Test the B2C Commerce Implementation

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Identify customer responsibilities during the test phase of a B2C Commerce implementation project.
  
• Identify the tests to include in a B2C Commerce implementation project test plan.
  

Get Ready to Test

Congratulations, the NTO site is one step closer to launch. There are only three more stops left on this ride: test, launch, and post-launch. First, we put the site through rigorous testing to catch any bugs. Let’s get ready.

During the discover phase, you advised NTO’s project manager to allocate test team resources. Now you tell their project manager it’s time to rally the testers. Customers often underestimate the time it takes to gather their test team and to produce test cases. You’re careful to give NTO plenty of notice.

Train Your Customer

Test preparation is as important as the actual testing. And we know just how to get your customer ready. The storefront launch readiness boot camp (LRBC) is a 2–3 day hands-on session. It’s part of the SRA process. The bootcamp helps prepare NTO’s storefront for user acceptance testing (UAT), site launch, and site maintenance. Mindy, your functional architect, leads the LRBC. She reserved the posh club car for the bootcamp and NTO’s team meets her there.

NTO business users put their Managing the Storefront training into practice as they update all the necessary Business Manager data. That includes product data, images, text, and promotion criteria. Typically, your customer provides this data. But it’s always your team’s responsibility to make sure that these assets are ready in time for the LRBC. 

The bootcamp winds down and Mindy has new appreciation for NTO’s hard-working team—they’re ready for launch. They also love spending time on the train. You decide to host testing on the train as well.

Collect Test Data

Product data is at the core of storefront testing. NTO is wholly responsible for providing test data. NTO’s data must reflect actual production data, including all possible variations. You need those variations to run through the widest range of test scenarios. Verify test data completeness with NTO.

Create Test Cases

For a successful test phase, you also need a complete set of high-quality test cases. Creating test cases is an “all hands aboard” affair. As the partner, you’re responsible for the quality assurance (QA) and end-to-end test cases. As your customer, NTO is responsible for the user acceptance testing (UAT) and system integration testing (SIT) test cases. It’s a well-known saying that the customer knows best, and that’s especially true during the test phase. NTO knows their customers, products, and how shoppers interact with their storefront better than anyone else. Of course, your team can lend a helping hand. If NTO isn’t able to prepare all the UAT and SIT test cases, your team can prepare cases with their input. 

The extent you help them create the UAT and SIT test cases is up to you. We find it works best when your team contributes right along with your customer. On projects where your team creates all the UAT and SIT test cases, have your customer verify that the cases address every feature and function. Get their sign-off before you start the test phase.

Create a Test Plan

The test cases identify what functionality to test. Your test plan identifies how you’ll run the test phase. It’s a mini project plan exclusively for the test phase. It outlines the test strategy, objectives, resource allocation, schedule, and deliverables.

Make sure that your test plan includes these categories.

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP): Does everything function as designed?
  
• System and third-party integrations: Does the site play well with other systems?
  
• Order management system (OMS) or services layer: Are orders processed as expected from start to finish?
  
• Visual: Does it look right?
  
• Performance: Is it faster than a speeding train?
  

Test the Storefront

You based your test plan on the project specifications. Since the specifications are meticulously detailed, you’ve got all your test scenarios and data needs identified, right? That’s a reasonable assumption, but in our experience, a few areas often get missed. Not this time, though. We see that your plan is loaded with test cases for the most frequently overlooked areas. 

Search Engine Optimization and Analytics

Now that the site is set up and real data is available, it’s time for search engine optimization (SEO). NTO takes this opportunity to confirm its SEO partner’s implementation is based on the latest expert guidance. NTO also gives you the set of test cases its SEO partner created.

Alex incorporates the SEO test cases into the plan. He confirms that the cases cover all the common SEO elements, such as meta tag completion, image alt attribute settings, SEO-friendly URLs, and sitemap tuning.

Onsite Search

Onsite search helps users navigate NTO’s site and find products quickly. The test cases put onsite search through the paces by checking searchable attributes, dictionaries, and category name exclusions. The conclusion? Onsite search is functional and flexible.

Accessibility

Mindy included accessibility specifications in the FSD. The testers verify that the implementation meets the accessibility requirements. If Mindy had any doubts, she could involve a web accessibility consultant.

Merchandising

Now NTO’s merchandising team gets involved. They test category-specific sorting rules. For example, sorting apparel by color. They also try out scenarios for content slot usage where a different image displays based on user group. 

Load Testing

On this project, NTO hires a third party to run load testing. The third party checks site behavior under normal and anticipated peak load conditions. To avoid any charges to NTO for test orders, the team completes load tests before the site is marked “live” in Business Manager. If NTO requires load testing after the site goes live, acquire and use a temporary rental realm. Your Salesforce B2C Commerce customer success manager can help. 

Track Issues

As the test team runs through the full suite of test cases, they catch and triage bugs. Bug-catching nets are not required for this activity, but a good bug-tracking tool such as Bugzilla or Jira is. The team uses the bug tool to log issues as they're found. Alex and NTO’s project manager identify which issues must be fixed before launch, assign owners, and set due dates. 

Test Deliverables

• Completed LRBC
  
• A log of all tracked and triaged issues
  
• A list all issues scheduled to be fixed before launch
  
• Issue backlog list for any issue scheduled to be fixed after launch.
  

Resources

Trailhead Academy: Manage and Merchandise a B2C Commerce Cloud Store