Retail apps are in demand as much as online retail, and the use of apps for buying products has been increasing. With the higher trend of people using e-retail apps, retail app testing services are also gathering a more extensive user base. Retail apps are tested thoroughly by retail app testing agencies. This testing process is not easy as there are many retail app testing challenges that need to be addressed before the app is ready to be improved and launched.
A software development and testing agency that works especially in the field of retail app development will be able to help you create a retail app and test it thoroughly. Retail applications are used across different niches, and there is a need to reinvent and reimagine testing services that are particularly targeted at resolving issues lying latent in a retail app model.
Top 7 Common Challenges in Retail App Testing
Here are the Common issues in retail app testing that developers and professional testers flag and report. These issues are often resolved through a technical approach that addresses the root of the problem. For the complete resolution of such development issues, a thorough diagnosis has to be made on the application so that people can use the retail app properly after launch.
1. Device Fragmentation
⇨ Understanding Device Fragmentation
A retail shopping app will be used across multiple devices as people wish to shop from anywhere. It is possible that a person will install this app on a mobile phone as well as on a tablet. In such cases, the app has to be uniform in performance and usability across all screen aspects and systems. Applications that are not compatible with different devices often go through fragmentation, and their features and functions are affected to a great extent. Device fragmentation is a challenge that occurs when there are different screen sizes, operating systems, and device models that are compatible with each other.
This challenge of device fragmentation is a problem that can affect your app performance to a great extent. Because of device fragmentation and lag, the person will face many problems, including issues with usability. The user experience will suffer due to a lack of continuity across devices.
⇨ Overcoming Device Fragmentation
To reduce the chances of device fragmentation across different systems, the testing team has to do compatibility testing across different devices and identify the issues that need resolution.
The utilization of device farms and emulators can create a device-like environment and help reduce compatibility issues.
Regular updates for the testing suite are also an action that the retail app testing team has to undertake in order to update the testing environment and changes needed according to the new device framework and operating system. The regular updates to the testing suite help in overcoming retail app testing problems.
2. Performance Issues
⇨ Identifying Performance Issues
It is common for generic retail apps to run into performance problems over time. If an app is not tested and improved thoroughly, it can run into slow load times and glitches over time. Moreover, an app in the retail sector can even crash because of high traffic at the time of sale and on weekends if the framework is not secure and robust.
People who use digital apps frequently and shop online do not have the patience to wait for a product or a site. Users will get discouraged very soon if a retail app has frequent crashes and stops working in the middle of the sale process. Without a smooth user experience and performance, the retention rate and sales numbers will start to dwindle drastically.
⇨ Strategies to Improve Performance
A retail app testing team has to take up the process of load and performance testing to avoid the challenge of fluctuating load and traffic. Repeated stress testing and scalability testing are important to know if the app will withstand high traffic and very high stress in the run environment.
The testing and development team also has to monitor the app’s performance in real time to see if the app is performing in real conditions as it did in a simulated environment. Real-time monitoring can identify minor issues and help maintain the app’s performance over a long period of time.
The team also has to look for performance optimization techniques like reducing the HTTP requests, using strong-driven content delivery networks, and optimizing heavy images to reduce the load on the app framework. Optimized performance maintains the app’s performance over a long period of time.
3. Security Vulnerabilities
⇨ Recognizing Security Vulnerabilities
Security is a necessary part of the app framework that protects the user from any kind of untoward cyber incident and other problems. Every user will wish for a secure application on his phone so that his phone does not run into performance and other issues. Retail apps need to be highly secure because these apps have the user’s personal details and have registered financial information, which can be used to commit real-life fraud and theft. Secure payment gateways and profile access are features that every retail app should have.
Without proper attention to the security frameworks, the user could experience a number of threats. For example, users might face data breaches and unnatural activity on their applications. It is possible that malicious factors might get users unauthorized access and use their financial information against them.
