How to test Checkout flow

Most businesses either sell goods or services. And online payments make a necessary component of it. No matter what kind of business you operate, you must test your checkout flow as a part of your testing strategy.

Importance of Testing Checkout Flow

The world is marching towards a consumer-driven era. People want accessibility. Users prefer shopping, making payments, etc., at the click of a button. 

However, when this does not happen, they abandon the cart and move to a competitor.

According to a survey, about 17% of the users abandon the cart if their checkout process is complicated and about 13% abandon the cart because the website had errors or crashed.

Users today want to ensure that their payment process is seamless. They expect a secure payment process. Any error made during the payment process might cause customers to abandon shopping carts or stop using the service. This is why it is extremely important to test the payment flow on different browsers, devices, and operating systems.

Also, from the business point of view, the merchants should make sure that each step of the transaction process, including its sub-components, like billing address, functions properly. This is extremely important because, in most cases, the tax is calculated based on the billing address. If these components are not displayed or rendered properly, it can cause a huge loss to the merchants as they might end up paying the tax adjustment. 

To ensure that your website is not too long or complicated, you need to optimize your checkout flow. Your checkout should contain UI components like

• Plan name/Items 
• Quantity and price of each item
• Total Price
• Account details like – Email ID, First name, Second name
• Full Billing address – Name, Address, City, State, Pincode, Country
• Full Shipping address – Name, Address, City, State, Pincode, Country
• Tax calculation
• Payment method

To shorten the flow you can use options to smart fill the form, auto-fill address, and Ship to my billing address.

Source

Checkout Flow Best Practices

Here are a few best practices one should follow while testing the checkout flow.

• Is the design simple?
• Does the checkout look and function alike on all browser versions and devices?
• Does it contain all the necessary fields such as name, contact number, email, Shipping address, billing address, card details, etc.
• Does it allow smart form filling?
• Does it allow guest checkout?
• If you target a global audience, does the checkout support multiple currency and payment gateway?
• Does it calculate tax?
• Does it abide by global tax guidelines?
• Does it support multiple languages? 
• Does it calculate shipping as soon as the user enters the shipping address?
• Is it optimized for mobile devices?

Types of Testing to Perform on Checkout Flow

• Functional Testing: Functional payment testing is necessary to guarantee that the application operates as it should while handling orders, calculations, taxes, etc. This type of testing might not be required for payment processors that are more established.
• UI Testing: UI testing ensures that the checkout form looks and behaves according to the requirements. This is necessary to ensure that the toolbars, fonts, menus, text boxes, radio buttons, checkboxes, and colors, and placed appropriately and cater to the function for which it was placed. 
• Cross Browser Testing: Cross browser testing ensures that the checkout flow works as intended when accessed from various combinations of browser and operating systems.

 BrowserStack allows you to seamlessly test your checkout flow on different browsers and versions. You can   seamlessly perform payment testing on 3000+ desktop and mobile browsers.

 BrowserStack allows you to seamlessly test your checkout flow on different browsers and versions. You can seamlessly perform payment testing on 3000+ desktop and mobile browsers.

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• Integration Testing: When interacting with a payment testing gateway, integration testing is essential. As a tester, it is your responsibility to ensure that your website, online store, or application integration with the selected payment testing is successful. You must examine the full transaction flow as a tester.
• Performance Testing: Performance payment testing of the website, online store, or application is crucial. The payment processor shouldn’t crash if numerous users try to finish transactions simultaneously.
• Security Testing: A customer must provide sensitive data during a transaction, like their credit card number, CVV number, etc. It is crucial to ensure the channel is safe and that any sensitive data is transmitted after encryption.
• Geolocation Testing: Geolocation testing helps you visualize how the checkout flow would be when accessed from a different geography. By performing geolocation testing, you can test for language change, currency change, your built-in tax calculator, etc

Perform Geolocation testing on BrowserStack

Checklist for Testing Checkout Flow

• Layout and checkout flow
• Cross browser compatibility
• Mobile browser compatibility
• Tax calculations
• Redirection to the app or website after the transaction occurs
• Successful transaction notification message
• Unsuccessful transaction notification message
• Language and currency according to the buyer’s location 
• Payment methods offered according to the buyer’s location 
• Message after the payment session concludes

It is strongly advised to run the following test cases or scenarios for payment testing:

• Various payment methods, including debit/credit cards, net banking, UPI, and digital wallets, can be used to test the integrated payment gateway. 
• Check the user interface for the message that appears after each successful transaction. 
• Before classifying a payment as “successful,” check for a return URL, notification URL, and status call to verify the transaction’s status. 
• Check whether the user received an email or message notifying them that their payment was successful. 
• Examine whether the payment gateway returns to the application or website following each successful transaction. 
• Examine each transaction’s database for entry and format.
• In the event of unsuccessful transactions, test the payment flow.
• Verify the payment flows to make sure there is encryption and fraud prevention.
• Check the gateway’s currency reflection in relation to the user’s country.

These were a few test cases; more can be added for successful payment testing.

How To Test Checkout Flow on Different Browsers?

The below tutorial explains how to test the checkout flow on different web and mobile browsers.

If you would like to know about testing in-app payments, refer:

• How to test In-App Purchases on Android Devices
• How to Test In-App Purchases on iOS Devices

Step 1: Open BrowserStack Live and log in to your account.

Step 2: Choose the browser and device combination that you want to test (Here we have selected Windows 11-Chrome 106.

Step 3: Open the website on the device

Step 4: Select the product you want to purchase 

Step 5: Click  “Checkout”

Step 6: Enter the Username and Password

Step 7: Test the flow, components, etc.

You can perform Geolocation testing by selecting Change Location

You can also change the resolution of the screen by selecting the resolution from the left menu.

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