4 October 2026 Oussama Belakhdar 3 min read

E-commerce software testing: cart, payment, accessibility and traffic peaks

On an online store, every defect in the purchase journey is counted in lost orders. And since 28 June 2025, the accessibility of e-commerce services has been a legal requirement in the EU, not just good practice.

Key takeaways

The purchase journey first: search, product page, cart, payment, confirmation.
Promotions break calculations: stacking, thresholds, rounding, expired codes.
Accessibility has been mandatory in the EU since 28 June 2025 for e-commerce services, except micro-enterprises.
Peaks are tested beforehand: sales, Black Friday, launches.

Oussama Belakhdar, QA architect and founder of AutomationDataCamp, has worked on software testing projects in this industry. This page sums up what we check first. Our clients are not named.

Industry figures

€196.4 bn Online sales in France in 2025 (goods and services), up 7%, across 3.2 billion transactions. Fevad — 2025 e-commerce report

70.22% Average documented cart abandonment rate, across 50 studies. Baymard Institute

17% US online shoppers who abandoned an order because the website had errors or crashed. Baymard Institute

95.9% Home pages with detectable WCAG accessibility failures, across 1 million sites analysed in 2026. WebAIM — The WebAIM Million 2026

Figures published by the organisations cited, not results of our own engagements.

What makes testing hard

The site depends on many third-party services: payment, delivery, reviews, search, email.
Commercial rules change every week.
The journey must work on mobile, on several browsers and with a keyboard.

The scenarios we test first

Cart: add, quantity, remove, stock running out during checkout.
Promotions and codes: stacking, minimum threshold, expiry, shipping fees.
Payment: accepted, declined, strong customer authentication, abandon and return.
Journey accessibility: keyboard navigation, labels, contrast, readable error messages.
Load: cart and payment response times at sale-day traffic.

The framework to know

Accessibility (European Accessibility Act). Since 28 June 2025, e-commerce services in the EU must be accessible. Micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees and under €2 million in turnover or balance sheet) are exempt. In France, web compliance relies on the RGAA.

Payment. Strong customer authentication, from the EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2), adds a step to the journey that must be tested, including when it fails.

Our method

Start from the risks. We rank features by the impact and likelihood of a defect, then test first what would cost the most.
Automate what comes back in every release. API tests for rules and integrations, Playwright for user journeys, k6 for load, all wired into your CI.
Controlled test data. Fictitious data sets, created for each run, never copied from production.
AI with a review. An assistant speeds up writing scenarios and tests; every generated test is reviewed against our 7-question checklist. See our case study: from a PDF specification to Playwright tests.

Start with an audit

A QA audit reviews your application: a written assessment, a test strategy adapted to your industry and a costed action plan, in 5 days, for €1,000 excl. VAT as a fixed fee. Delivered remotely, in English or French, for companies in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, the Gulf and the Nordics. The first scoping session is free.

See the QA audit at €1,000 excl. VAT

Frequently asked questions

Is accessibility mandatory for an e-commerce site?

In the EU, yes, since 28 June 2025 under the European Accessibility Act, except for micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees and under €2 million in turnover or balance sheet). The whole purchase journey must be usable, including with a keyboard.

What should be automated first on an e-commerce site?

The full purchase journey, promotion and shipping fee calculations, declined payment cases and automated accessibility checks. Playwright covers these journeys on Chromium, Firefox and WebKit.

How much does a QA audit cost at AutomationDataCamp?

The QA audit and diagnosis costs €1,000 excl. VAT as a fixed fee, over 5 days: a written assessment, a test strategy and a costed action plan. The first scoping session is free.