How to do a Test Purchase on WooCommerce

Using WooCommerce to start an online shop is a powerful way to grow your business and bring in some additional income. WooCommerce is an amazing tool for people who aren’t very experienced with tech or website development. But one important part of the process that may be intimidating is figuring out how to run a test purchase.

If your shop isn’t processing orders properly, it’s not likely people will be patient enough to try to figure out what went wrong. More than likely, they will move on to another site. 70% of shoppers will abandon their cart somewhere in the process, according to SellersCommerce.com. Don’t waste all the hard work you put in getting people to your site. Make sure they see the buying process through to the end by ensuring there are no unexpected errors.

Here is our quick and simple guide to conducting test purchases tot make sure your buyer’s experience is seamless. It’s a good idea to test purchases when first launching a store, but to also include testing as a part of your ecommerce maintenance routine

Table of Contents

Pre-Testing

Before getting started with the test, there are a few things we need to check on.

First, ensure Stripe (or your chosen payment gateway) is configured.

From your WordPress Dashboard, go to WooCommerce, Settings, Payments, then Stripe. From this screen you should be able to see that Stripe (or your chosen gateway)

On this page, (WooCommerce → Settings → Payments → Stripe).

Next, note down live mode settings (to revert after testing).

Finally, make sure you’re doing this test in an isolated environment. We’ll be using Test Mode, and when the site is in Test Mode, real customers can’t buy from the site. As a result:

Use a staging site to do this testing
Make sure you’re testing at a time when people don’t normally buy from you, like late at night
Put up a Maintenance Page so that for a little while no one can try to make a purchase

Step 1: Enable Stripe Test Mode

First, we need to enable Test Mode for the gateway. Test Mode makes it so that we can use fake information and WooCommerce will pretend it’s a real transaction.

2. Navigate to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments → Stripe → Settings.

3. Check the box for “Enable test mode“.

4. Save changes.

Step 2: Test Product Purchase

Now we can actually conduct a test.

1. Open any product from your store and click Add to Cart.

2. Proceed to your Checkout page.

3. Enter some fake information:

Email: Use a valid email (You will get an order confirmation mail there so you need to be able to check it)
Credit Card: Use Stripe’s test card number, which is `4242 4242 4242 4242`
- If you’re using a different gateway, look up what their test number is.
Expiry Date: Any future date (e.g., `12/30`).
CVC: Any 3-digit number (e.g., `123`).

4. Complete the purchase.

Step 3: Verify the Order & Clean Up

1. Check your email for the order confirmation. This is a good time to make sure that the confirmation email looks the way you want it to.

2. In WordPress, go to WooCommerce → Orders. Make sure that the Order is marked as Complete and looks correct to you.

3. Once you’re satisfied, move it to Trash.

Step 4: Disable Test Mode

Now it’s time to disable Test Mode so we can keep taking real orders. Do no forget this step!

1. Return to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments → Stripe.

2. Uncheck “Enable test mode“.

3. Save changes.

4. Clear any caching tools you have on your sitet (e.g., Cloudflare, browser cache).

5. Remove the Maintenance Page you may have up.

Troubleshooting

What if something goes wrong with your test? During this test purchase, you may find that something didn’t happen, or that something looked wrong. So what do you do now?

Test Payment Fails?

Go back and ensure Stripe test mode is enabled and that the correct account information has been used to set it up. Review your Stripe account to make sure there is no hold or restriction on the account. Verify the test card details from the steps above.

Did you order not appear?

Check WooCommerce Order Status (ensure it’s not stuck in “Pending”). Disable caching plugins temporarily.

Did you not get the email?

Ensure that under the WooCommerce Settings, your emails are enabled and set to the correct email address. Check your spam folder. Try using an SMTP plugin to prevent emails from getting blocked.

Still stuck?

Reach out to a pro! Web Pro Geeks offers affordable hourly WordPress work, perfect for a project like testing your WooCommerce store for you. Just reach out and we can not only run a few test purchases for you, but we can troubleshoot if anything is amiss.

Consistently testing your shop is a service we offer within our WordPress ecommerce maintenance package.