With $50 billion+ in gross transactions, more and more retailers are relying on the Magento platform because of the unconquered end-user experience that it provides. In order to maintain that quality, testing plays a crucial part. However, e-commerce testing is so different and challenging, because the very nature of online shopping is such that any “inconveniences” experienced by the customer can lead to a quick exit from the website, and into the welcoming arms of a competitor. Hence, Magento Commerce Cloud must focus on making sure that its users’ experience is positive else it is likely that they will leave and never come back. Moving on, let us take a look at the multiple challenges that incur while testing the platform-

Complex Integration Challenges

A retail ecosystem accounts for integration between various components. The integration of the increasingly complex landscape of devices, systems, services, and applications is a huge challenge for retailers. Environment and infrastructure inconsistency, different interaction models, and overall performances are issues encountered during integration testing. Integration and usability testing with the Android and iOS platforms have to take place at the rudimentary stages of the process. However, performing all of this manually can be very time-consuming and tedious.

Cross Browser Testing

Cross Browser Testing is a type of testing to check and validate if an application works across different browsers as expected. It is the process of verifying your application’s compatibility with different browsers. Users should not be restricted to use any specific browser to access your application. Thus, it becomes necessary to test your website’s compatibility with different browsers. Cross Browser Testing if done manually would take a significant amount of time to identify and document issues. Also, all of this increases the chances of risks.

Regression test cases coverage

Unlike other domains of industry, most retailers publish marketing flyers for daily or weekly merchandise promotions. Additionally, coupons and price match policies now need IT applications to be accessible on multiple retail channels.

Any delays or errors in configuring and testing the promotion systems can have an adverse impact on products and promotions. Here strong competition demands rigorous and effective regression testing.

With the expansion of software after every release, it becomes a challenge to cope up with the regression testing, verify the new changes, test the old functionality, track the bugs and log new ones.

Changing Requirements / Last Minute Changes

Changing requirements or adding new specifications mid-sprint is common in agile projects. This can cause a lot of trouble for the whole team as it means that the work already carried out might be scrapped completely or changes should be made to what’s already half done.

These requirement changes and last-minute requests can affect the scope of testing which can frustrate retailers. It becomes a challenge to handle the new changes within the stipulated time period and make sure that all the old ones are working efficiently.

Usability

Since web-based applications are dependent on different browsers, consistent usability is very important. Any inconsistency within user experience may translate into a negative experience, affecting potential sales. When testing usability, retailers face issues with scalability and interactivity. Running manual tests would result in slower test executions and ultimately it would become increasingly difficult to market the products on time.

Security

  • Security testing is a must as it helps to identify the threats in the system and measure their potential vulnerabilities. The sheer number of mobile payment solutions, POS applications, POS credit card enabled mobile apps, and wireless technology used by retailers makes the entire system highly vulnerable to security threats, if not properly configured and tested.
  • Some of the challenges associated with security testing include dealing with unsecured communications, removing malicious files and the integration of different authentication procedures.

Performance testing, security testing, and multi-load testing are some vital parameters that need to be checked. For example, during the festival or a sale day announced by a retail giant, there will be an uncontrolled rush in the number of people on the site. The retail web application won’t be able to handle the large volume and hence the web application may crash.

Aspire’s revolutionary DCqaf (Digital Commerce Quality Automation Framework)

DCqaf  is a robust automation testing framework that has been designed to combat the complex retail challenges. With powerful, best-in-class tools integrated, DCqaf framework addresses difficulties that retailers face with intelligent methodologies to push them ahead of their competitors.

  • This framework ensures that the entire testing process is rigorous and accurate to suit every operation in retail. Apart from the in-built arsenal of powerful retail test automation tools like Jenkins, TestComplete, TestLink, etc. DCqaf allows effective integration of third-party tools thereby allowing customization to the very last piece of code for the customer. It supports mobile devices, multi-thread, and multi-browser capabilities thereby reducing cross-browser testing complexities. Needless to say that this high flexibility will direct enormous processes and operational efficiency.
  • DCqaf’s architecture design supports 90% shorter regression cycles and Continuous Integration capabilities ensuring no room for error and will perfectly suit the ever-evolving retail scenarios thereby offering the teams with the flexibility to frequent functionality changes and script modifications.
  • DCqaf has been designed using best practices in test automation which offers more than 100 reusable components. It contains pre-automated workflows for e-commerce sites to help jumpstart script development in the test automation phase. This flexible solution has shown a 15% reduction in maintenance efforts and 30% improved returns on test automation for the customers.
  • DCqaf also provides automation testing support for 3rd party e-commerce tools, test management applications and also enables easier integration with cloud-based platforms for browsers and mobile devices.

ROI achieved by using DCqaf on Magento Test Automation

Conclusion

In a highly competitive environment like the retail industry, a solid testing framework is what differentiates the winners from the others. DCqaf framework’s one-for-all solution has ensured that retailers, irrespective of their size, worth or geography, can manage a fully-functional integrated testing system and thus ensures a superior customer experience.

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