It may come as a shock to hear that many major online stores have poor user experience (UX) performance. Indeed even brands like Amazon and Microsoft score badly in certain parts of the UX department, as indicated by this broad study by Baymard on website UX performance.

A smooth customer experience is crucial for online store owners to ensure that customers arriving end up purchasing, and not just abandoning their cart. Baymard, in the study above, found that the major cause of customers not completing purchases is a poor checkout flow. So it should make sense then that store owners should be testing their checkout process, running test purchases, and ensuring the listed payment options work.

In this post, we’ll learn all about how to test the checkout process on your Shopify store. We’ll see how Shopify processes payments, understand the importance of testing to ensure optimal functionality and take a detailed look at how to test orders in Shopify.

How are Shopify Checkout Payments Processed?

Shopify has several integrated payment gateways that it uses to process payments. In your store's payment settings, you can choose from the major ones (Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, etc.) or use Shopify Payments which handles the processing for you. When a customer makes a purchase, the money goes through the payment gateway and is deposited into your bank account. 

In general, there is no payment gateway on Shopify in which the money flows directly from the customer's credit card or bank account into yours. It will go via an intermediary first, and the delay after which you receive the money will differ between third-party payment providers.

Shopify Payments requires no additional setup – all you need to do is authorize the payment and it will be deposited into your bank account. On the other hand, if you are using a third-party gateway such as Stripe or PayPal, then additional setup from those services is required to begin processing payments.

Why Is Testing Important?

Testing your checkout process is a vital part of running any ecommerce business. Importantly, you want to ensure that the payment gateway is working properly – there’s nothing worse than a failed transaction!

Another consideration is ensuring that the customer experience during checkout is as smooth and frictionless as possible. This includes making sure that all the payment fields are working properly, that customers can select their preferred payment method, and that there are no errors or issues during checkout or with order processing. A failed or faulty checkout process may well deter a customer from ever returning – a waste of valuable marketing spend on acquiring that customer!

When running a test purchase you should think about customer service too. How long does it take for the customer to receive the order confirmation? Are they getting a tracking number notification? Running a test order will help you discover any issues with taxes, ensure inventory is being managed correctly, and show you the post-purchase email flow from the customer's perspective.

How to Test Orders in Shopify

Testing orders in Shopify is relatively straightforward. In this section, we'll look at using real transactions, the Shopify Bogus Gateway, Test Mode for Shopify Payments, as well as the offline payments test.

Real Transaction

The most accurate way to place test orders is by using real transactions. Place a genuine order using your credit card details or a third-party credit card provider. This will give you an idea of the customer experience and transaction fees, and allow you to check whether everything from the discount code to the payment gateway is working as expected. 

Testing Shopify using a real payment is the most accurate way to identify any issues with the checkout process, as it allows you to simulate a customer experience and get real feedback on how well the payments are processed. Here are some of the pros and cons of testing Shopify using real transactions: 

Pros:

• Gives you an accurate view of the customer experience.
• Allows you to test the different real payment methods (credit card, PayPal, Shopify Payments, Stripe, Apple Pay, Klarna, etc).
• Helps you test discount codes and additional features. 

Cons:

• Costly for multiple tests due to transaction fees.
• Difficult to undo orders once placed, which may cause inventory and accounting complexity.
• Must use real credit card details or a real payment provider to place the order.

Shopify Bogus Gateway

Shopify Bogus Gateway is a free testing tool offered by Shopify that allows merchants to test orders without using real credit card numbers. It's great for running multiple tests or debugging issues with the checkout process, as it avoids expensive transaction fees and doesn’t require you to use genuine credit cards.

To enable Shopify Bogus Gateway:

1. Go to Settings > Payment providers in your Shopify Admin.
2. Click the Choose another provider button in the Payment providers section.
3. Select the '(for testing) Bogus Gateway' option from the dropdown.

This will enable you to test orders using fake credit card numbers without actually charging anything or needing genuine credit card details.

Pros:

• No need to use real credit card details.
• No transaction fees are incurred.
• Easy to deactivate and reactivate when needed. 

Cons:

• Not as accurate as testing with a real payment provider. 

Shopify Payments Test Mode

Shopify Payments is the built-in payment solution offered by Shopify. Test mode in Shopify Payments allows you to test transactions without using actual credit card numbers or processing real payments. This is a great way to test the checkout process and make sure everything is working correctly before you start taking real payments.

To enable test mode:

1. Go to Settings > Payment providers.
2. From the Shopify Payments section, click Manage. 
3. Under Accept credit cards, select Test mode.

This will allow you to use test credit card numbers to place orders. You can also set up a sandbox account for Shopify Payments to simulate the customer experience and refunds.

Pros:

• No need to use real credit card details. 
• No transaction fees are incurred.
• Easy to deactivate when needed. 

Cons:

• Not as accurate as testing with a real payment provider. 

Offline Payment Test

If you are using an offline payment method such as cash-on-delivery, bank transfer, or cheque, you can test the checkout process without using real credit card numbers. For example, you can create a dummy order with a note specifying “Offline Payment Test” in the comments section. 

This way you can test the checkout process without actually charging or processing a real payment. This allows merchants to identify any issues with the checkout process, such as whether it is easy to find the payment instructions or other related information.

Pros:

• No need to use real credit card details. 
• No transaction fees are incurred.
• Easy to deactivate when needed. 

Cons:

• Not as accurate as testing with a real payment provider, as you won't be able to test features such as expiry dates or other payment methods. 

Testing discount codes

Testing discount codes on Shopify can be an effective way to optimize your checkout process.

To test discount codes on Shopify, you can use a combination of the methods outlined above. You can test discount codes with Bogus Gateway or Test Mode in Shopify Payments, or manually create dummy orders with notes specifying “Discount Code Test” in the comments section. This will allow you to identify any issues before taking real orders, and ensure that your checkout process is working correctly.

Streamline Your Shopify Checkout With Conversion Bear

Testing the checkout process of a Shopify online store is essential to ensure customers have an effective and streamlined experience. Shopify Bogus Gateway, Shopify Payments Test Mode, offline payment tests, and even real transaction tests are all viable options that can be used when testing the checkout process on a Shopify ecommerce store.

Conversion Bear is a Shopify app designed to help you maximize conversions during every stage of the customer's journey. It can help you offer cross-sells and upsells just as the customer is about to reach their cart. It'll also help you to re-convert a customer once their purchase has been completed (assuming you've tested your checkout process using one of the methods discussed above!). Learn more about Conversion Bear.

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