Get ready for Black-Friday-to-Cyber-Monday shopping: 5 testing types to include in your QA strategy
In 2023, Black Friday weekend saw over 200 million Americans participating, with online sales alone reaching $9.8 billion. Online shopping is expected to grow this year, with 64% of U.S. consumers likely to shop online in 2024. This underscores the importance of preparing websites and mobile apps to manage high traffic, ensure smooth navigation, and secure transactions to capture seasonal demand.
As holiday shopping moves online, businesses providing a seamless digital experience have a prime opportunity to boost sales by focusing on convenience, variety, and efficient service.
In this article, we’ll discuss 5 testing types, that help ensure high eCommerce software quality and outperform the competition during the wildest shopping weekend.
1. Performance testing: Are you ready for a spike in shoppers?
Traffic surges are a primary reason for software issues during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. To ensure your platform is ready, load testing identifies system bottlenecks under peak loads, assessing metrics like response time, scalability, and maximum load endurance.
During holiday sales, customers frequently refresh pages, add and remove items from carts, and make quick purchase decisions. If the platform can’t keep up, crashes and slowdowns (83% of users expect a site to load in 3 seconds or less) may drive them to competitors. Stress testing pinpoints these limits, confirming the platform’s resilience under pressure and validating order-processing systems like CRM.
2. Usability testing: Glitch-free navigation and interface
A clear, intuitive design is essential for a successful holiday shopping experience. Usability testing identifies weak points in UI/UX and ensures that users can quickly find products and complete purchases without confusion. As studies show, 97% of users prioritize ease of use, even over security concerns. A seamless shopping journey can make the difference in retaining customers during high-stakes sales events.
3. Functional testing: Does the software meet business requirements?
Imagine a shopper places an order for the latest home device, but an error on the checkout page prevents completion. An awful customer experience is the only thing one receives on this day. To help the client enjoy the shopping journey, functional testing is a must-have for your business strategy. It ensures that all core features, from login to payment processing, work reliably and in line with business requirements. This includes verifying shopping cart functionality, payment options, and order tracking so customers experience an efficient, glitch-free process.
4. Cybersecurity testing: Are the payments safe enough?
During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, eCommerce platforms are at increased risk for cyberattacks, with data breaches remaining a significant threat. In 2024, the average cost of a data breach for organizations reached $4.88 million, reflecting the financial and reputational damage that can occur if platforms aren’t secure.
Cybersecurity testing ensures that sensitive customer data, including payment information, remains protected. This includes general security assessments, penetration testing to simulate potential intrusions, and verification of secure data transmission during transactions. By proactively identifying vulnerabilities, you can safeguard customer data, building trust and maintaining a secure shopping experience.
Source: Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024
5. Localization testing: Show your app to end users worldwide
During Cyber Monday and Black Friday, customers are often hesitant to engage with content they don’t fully understand or to decipher unfamiliar currencies. This makes localization testing crucial to cater to the cultural and linguistic preferences of buyers, ensuring a seamless user experience across different regions.
To capture the attention of consumers during these peak sales events, businesses should focus on tailoring their offerings to reflect the cultural nuances, values, and currencies of global shoppers. It’s vital to ensure everything functions smoothly. These are some types of localization testing that may be of help:
- Compliance checks ― to validate that the application supports the formatting standards of a particular language and correctly displays currencies, convention rates, phone numbers, addresses, dates, etc.
- GUI checks ― to verify any discrepancies between the localized content and the interface.
- Functional checks ― to detect the glitches in system operation caused by localization.
And of course, do not forget to take one step back. When introducing new functionality, verifying the previous features is imperative to avoid possible software bugs and mitigate the risks. Since the regression tests are repetitive, companies may automate them, reducing testing cycles and redirecting human resources to more valuable tasks.
The ultimate QA checklist to ensure your eCommerce platform peak performance during Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Dive into our checklist and discover how meticulous QA helps enhance 12 pivotal software areas, allowing businesses to withstand the influx of shoppers during holiday sales.
You can download the full checklist here.
Summarizing
A well-rounded QA strategy is essential for Black Friday and Cyber Monday to protect revenue, reputation, and customer trust. Performance testing ensures that high traffic doesn’t lead to lost sales due to slowdowns or crashes. Usability testing streamlines the shopping experience, encouraging purchases and reducing cart abandonment.
Functional testing prevents costly disruptions in essential features like checkout, while cybersecurity testing safeguards customer data, mitigating the risk of data breaches that could result in financial and reputational damage. Lastly, localization testing enhances global reach, adapting the platform to diverse markets and preferences.
Comprehensive testing helps eCommerce platforms avoid costly mistakes and capture maximum sales. For professional QA support, reach out to a1qa’s experts.
