Best practices in eCommerce testing for higher conversions

If your online store typically works in natural conditions, this does not mean that everything will be just as good during the sales period, when the number of users will increase several times. The site often starts to slow down due to overload, which brings inconvenience to users. There is an opinion that increasing the download speed by 2 seconds during the holidays can increase the number of orders by 60%. In testing eCommerce, a specialist must take into account the performance of the site and how it can compete with other resources. It is the primary key to the success of any business.

Functional testing

Before you start testing, you need to decide on the main regression functions. It is a list of tasks your site must perform to sell products to users successfully.

It is worth using both manual methods and physical testing devices during testing. It will allow you to assess how comfortable the average user is using your interface and conduct a deep study of the program code to identify more complex problems that affect performance and functionality.

Main page

The home page is the calling card of your site. Many compare it to a shop window, where a person can understand what products your company sells, what conditions we provide, and much more. It is good practice if the client can find a suitable product in 3 clicks.

To test the functions, you need to see how many seconds it takes to load the site and whether all links work. So, you need to manually check whether absolutely all links work, whether pictures open, and all possible transitions. These are the elementary mistakes that any site can encounter, which primarily affect the company’s credibility.

Category pages

If you set up Seo correctly, when searching for the necessary products on the Internet, the users will land on the category page, not on the main page. It helps them quickly choose the product that interests them.

This page must contain information about the product:

• The product’s name;
• The photo;
• Price;
• Manufacturer;
• Availability;
• Color and size options.

In testing eCommerce you should not overload this list with data too much, but people should immediately understand how much this meets their requirements.

Such elements are sure to be on every high-quality site; users have long begun to associate them with a high-quality site that operates on a legal basis, without deceit and fraud. If you do not have some elements, then subconsciously, this will raise questions from the user.

Product detail pages

Many site owners turn a blind eye to filling out the product details page correctly. It is especially true for online stores, where goods are not hundreds but thousands of items.

However, a good product details page should include the following elements:

• Name and code of the product;
• Several images of goods from different angles;
• Display related or similar products;
• Changing the request level;
• Adding to the shopping cart;
• Full review of the product, including text and video content;
• Customer reviews and more.

The more information a customer has about a product, the better. It is vital that this is not just a laudatory ode on your part but also that the description text should reflect actual characteristics. So, for example, if you sell refrigerators, this should contain the product’s name, manufacturer, volume, power consumption class, dimensions, installation method, and much more.

If you tidy up your product cards, you will notice how much better your static and dynamic score will improve for individual product categories.

Shopping cart

It is one of the essential functions because often, the clients add several products to the shopping cart and then refuse the idea of ​​​​cooperating with an online store because they cannot figure out how it works. Here you need to check how many items can be added to the cart, whether things disappear with a nonlinear shopping style, how easy it is to proceed to checkout for goods, and much more. It is essential that this function is as simple and understandable as possible and does not require any special efforts from the buyer.

Checkout and payments

Those aspects of work that are related to money require more thorough testing. It would be best to ensure that all the payment options work correctly and are completely safe.

You also need to make sure that the email communication with the client confirms the order is working correctly, and if necessary, the client could quickly get the money back.

When testing, it is imperative to check how the system will behave if subjected to a hacker attack.

Order confirmation and post-purchase processes

After the person completes the order on the site, he is waiting for confirmation from the store. So, you should check how long it takes to process the order and how the verification takes place (call, SMS, or email).

Once an order has been confirmed, all post-purchase processes (stock sourcing, shipment, and transport) must occur as quickly as possible. There will be no problems if you have a well-established communication system between the site and the warehouse. Another essential element of testing is understanding how these two elements can interact.