Placing Test Orders Before You Open

Why test before you open

A store can look finished and still fail when someone tries to buy. A tax setting might add the wrong amount, a confirmation email might never arrive, or a payment may stop at the last step. Test orders let you find these faults yourself. They are quick, cheap and one of the most useful tasks in the whole launch process.

Two kinds of test

Test mode. Many payment services offer a sandbox or test mode in which no real money moves. They typically provide special test details to use in place of real card information. Use only what your provider documents for this purpose, and never enter someone else’s real card details. Because the process differs between providers, follow their instructions.

Small live purchases. Test mode does not always reveal everything. Once you turn on live payments, consider placing a real order for a low-priced item with your own card and then refunding it. Be aware that some providers may keep certain processing fees even on refunded payments, so check their terms. The point is to confirm that real money flows to the account you expect.

Doing both gives you the most complete picture.

Prepare first

Create a few test products, or use real ones, covering the main cases: a simple item, one with options, one that is out of stock and, if you sell them, one that is digital.
Set up discount codes you plan to offer, so you can try them.
Use an email address you can check, and consider a second address to see how a new customer account behaves.
Decide in advance what you will record, such as order totals, times and any problems.

Test the buying journey

Go through the store as a shopper would, not as an administrator.

Find the product. Use the menu and the search box. Confirm that the item can be found easily.
Choose options. Select each variation and check that photos, prices and stock change correctly. Our guide to product variants explains why these settings can be fiddly.
Add to cart. Change quantities, remove an item and add it again. Make sure the cart totals update correctly.
Apply a discount. Try valid and invalid codes and confirm the result is clear.
Go to checkout. Check the required fields, the address form and any autofill behavior. If you offer guest checkout, try it and then repeat with an account.
Check shipping choices. Enter different addresses, including one outside your main region, and see whether the rates and delivery estimates match what you set.
Check tax. Compare the tax shown with what you expect for that location. If you are unsure of the rules, see the general overview of sales tax and confirm with a qualified professional.
Pay. Complete the payment and watch what happens on the confirmation page.

Test failure cases too

Real customers make mistakes, and payments sometimes fail. Try:

A declined payment, using the test details your provider supplies for this case. The page should explain what happened clearly. Understanding payment declines helps you judge whether the message is helpful.
Leaving a required field blank.
Entering an address the system cannot validate.
Going back and forward in the browser during checkout.
Ordering more than you have in stock.

Check what happens after the order

Open the admin area and review the order as you would for a real one.

Does it show the right items, prices, shipping, tax and customer details?
Has the stock level dropped by the right amount?
Did the confirmation email arrive, and does it look right on a phone? Check your spam folder too, and see the advice on email deliverability if messages do not arrive reliably.
Is the wording friendly and the contact information correct?
Mark the order as shipped and confirm that the shipping email and any tracking link work.
If you plan to print labels or packing slips, produce one and read it carefully.

Test the refund

Many sellers forget this step. Refund a test order fully and then partially, and check:

The order status changes correctly.
The customer receives the refund email.
Stock is returned or not, according to your settings.
The money appears back with the customer when using a live test.

Following the same steps you would use for return processing shows whether your team, even if that is only you, knows what to do.

Test on different devices

Repeat the core journey on a phone and a computer, and if possible in more than one browser. Small screens often reveal buttons that are hard to tap or forms that are awkward to fill in. Our notes on mobile optimization give more things to check.

Clean up and repeat

After testing, delete or cancel test orders so they do not distort your reports, and remove any test products or discount codes you do not intend to keep. Check that live payments are on and test mode is off, since leaving test mode active means you cannot take real payments.

Repeat a short version of the test whenever you change something important, such as a payment setting, a shipping rule, a theme or an extension. A few minutes of checking is far cheaper than discovering a problem through a lost sale or an annoyed customer.