Testing process in eCommerce
In the rapidly evolving world of e-commerce, where mobile apps have become the primary gateway for consumers to shop online, ensuring the excellence of these applications is paramount.
The testing process for mobile app testing involves a systematic and structured approach to ensure the quality, functionality, performance, and security of a mobile application.
1. Requirement analysis
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Understand the project's requirements, including the app's features, functionalities, platforms, and target audience
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Define clear and specific testing objectives and success criteria
2. Test planning
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Develop a comprehensive test plan that outlines the scope, objectives, and strategy for testing
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Determine the types of testing needed (e.g., functional, non-functional, usability, security)
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Identify the devices, operating systems, and browsers to be tested on
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Allocate resources, including testers, devices, and testing tools
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Create a test schedule and prioritize testing activities
3. Test case design
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Create detailed test cases that cover all aspects of the mobile app, including functionality, UI/UX, and user workflows
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Test cases should include input data, expected outcomes, and step-by-step instructions for executing the tests
4. Test environment setup
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Prepare the test environment, including physical devices, emulators, simulators, and network configurations
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Install the app on test devices or emulators
5. Test execution
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Execute test cases as per the test plan
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Report defects or issues discovered during testing, including detailed information about the problem, steps to reproduce it, and screenshots or logs if applicable
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Regression testing: Continuously retest previously passed test cases after each app update to ensure new changes haven't introduced defects
6. Functional testing
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Verify that the app's features and functionalities work as intended
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Test various scenarios, including positive and negative test cases
7. Non-functional testing
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Conduct non-functional testing, such as performance testing, security testing, usability testing, and compatibility testing
8. User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) testing
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Evaluated the app's UI for consistency, design adherence, and user-friendliness
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Tested the app's responsiveness, layout, and user interactions
9. Performance testing
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Measure the app's performance under various conditions, including load testing, stress testing, and network conditions.
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Analyse response times, resource usage, and scalability
10. Compatibility testing
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Test the app on different devices, screen sizes, operating systems, and browsers to ensure compatibility.
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Verify that the app works consistently across a range of configurations
11. Network and connectivity testing
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Evaluate how the app performs under varying network conditions (e.g., 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi) and how it handles network interruptions and recovery.
12. Regression testing
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Continuously perform regression testing to ensure that new updates or changes haven't introduced new defects
Validating data handling in eCommerce
Data is a critical aspect in mobile app testing, and it plays a significant role in ensuring that the mobile apps function correctly and securely. Some key factors that should be considered while handling data in Ecommerce mobile app testing are below
Data types
Mobile apps often deal with various types of data, including text, images, videos, user-generated content, user profiles, settings, and more. We as testers have to verify that all data types are handled properly by the app.
Data storage & persistence
Mobile apps often store data locally on the device, including cached content, preferences, and user-generated data. Testing has been done to ensure that data is stored securely and is not lost or corrupted.
Data sources
Mobile apps may interact with different data sources, such as APIs, databases, cloud storage, and external devices. Testing was done to cover data retrieval, storage, and synchronization between these sources.
Data
transmission
Testing data transmission is essential, especially when the app communicates with remote servers or APIs. It includes verifying data integrity during transmission and handling network interruptions gracefully.
Data input validation
Extensive testing has to be done to verify that the app properly validates user inputs to prevent data entry errors.
Data Manipulation and Calculation
Verifying that the app performs accurate calculations and data manipulation, especially while processing complex data is crucial.
Validating multi-tenant implementation in database
Understand Multi-Tenancy Models
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Shared Database, Separate Schema (Schema-Based Model): Tenants share the same database but have different database schemas.
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Shared Database, Shared Schema (Shared Model): Tenants share both the database and schema, with a "Tenant ID" distinguishing data.
Test data setup
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Schema-Based Model: Prepare test data within different schemas, mimicking various tenants.
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Shared Model: Assign a specific tenant ID to each test case to ensure data isolation within the shared schema.
Testing data segregation
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Schema-Based Model: Prepare test data within different schemas, mimicking various tenants.
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Ensure Isolation: Validate that data from one tenant does not bleed into another. Test scenarios where data segregation might be compromised.
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Schema Validation: In schema-based models, confirmed that data within one schema is not accessible from another.
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Tenant ID Checks: In shared models, verified that data retrieval queries are properly filtered based on the tenant ID.
Functional testing
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Tenant-Specific Features: If certain features are specific to individual tenants, test their functionality within the context of the correct tenant.
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Cross-Tenant Functionality: Check features that involve interaction between tenants, ensuring they function correctly without data leakage.
Testing ACL for multi-tenant
Testing Access Control Lists (ACL) for a multi-tenant admin application involves ensuring that users, based on their roles and permissions, have appropriate access to resources within the context of different tenants.
Understand multi-tenancy and user roles
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Tenant context: Clearly understand the concept of multi-tenancy and how user roles and permissions are associated with specific tenants is vital.
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User roles: Identifying different user roles within the admin application (e.g., admin, user, customer) and their respective permissions.
Test environment setup
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Isolated testing: Ensure that each test case is performed within the context of a specific tenant to validate tenant-based access controls.
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Different user roles: Set up test accounts with different roles to cover the entire range of permissions.
User authentication and authorization
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Authentication: Verify that users can authenticate successfully based on their credentials.
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Authorization: Test that users are granted appropriate permissions and denied access to unauthorized resources.
Tenant specific access
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Resource isolation: Ensure that a tenant admin can only access and modify data related to their tenant.
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Cross-tenant access control: Super admins should have the capability to access and manage resources across all tenants.
Tenant specific access testing
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Resource access: Test access to resources (e.g., data, modules, functionalities) based on the user's role within a specific tenant.
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Cross-tenant checks: Ensure that users are restricted from accessing resources in tenants they do not belong to.
User role changes
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Role upgrades and downgrades: Test the behaviour when a user's role is upgraded or downgraded and ensure that access is adjusted accordingly.
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Role-based features: Check that users with specific roles can access features that are relevant to their role.
Permission inheritance
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Default permissions: Validate that users inherit default permissions based on their role within a given tenant.
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Custom permissions: Check if custom permissions (specific to a tenant) are correctly assigned and inherited.
Audit trails and logging
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Audit logs: Confirm that detailed logs are maintained, capturing user actions, role changes, and access attempts.
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Monitoring tools: Implement monitoring tools to detect and alert on unusual or unauthorized activities.
Session management
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Session security: Validate the security of user sessions, ensuring that sessions are securely managed, and unauthorized session hijacking is prevented.
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Session timeout: Test session timeout functionalities to ensure that inactive sessions are appropriately terminated.
Cross-browser and cross-platform testing
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Various environments: Test the ACL controls across different browsers and platforms to ensure consistent behaviour.
The significance of mobile app testing in e-commerce extends beyond mere functionality, it directly influences user satisfaction, brand reputation, and business success.
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By investing in thorough testing processes, e-commerce businesses can ensure that their mobile apps meet the expectations of today's mobile-centric consumers, building trust, loyalty, and sustained growth.
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