Role Of Test Automation In Retail Digital Transformation

By Ray Parker

Businesses are evolving at a breakneck speed and with growing digital transformation, everything is becoming automated. Rapid software launches are the demand of this era along with quality features. Moreover, customers expect that the applications provide a seamless user experience. In the retail industry, POS, e-commerce, mobile payments, data analytics for consumer behavior, etc. are the new trends. Automation testing helps to manage huge test volumes and earn profits from digital transformation. It is not possible to achieve the desired results in the current era without opening doors to automated testing.

Let’s see what challenges retailers have to face and how test automation plays an important role in overcoming these challenges:

• Speed Enhancement at Low Cost

Companies update and release retail applications frequently in the current digital platforms. An independent software testing company repeats tests multiple times during the software development cycle. This is why test automation is necessary to meet retail industry requirements. Repeated automated tests reduce costs of quality assurance increasing speed. Retailers only invest in test automation and enjoy the benefits it brings to their business.

• Omni-Channel Deployment

Customers in the retail business tend to shop at anytime, anywhere, and from any device. Additionally, they expect a seamless and smooth user experience. As a result, retail companies have to test a growing number of devices and application across multiple platforms. This is where automated testing becomes crucial as it helps to manage increasing test volumes at higher speeds. Automation testing is capable of improving the scope of test scripts and enhanced software quality. There are thousands of test cases that testers execute simultaneously, providing insights into various areas of the business. Thus, retailers improve the customer experience while increasing their revenues. Testers focus more on new features of an application while automation takes care of the rest.

• Integration with Third Party Applications

A digitally grown retail system calls for integration between various networks, especially third-party applications. It is a challenge for testers to integrate with devices, systems, and applications.  The challenge can vary from managing promotions on digital and physical platforms. POS devices require integration with other software like inventory and merchandising, etc.

• Security Enhancement

Mobile payment solutions, POS applications, and credit card mobile apps, etc. make retail businesses vulnerable to security threats. Thus, testers have to focus on application profiling, authentication, and encryption to safeguard from these threats. They introduce testing frameworks to increase security checks and use automation testing for this purpose.

Conclusion

Retail businesses have become too complex with digital transformation. Each component of a digital system requires meticulous testing. Therefore, automation testing plays a vital role. Automation improves user experience, reduces threats to security and allows quality software development leading to profits from the retail industry. It is the need of the hour that calls for automation testing to be the preferred choice for overcoming challenges faced by testers. Thus, we can conclude that automated testing can help testers in achieving their goals, and allow retail businesses to gain profits by investing in automation testing.

Author Bio:

Ray Parker is a senior marketing consultant with a knack for writing about latest news in tech, quality assurance, software development and travel. With a decade of experience working in the tech industry, ray now dabbles out of his New York office.