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Processing a test order

You can process a test order in Shopify to verify that your checkout process and settings are working correctly. There are 2 main ways to test orders:

  • Using a payment gateway in test mode, such as the Bogus Gateway or Shopify Payments test mode, which simulates transactions without real charges.
  • Placing a real order with your real payment information that you immediately refund and cancel.

Testing your orders helps ensure that important functions such as payment processing, inventory tracking, shipping calculations, and email notifications are configured properly before accepting real orders from your customers.

Before you begin testing, make sure to deactivate any live payment providers and activate test mode for the payment gateway you want to use. After setting up test mode, you can place orders using test credit card numbers to simulate different transaction scenarios.

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Considerations before placing a test order

Before placing a test order, review the following considerations:

  • Customers can't place live orders during the time that your payment providers are in test mode. If you're placing a test order with a payment gateway in test mode, then be sure to deactivate test mode as soon as possible after testing is complete so that your customers can place orders.
  • Use an email address that ends with @example.com to place test orders. This domain is detected by Shopify's systems, is safe to use for test orders, won't trigger any spam detection, and will keep your inbox from being full. If you need to send test orders to your own email address as part of your testing, then make sure to send fewer than 100 test orders at a time to avoid any delivery issues with your inbox.
  • Don't fulfill any test orders, because you're charged for any shipping labels that you purchase. If you use an app that automatically fulfills orders, then deactivate it before you create test orders.
  • Test orders and simulated transactions don't display in your payouts or reports.
  • Manual payment methods, such as Cash on Delivery or bank transfers, don't support test mode or simulated transactions. To test transactions with a manual payment method, you must place a real order as your test.
  • Not all test orders can be deleted. For example, orders placed through payment gateways other than Shopify Payments aren't considered test orders, even when the third-party gateway was in test mode, and can't be deleted. Test orders paid with the Bogus Gateway or Shopify Payments in test mode can be deleted. Learn more about canceling, archiving, and deleting orders.
  • If you're using a development store, then you can't test using real transactions. For more information, refer to Testing orders in development stores.

Place a test order with a gateway in test mode

You can process a test order by using Shopify's Bogus Gateway, Shopify Payments' test mode, or a third-party payment provider in test mode. These options let you simulate transactions using the Shopify Checkout without incurring any charges from your payment providers. When using a gateway in test mode, you need to use test payment details instead of your real credit card information. Learn more about activating a payment gateway in test mode.

Steps:

  1. Make sure that you've set up the payment provider's test mode that you want to test.
  2. Create a cart from your store as a customer would, and then navigate to the checkout.
  3. Complete checkout using the test payment details for your gateway. If you have multiple payment methods active, then choose the payment processor that's in test mode, and use that processor's test payment details as your payment information.
  4. Review the order in your Shopify admin to confirm that everything is working as intended.
  5. Deactivate test mode after your testing is complete.

Place a test order with a real transaction

You can place a test order using a real payment provider, and then immediately cancel and refund the order. You might be subject to fees from the payment provider you use. Some payment provider fees and credit card third-party transaction fees aren't returned to you when you issue a refund.

Steps:

  1. Make sure that you've set up the payment provider that you want to test.
  2. Make a purchase from your store as a customer would, and then complete checkout using genuine credit card details.
  3. If you're using a third-party payment provider, then log in to your payment provider and make sure that the funds were processed.
  4. Cancel and refund the order as soon as possible to refund yourself. Any third-party transaction fees that have been charged aren't refunded.

Things to check for in a test order

When testing your order flow, you should test as many scenarios as possible to ensure that your shipping settings, notifications, and fulfillment flows work as expected.

When testing orders, pay attention to how different common order scenarios display when creating the order, as well as after the test order is placed. This way, you can get a complete sense of how your customers might experience buying from your online store, and can help you identify any potential issues before it affects a customer.

Creating a test order

Consider the following scenarios when you create a test order:

  • Add a discount code to your order.
  • Try placing an order when logged into a customer account, and logged out.
  • Test different payment methods.
  • Verify that the shipping rates you offer display correctly.
  • Test different shipping addresses, with particular attention to how the tax is calculated.
  • Place test orders on multiple devices, such as desktop and mobile devices.
  • Simulate a failed transaction.

After your test order is placed

After an order is placed, check the following parts of the order:

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