What We Test Before an Ecommerce Release
Delivery notes from The Embroidery Shed: checking real orders, emails and recovery before changing a working WooCommerce shop.
A shop can look good and load quickly while still getting an order wrong. A mixed VAT basket, a coupon at the shipping threshold or an uploaded logo can expose a problem that a homepage check never reaches.
Our work with The Embroidery Shed is a useful example of how we check the parts a business depends on. This is a look at the delivery work behind the published case study.
Start with the orders the business actually takes
The Embroidery Shed sells embroidered workwear. Customers choose garments, sizes, colours and decorations, and supply artwork. Trade and public customers see VAT differently. The checks need to reflect those rules.
We now check 21 types of order automatically against a copy of the real shop. They include standard, zero-rated and mixed VAT baskets; orders around the shipping threshold; coupons; collection and delivery; and a bundle with uploaded artwork. A repeated checkout checks that the same order cannot be placed twice.
Seven order emails are checked alongside those journeys. An order is more than a payment: the customer and the people fulfilling it need the right information afterwards.
Check recovery as well as release
We restored a full backup into a separate environment and checked the files and database. That recorded exercise took two hours and twenty-seven minutes. That figure comes from one recorded test; a real incident could take longer.
The shop's release process requires recent recovery proof. That makes the ability to restore part of normal delivery, rather than something to discover during an outage.
Keep what works for the team
The rebuilt shop still uses WooCommerce behind the scenes. The team manages products, orders and fulfilment in its familiar admin. The work changed the customer experience and the checks around it without asking the business to relearn its daily processes.
The full case study includes the performance measurements and the work still being improved. If your shop needs constant attention, tell us what is getting in the way.