Did you know that app crashes are responsible for 71% of mobile application uninstalls? This fact may seem surprising, but it’s important to remember that such incidents are often caused by a mistake in an application's development process.
The foundation of any good mobile retail app is how well it works and how customer-friendly it is. This demands a well-planned strategy and effective mobile app testing. Mobile testing services ensure that your app is thoroughly tested throughout the development process. This helps you identify and fix any potential vulnerabilities and defects before they are discovered by your customers.
But even with the best plans in place, it’s still possible to get testing mobile retail apps wrong. In this blog post, you’ll learn about the five most common mistakes that could hamper testing your mobile retail app. The aim is to help you avoid committing these same errors.
Five mistakes to avoid during retail app testing
1. Not testing early enough
Software testing is a crucial process before the release of any application. The testing process saves you from any reputational loss and financial costs that could occur due to your shopping app's functional failure. But testing can only be successful when performed from the start of and throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
Performing retail app testing in parallel with development will help you analyze vulnerabilities and fix them earlier. This process will save you time and money.
2. Not testing security
One of the most significant factors that could hamper your customers’ shopping experience when using your app is security. You need to perform security testing to make sure that your app doesn’t contain vulnerabilities that could result in breaches or loss of data.
Your customers' data, such as payment information and personal details, should remain secure at all times. Neglecting Cyber security testing can leave your retail app vulnerable to problems such as authentication and host security issues. These weaknesses can be exploited by hackers, potentially leading to a data breach.
3. Not testing on different devices
Mobile devices come in all shapes and sizes and with different operating systems. So, it’s essential to make sure that your mobile app is compatible and performs well on different devices and screen sizes.
Testing your mobile retail app on various screen sizes will help you locate performance gaps before your customers find them. This will help you enhance the user experience (UX), which has a direct impact on your brand image and sales.
4. Testing only on cloud
Many mobile testing service providers prefer to test retail apps on the cloud to make the process faster. However, testing your mobile retail app on a real device allows you to find problems such as network-related and/or memory issues.
To make your retail app available to all users irrespective of their mobile device, you must test on all possible versions of real devices your customers may own. This’ll help you find and fix issues with your app that may arise from variations in hardware and software.
5. Not Performing Accessibility Testing
It can be shocking to know that 20% of your app users have some form of disability. It’s your responsibility to make your shopping app accessible to all users, irrespective of any disability.
Accessibility testing ensures that your retail application is compliant with W3Cs, WCAG, and ADA regulations to make it accessible for all.
Five types of testing for your mobile retail app
Now that you know which common errors to avoid while testing your shopping app, it’s time to focus on how to get your mobile retail app testing right.
Here are five types of testing that your mobile testing services partner should conduct on your retail app to ensure optimal customer experience.
Functional Testing: This type of testing focuses on verifying that your retail app works as intended, and that all its functions are, well, functional. This includes verifying that the app can handle different inputs and data, as well as checking for any bugs or issues that might impact the customer experience.
Usability Testing: This type of testing evaluates your shopping app's user interface, ensuring that it is easy to use and navigate. Usability testing helps to identify any design or navigation issues that might affect the customer experience.
Performance Testing: Performance testing assesses the app's speed, stability, and scalability under different conditions and loads. This type of testing ensures that your app can handle large amounts of data and traffic, and can still perform well even when there are a high number of users.
Security Testing: Security testing checks the app's vulnerability to hacking or data theft. This type of testing helps to protect sensitive customer information. It also ensures that your retail app complies with data privacy regulations.
Compatibility Testing: Compatibility testing verifies that the app works on different devices, operating systems, and screen sizes. This type of testing ensures that your shopping app can be used by customers on a wide range of devices and platforms, without any compatibility issues.
Key takeaways
Testing is a crucial step in the development process of a mobile retail app. To ensure that your app is user-friendly, secure, and accessible, it’s important to avoid the five common mistakes listed in this blog post. These mistakes include not testing early enough, neglecting security testing, not testing on different devices, only testing on the cloud, and not performing accessibility testing.
To get it right, make sure that your mobile testing services partner conducts
1. Functional testing
2. Usability testing
3. Performance testing
4. Security testing
5. compatibility testing
By doing this, you can ensure that your app offers an optimal customer experience and is free of any vulnerabilities or defects. You’ll also keep your customers coming back for more.