⇨ Enhancing Security Measures
When testing a retail app, the testing team has to focus a large amount of resources on security testing. When conducting the security testing process, you need to ensure that the team knows the requirements needed for the process so that the security testing process can be completed smoothly. Moreover, the testing team should also practice threat modeling and use automation to do the security testing process. This increases the accuracy and speed of the security testing process.
Once the app has been tested and checked on all security aspects, it is also important to carry out regular security updates and audits across the back end and the front end to ensure that the app is secure and protected against cybersecurity issues.
Encryption of data and secure payment gateways can protect user information, increasing the level of data privacy that people have when using the retail app. The retailer software testing team has to communicate with the development team to relay the important needs of security frameworks and how multiple security layers can be deployed with MFA, encryption, and payment security.
Read More : How to Conduct Effective Performance Testing on Retail Apps?
4. Integration with Third-Party Services
⇨ Challenges in Third-Party Integration
Integration of payment gateways is a major event that is necessary for every retail app. An e-commerce testing company has to check all the payment channels present around the application that connect the user to the bank so that the user can make payments in a secure manner. The testing team needs to check for the integrity of payment gateways and other third-party integrations like shipping and tracking systems integrated into the app so that the application’s navigation and portals work smoothly.
Without comprehensive testing solutions, there could be many inconsistencies and issues that the user has to suffer. Because of API and gateway failure, the user will face a lot of issues when completing order placement. This, in turn, garners losses for the e-retail company as users are unable to complete their orders, which can lead to the abandonment of the cart and cancellation of orders.
⇨ Ensuring Seamless Integration
The team for retail software testing also has to check the API integrations, and for this, it has to use comprehensive testing solutions that include manual test scripts and automated testing tools. By opting for a comprehensive testing suite, the API integrations can be easily tested and checked before going ahead with the final round of integration tests.
Regular communication with third-party providers that have integrated with the APIs is also necessary to maintain the app and the third-party integrations from both ends.
The testing team should create and use mock test environments that are specifically made to test out the services integrated into the application. Mock test environments simulate real-world use of applications and flag issues that might arise later. This ensures that the testing process happens smoothly and with the best results.
5. User Experience and Interface Testing
⇨ Importance of UX/UI Testing
User experience is the strongest pillar of retail business success, and every e-commerce app development company has to emphasize it. Users interact with the retail app, and the experience they have determines their ease of shopping and the inflow of revenue for the app company. Retail app testing services have to focus on usability testing and other usability parameters to ensure that the retail app is quickly accepted and used by a wide audience, creating the opportunity for revenue generation for the company.
While conducting retailer software testing, the team has to look for log-in portal problems, navigation issues, inconsistencies in search and filters, as well as issues with product description display so that even the most minor user experience issues are flagged and resolved before it is launched among the real users. User group testing is important to gather feedback from the beta group before launching the app fully fledged.
⇨ Improving UX/UI
Conducting usability testing with real users saves a lot of trouble in the later phases of deployment because the testing team takes user feedback into consideration and improves upon the UX and UI layout to make it more user-friendly and smooth in operations. Usability testing needs to be aligned with real users to properly target the audience.
It is also important to keep strong feedback channels in place and implement the feedback loop across both ends so that usability testing goes on smoothly with tangible results and the app company also has the opportunity to do some early bird promotions.
The app development and testing company also has to understand that it is targeting a wide audience, so the accessibility of the application is of utmost importance. The complaints and feedback of early users can be refined to create a portal that is highly accessible to all the users who might use an e-commerce app for daily shopping.
6. Frequent Updates and Version Control
⇨ Managing Frequent Updates
In this fast-paced world, it is difficult to keep track of different versions of an app as time goes on. The audience demands something new with each release, and frequent updates can create a hectic workflow and create many other complexities for the testing team. The e-commerce app testing company has to meet the challenge of maintaining the app quality across multiple version systems and over an extended timeline.
