You don’t have to look at the empty mall parking lots dotting the suburbs to know that mobile shopping is where retail customers are–in fact, 70% of consumers reach for their mobile device to shop for clothes, furniture, food, home supplies, and anything in between.
Retailers and shoppers alike prefer mobile apps because the user experience can be more personalized and engaging. This helps customers get great discounts and discover new products they love, while also helping retailers drive larger cart sizes and greater lifetime customer value (we particularly love the Starbucks app, which lets you earn Stars with every purchase that translates into free drinks). With Gen Z and Millennials now making up the most significant customer segments, and 91% of this audience saying that they frequently make purchases with their phones, it’s no wonder that these digital natives are expected to help ecommerce revenue grow by 39% by 2027.
But retailer, beware: customers have never had more choices when it comes to shopping, and they know it. All it takes is 3-4 bad experiences before a customer will abandon an app or website, which means you’ll likely lose that customer and all their future revenue for good.
While software testing can help catch bugs that impact the shopping experience, retailers often struggle with a much more diverse customer demographic than most industries–with far more device/browser combinations to test for–making it complex to ensure software quality on every device. In addition, retailers also use internal apps for things like in-store checkout, inventory management, and customer service; not only do these apps need to integrate with legacy systems, but they often don’t get the same testing scrutiny as customer-facing apps.
How can retailers prepare to meet rising demand as more customers shop on mobile, be more proactive in handling issues as they arise, and avoid hindering their developer productivity? The answer is simple: continuous quality.
Now that mobile is your new storefront, a continuous quality approach is necessary to create the foundation of software quality you need to foster customer loyalty, drive revenue, and ensure profitability. Here are three ways to use continuous quality to create a seamless shopping experience.
1. Meet customers where they are across any device or browser
Imagine you're a retail brand selling athleisure clothing to young adults. These consumers are more inclined to shop on their mobile phones, and are often the first to snag the latest iPhone and run on the newest iOS version. At the same time, they are just as likely to be on a budget and using less-expensive Android devices or iPhones that are a few generations behind. You're risking revenue if you aren’t adequately testing on the platforms your target customers use to shop.
Source: Every Experience Counts 2024
How do you ensure you can reach your most important consumers?
Provide your QA team with access to a wide range of devices, OSs, and browser combinations through cross-browser testing to ensure a seamless digital experience for customers worldwide. This is especially crucial given the rising competition for the best deals.
The cloud simplifies software testing with scalable, cost-efficient environments that are easily accessible and quickly deployable. The right cloud provider lets you test on the most in-demand devices and OSes—unlike on-premise solutions that may lack updated infrastructure.
Mobile emulators and simulators in the cloud offer a cost-effective way to catch bugs and usability issues quickly. They allow testing across different configurations, providing key insights into software performance before moving to real devices.
Gather shopper demographics data about your key customers and identify the browsers, devices, and platforms they engage on. Tailor testing to the specific devices, browsers, and OSes your audience favors. You can also use information about your audience to create specific testing scenarios that reflect the unique ways they use your app.
Pro-tip: With over 85% of U.S. retailers accepting Apple Pay, testing your mobile shopping experience on iOS devices is essential. Ensuring seamless payment functionality is vital to reaching mobile-savvy customers and safeguarding revenue. -Source: The Verge
2. Quickly address issues to maintain revenue
Businesses must prepare for major software releases by balancing the desire to deliver a flawless digital experience and meeting their scheduled timelines. With limited time and numerous bugs to fix, prioritizing the most critical issues is essential. A solid quality strategy enables teams to address problems quickly so they can get updates and releases out the door on schedule.
Timely debugging facilitates the rapid rollout of new features and promotions to attract and retain customers while ensuring well-functioning software that builds brand trust. Neglected issues can lead to negative reviews and customer loss, jeopardizing long-term revenue.
By utilizing a solid debugging tool, teams can streamline root cause analysis to gain insights into recurring problems, improve future releases, and avoid similar issues down the line. A solid debugging tool can help:
Support quick diagnosis of bugs and enhance the user experience, which is crucial for maintaining conversion rates.
Identify performance bottlenecks and issues before they affect users during a high-traffic period that can significantly stress applications.
Generate real-time feedback that can be used to further enhance app improvements, ensuring a seamless experience for customers. Pro-tip: Error Reporting for monitoring your application in production during peak traffic events is crucial. Detailed error reporting offers insights into recurring issues, giving developers early warning signs that could impact the digital experience. Automated error analysis speeds up resolution by highlighting key signals, allowing teams to quickly address bugs before shoppers even notice them. -Source: Sauce Error Reporting
3. Use feedback for app improvements
Flaky tests are the bane of a software professional’s existence. If they fail during critical testing phases, it can delay the release of features or updates or cause downtime that can lead to lost sales. In addition, troubleshooting flaky tests requires time and effort, which can divert resources from more valuable activities like feature development or performance optimization.
Leveraging test data and insights will help ensure you take a strategic approach to software development, resulting in operational efficiencies and testing effectiveness. For example, historical data informs future sales cycles and the proper tests across the SDLC. Sauce Insights provides detailed analytics on app performance and user behavior for real-time feedback, helping retailers understand how customers interact with their app, identify potential bottlenecks, and optimize for peak traffic during major sales events.
In addition, flawless app performance requires early testing, secure distribution, and real-time crash monitoring to resolve issues swiftly. Now more than ever, companies need scalable solutions to meet the growing demands of app distribution and error monitoring, ensuring a seamless and trustworthy shopping experience. Mobile App Distribution allows retailers to be more proactive and quickly distribute pre-release versions of their mobile apps to testers for extra protection during peak shopping periods.
Customer Moment: Photography ecommerce platform Shutterfly streamlines testing and beta user feedback using Mobile App Distribution, enjoying its ease of use and cost-effectiveness. Shutterfly is able to efficiently distribute internal builds, enabling developers and stakeholders to access, test, and refine mobile apps faster, driving smoother workflows. Source: Sauce Labs Mobile App Distribution data sheet
Prioritize continuous testing and test case management
Ultimately, the key to building and releasing the best mobile storefront lies in quality code and proactive software quality strategies. By leveraging advanced diagnostics, real-time feedback, and comprehensive error reporting, developers can swiftly identify and resolve issues before they impact users.
Prioritizing continuous testing and employing effective test data management will enhance app performance and foster customer satisfaction and loyalty. In a landscape where every experience counts, the right tools and strategies can turn potential pitfalls into opportunities for success.
Every touchpoint in your mobile shopping experience represents an opportunity to move a sale towards conversion or lose the customer completely. Retailers must do everything possible to prevent costly issues like broken product searches, failed coupons, errors with payment processors, or integration issues with inventory management systems.
By embracing continuous testing, you can ensure each and every digital touchpoint adds up to an engaging experience that shoppers will fall in love with. For more on continuous testing best practices, download Elevating Software Quality: The Enterprise Guide to Continuous Testing.
