The article was initially published in WebMeridian blog.

The website handles everything, from sales to the processing of financial transactions. Giving clients the highest level of pleasure is crucial for the company to thrive in the competitive market. If there is even a slight error, it might be disastrous for both the business and the customer.

As a result, “Quality Assurance (QA)” is crucial for the eCommerce sector. Spending a lot of time on maintaining or increasing the quality of the services provided or the functioning of the items on sale may help the business build its brand and remain competitive for an extended time.

What Exactly Is eCommerce Quality Assurance?

Quality assurance is a technique developed to guarantee improved or higher performance, functionality, and usability of a particular system. Preventing flaws and providing clients with better items that meet their needs is the primary goal of quality assurance in this context of e-commerce.

Performance, usability, navigation, customer service, and payment systems testing may be provided for an application or website by a committed team of eCommerce QA professionals with experience in e-Commerce testing.

The QA process in eCommerce website development frequently entails the establishment of specific measurements and designs, including:

• carrying out simulations
• software function testing
• examining the code
• reviewing the design

These procedures give a specific understanding of the software’s quality and usefulness.

Why eCommerce QA Testing Is Essential

Testing, when done effectively and consistently, may significantly boost conversions while also enhancing the entire experience of site users.

Increase user engagement Testing aids in verifying a page element’s hygiene. It enables us to address problems more quickly by revealing which website element or procedure impacts a user’s on-site experience. The more people will be engaged on the site, the better the user experience.

Develop market strategies You may create efficient strategies for your website by testing and optimising it. You can engage more visitors and lengthen their stay by highlighting the sections of your website that need improvement.

Lessen risks Making extensive and significant modifications to your website can frequently result in noteworthy strategic shifts or even substantial financial losses. However, carefully planning the testing of these adjustments can help reduce the likelihood of these unknown losses.

Boost the rate of conversion Your website is being tested in practically every area, and site optimisation ensures a positive user experience. As a result, your conversion rate is certain to rise.

Improved knowledge of visitor behaviour It might be challenging to map the wants and preferences of your website users and then improve your site accordingly. However, anything is possible with testing. This method is one of the finest and quickest methods to find out what your visitors appreciate.

How We Conduct eCommerce QA Testing

• Functional analysis Do all the buttons and links go as they should?

When evaluating an e-commerce website, we look for proper operation and compliance with the specifications.

• UI/UX testing Is it obvious where to locate products or how to buy them?

We evaluate the interface components and the product’s usability.

• Performance evaluation How can large loads be avoided in crashes?

We assess the effectiveness of your solution in terms of performance (speed, resource consumption, load, etc.).

• Compatibility check Will it function identically on MAC and ASOS?

We test the website’s functionality in various settings (different devices, browsers, platforms).

• Regression analysis How can I be sure that everything is stable following an update or bug fix?

We examine your solution work to see if the most recent revisions have any detrimental effects.

• End-to-end testing Exist any problems?

We thoroughly assess the e-Commerce product to ensure that it functions properly.

• Integration testing Do programs function properly?

We verify the prerequisites needed for all e-commerce software programs to correctly and efficiently communicate with one another.

• Testing for localisation Is it cosy halfway around the globe?

We assess e-Commerce items to ensure they are appropriate for the intended market (translation, local time, currency, date format). Includes examinations in linguistics, technology, and visuals.

eCommerce QA Testing Process

Requirements analysis Before proceeding to testing itself, our team examines all the clients’ requirements in order to understand the scope of further work. We identify if the requirements are testable or not, and check that they do not contradict each other as well as understandable for implementation.

Checklist compiling In accordance with the requirements, we create the checklist of features, that should be tested. It usually consists of the number of tests done, their results and bugs that were identified. The checklist’s content may vary depending on the environment.

Functional testing At this stage, we test the logic of the features pursuant to the developed checklist. We have a responsible attitude to the testing process as detecting bugs at the testing stage costs much less than if they are found by users.

Usability testing After functional testing, we begin to test usability. We check the arrangement of elements and their conformity to layouts. If there are not any layouts, then we check the integrity and correspondence of the elements to each other. Graphic optimization and cross-browser compatibility are also tested at this stage.

Regression testing During the testing, we create a bug report, where all the bugs that we identified are described in detail. This bug report is necessary to answer the next questions:

1. what feature is not working properly?;
2. where is this feature?;
3. when the bug occurs?;
4. how should this function work?;

Full debugging After all the bugs are identified and described, we pass our report to the developers for further debugging. After each stage of debugging, we test the product again until it works properly.

What Is The Role of a Business Analyst in eCommerce Quality Assurance?

A QA business analyst is tasked with bridging the gap between an IT team and a business team as a product development team member. This expert typically:

• studies the business domain,
• assesses strengths and weaknesses,
• determines potential business value,
• describes business needs,
• takes part in acceptance testing or beta testing,
• and develops new plans and initiatives.

Business analysts leverage data-driven insights to identify requirements and/or enhance areas to boost the supply of business value. They provide the reports to the interested parties and consult with the IT team to balance the proposals that have been authorised with what is technically achievable. The process may also work in reverse: a BA specialist examines if possible concepts are practical from a budgetary standpoint, fit with other functional and UX considerations, etc.

So what exactly does a business analyst do? The following duties often fall within this professional’s job and responsibilities:

• Observe products and/or processes, talk to stakeholders and team members, use associated reports, and so on to gather information.
• Analyse corporate processes to identify possibilities, determine areas that require change, and comprehend issues and their causes.
• Find solutions that will improve the product’s potential and performance on the market based on independent analysis.
• Explain the concept to the stakeholders and explain the execution strategy.
• Discuss the proposal with the development team to determine whether it can be implemented technically.
• Analyse the workable options in light of the available resources, timelines, and other constraints.
• Verify the business requirements to ensure that they are understood by everyone engaged in the development process.

At this time, a BA specialist’s job is over. A development team is given the duty of implementation. A Business Analyst can, however, also oversee the implementation.

• Determine the actions or duties that must be taken to make the changes.
• Make the development process more uniform so that everyone in the team follows the same previously defined procedure.
• Verify the anticipated outcome. If everything goes according to plan, studying the same factors (business processes, customer happiness, etc.) following change implementation reveals favourable dynamics.

The duties of a business analyst are often governed by the procedures and practices of the organisation. In other words, before beginning the collaboration, both sides should negotiate the duties and degree of participation.

Key Takeaways

The role of an eCommerce QA and Business Analyst in the development process is crucial. One of the numerous reasons a firm can need to improve is low client satisfaction.

Therefore, quality control in the eCommerce sector guarantees a methodical approach that ensures that the products supplied to the clients fit customer expectations. Nowadays, a substantial portion of businesses has a dedicated quality assurance division that ensures carefully thought-out, practical procedures are followed to avoid errors and achieve remarkable performance in the online world.

In order to attract devoted customers who will do business with you again in the future, you need a website that is functional, appealing, and error-free.

Want to learn more about eCommerce QA testing or ask the CQL quality assurance specialists a question? We are available to assist you with all of your e-commerce and business needs. Contact us right now.