Version control is an important aspect of creating and maintaining an app as the testing team has to maintain the original code base and manage all the versions with changes that happen with frequent updates and variations in the code base and layout. For every improvement and change that has to happen on the front end, the app architecture also changes; keeping track of these changes and integrating them into the larger code base is difficult for retailer software testing teams.
For example, the testing team might be experiencing a major merge conflict after an update happens across the application. The testing team might also experience an issue in version control with the environment. When the testing environment is not of high integrity, and the testing team has different versions at hand, there could be inconsistencies and issues arising with the coincidence and continuity of results.
⇨ Effective Version Control Strategies
Version control systems are tools that can help in managing different versions of an app, and this can help the team keep track of the application versions through the runtime environment and maintain the versions of the app so that there are no inconsistencies in the tests that are conducted across the app code base.
The version control system that is most used by professional software testers is Git. Git is a version control system that has speed, flexibility, and adaptability in terms of the code base management done on its platform. It is a distributed platform of code base and version control that developers and testers can also use remotely. Another example of an effective version control system is Subversion, which has a centralized control system for the app codebase.
It is difficult to keep track of all the new updates and changes across the app codebase. To keep track of it, testers are increasingly using automated testing tools and environments that are ready to automate and accelerate testing processes with well-maintained logs.
Regression testing is also a process that testers need to conduct to ensure that after frequent updates and changes being integrated into the app, the application still functions like a smooth portal for retail processes. Regression testing ensures that the new and old functionalities are intact and work smoothly for an app portal.
Read More : API Testing in Insurance Software: Integration with Third Parties
7. Handling High Traffic and Seasonal Peaks
⇨ Preparing for Traffic Spikes
When you are creating or testing a retail app, keep in mind that you need to prepare the application for sudden fluctuations in-app user traffic. There could be a steep increase in the traffic that the retail app gets during times of sale and discounts. The app has to maintain its performance during such a crucial time because only high traffic can convert into high revenue and profits.
If an app is not tested properly and the process is not complete with improvements in performance, then it will show performance inconsistencies, and the user will become frustrated with the app. The retail app might slow down or crash in extreme conditions when the traffic is very high. When the app is not scalable and does not have a robust back-end architecture, the impact also shows up on the front-end layout.
The front-end layout and the back-end might not function seamlessly because of increased load or internet fluctuations, which can reduce the trust that users have in the app. Because there are many e-retail apps used by people, low performance and inconsistencies can translate into the migration of users from one app to another.
It is important to develop and test a retail app that has high integrity and can maintain its performance even during the peak of sales and seasonal trends. The retail development team has to note the seasonal peaks, traffic trends, and user activity trends to create an app that can maintain high performance even during seasonal peaks. Moreover, the testing team and monitoring experts should monitor the performance during seasonal peaks for quick and timely troubleshooting.
⇨ Strategies to Manage High Traffic
To manage the fluctuations that might happen across the application because of seasonal peaks and user activity, the testing team has to take care of the scalability factor. The testing team has to check the scalability and improve on the scalable features to ensure that the app performance is well maintained.
The retail application has to be optimized across its server end to balance its load and the traffic that enters the platform for sale and purchase. Server optimization and management with the help of a dedicated team is also required for large-scale retail applications.
The app company has to create a contingency plan that can be executed during peak times and seasonal sales so that the users can use the app without any issues or complaints. Contingency plans have to be detailed and involve the application development as well as a testing team.
The simplest way to overcome retail app testing problems is to keep a professional and specialized retail testing team on standby. It is important to update the testing and development capabilities as well as the tools used to avoid retail testing and performance issues that might arise frequently.
Retail App Testing Simplified: Tackle Challenges Today!
From device fragmentation in retail apps to difficulties in controlling different versions of the application, there are so many issues that a retail app testing team might face when ensuring its quality. For testing and quality assurance of the application, you need to hire an e-commerce testing company that has all the tools and techniques for testing and improvements of retail applications for the e-commerce sector and audience.
