWO
Cloudways
"Ecommerce testing is simply the process of testing your ecommerce website and associated web apps. It can assist in identifying errors and problems and allow you to offer a smooth experience to your clients. The primary objective is to identify bugs and fix them to ensure quality and reliability."
- Source: Cloudways
What are The Different Types of eCommerce Testing
As with everything else in life, it’s not just “do one thing” and succeed, it’s usually a cluster of multiple that defines success. Below is a list of different types of eCommerce testing:
- Browser compatibility
- UI - User Interface
- UX - User eXperience
- Page content (Grammtical)
- Availability - what happens if Shopify goes down
- Transactions (Orders)
- Shipping
- Complaint handling
- Page speed/Performance
- Login & Logout flow
- Language translators/currencies
- On & Off page SEO
- Response times to general queries
Why Test a Transaction on Shopify
Really? We shouldn't need to answer this, but since you’re here!
- Would you expect to buy a car that was manufactured and sold without crash testing, and electrical testing?
- Would you dropship a product without testing the product first?
- How would you know that a post-purchase email was sent?!
- How would know that orders are appearing on the dashboard?!
- Why would you not want to know the exact flow your customers are going to take?!
The point here is that you cannot scale or understand problems without testing, and most certainly not without testing transaction flows.
We really have to stress that you must test every flow, every product, and every page.
One mistake is fine, two is suspect, but three, and it’s almost game-over for your store.
Below you’ll find steps on how to set up test payments, and actually how to do a test payment on Shopify.
How to Set up Test Payments on Shopify
Step 1: Login
Navigate to your admin login page and log in.
Step 2: Settings
Navigate to the left side panel, scroll to the settings button and click
Step 3: Payments
Locate and click the payments button
Step 4: Payment Management
Here you'll be presented with one of the following images depending on what has been previously set, but either way you'll want to click the manage button.
Step 5: Enable Test Mode
Scroll or swipe to find the "enable test mode" and click save
Step 6: Enable The Test Provider
Once you've saved from the previous step, click the "test payment provider" link in the notfication box.
Step 7: Save the test provider
On this page you'll see one or more test providers, typically a default is set, if not select "bogus" and click save.
It's worth pointing out on this page you'll also find details on what should be entered when placing a dummy order.
You're now good to go to place a test order - read on to learn how to place a test order.
How to do a Test Order on Shopify
Step 1: Orders
Locate and click the orders button
Step 2: Create Order
On the orders page, locate and click the create order button
Step 3: Add a Product
Here you'll need to add a product to the test order - find one and add it.
Step 4: Add a Customer
Here you'll need to add a customer to the test order - find one and add it.
Step 5: Collect Payment
Locate and click the collect payment button, you may be presented with one or more options, but here you'll want to click "enter credit card"
Step 6: Enter Card Details
Depending on the credit card types, you'll want to enter bogus details (see: how to setup payments - step 7)
- Card Number: "1"
- Name on card: "some random name"
- Expires: "Date in the future"
- CVV (Security code): "111"
Submit the details!
Step 7: Order Confirmation
A notifaction will appear confirming the order!
Step 8: Orders Page
Now go back to the orders page and confirm you can see the order on the page!
It's key to point out you can test various states of an order, from failed transaction, to success. Be sure to test all elements to ensure you're happy with the flow.
The Takeaway
Don't be the retailer that places zero effort on testing. Get to grips with every aspect of your business, understanding what can and will go wrong will only help to resolve the issue in the future.
Test, test, and more testing!
To summarize we've briefly covered:
- What Industry Experts Have to Say About E-commerce Testing
- What are The Different Types of eCommerce Testing
- Why Test a Transaction on Shopify
- How to Set up Test Payments on Shopify
- How to do a Test Order on Shopify
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Additional Shopify Resources
With Shopify being one of the largest eCommerce platforms on the market means you’ll never be short of resources to learn how to build a profitable eCommerce business.
Kanteneo aims to be the best Shopify blog on the market, but you may require additional resources to help you on that journey. Below we’ve listed a top-selling Shopify book by Veronica Jeans to help you learn how to launch a profitable business.
