Retailers that have successfully adapted have one thing in common: they have implemented loosely coupled or decoupled IT infrastructure, such as headless content management systems (CMS).

When a customer demands change, retailers have greater flexibility and can introduce new services and update existing applications more quickly and easily than relying on inflexible monolithic IT systems.

However, delivering a more enticing user experience comes with a catch: as technical complexity increases, so does the need for robust software testing.

Headless commerce needs full-stack testing for customer experience success

Headless architecture and microservices interact with various layers of technologies and applications, so full-stack testing is essential if retailers want to deliver an experience that keeps customers loyal. These different layers include:

Databases
Application programming interfaces (APIs)
Objects or Web elements
User interfaces (UI) or presentation layer

Across these layers, numerous communication paths from the backend to various UIs, and interactions built with business logic, must also be tested to maintain the end-user experience.

Testing APIs, in particular, is vital because they link all the UI elements with backend data sources and business logic. In retail, developers use APIs for connecting inventory management and payment systems, CMS and customer relationship management platforms to deliver a customer-focused experience.

For headless commerce, APIs connect a single backend to third-party integrations and multiple front-ends. For instance, if you’re using a headless CMS, content stored in the backend can be separated by APIs and published to various customer channels at once. As a result, more unified content can be pushed to websites, mobile apps, in-store digital signage or even smartwatches faster to deliver an optimised omnichannel experience.

However, interacting with so many different technology layers, systems and applications makes full-stack software testing challenging for quality assurance (QA) teams.

Full-stack testing challenges

Testing numerous layers of technologies requires multiple tools, which quickly causes problems. Some teams will have a tool that only tests a specific API call or a request from the database layer to verify data accuracy. For example, in retail, this could be checking stock levels in an inventory management system. Other testers will use a different tool to validate how the UI layer visually represents the API call, such as confirming that the number of jeans in stock is correctly displayed on an e-commerce site. However, if a defect occurs at any layer, the entire data journey will fail creating an error-strewn user experience.

QA teams must combine testing to verify the accuracy of API calls to and from backend systems and validate the correct response through the object layer to the UI. APIs don’t have a graphical user interface, so you must validate that the end-user visual representation is correct regardless of the customer touchpoint.

Multiple technology layers also combine business logic, custom workflows and processes, so any instability can severely affect how a retailer serve its customer, impacting the bottom line.

Implementing multiple tools for every test case is possible but maintaining scripts quickly becomes a barrier to optimising workflows and productivity. Spiralling recurring costs and “shelfware” (lack of use due to skills gaps) will also slow software development cycles and increase time to market.

Optimise full-stack testing with Eggplant DAI and automation intelligence

Keysight’s Eggplant DAI is one solution that combines multiple technology layers and tests them together. It orchestrates full-stack testing by creating scenarios that verify API requests from a database through the object layers and validate the visual response at the UI.

Eggplant DAI simplifies full-stack testing because QA teams only have to deal with one single code layer across every technology layer of an application, facilitating fast and reliable software delivery.

Discover how Keysight’s Eggplant DAI can optimise full-stack testing for your organisation with this helpful guide.

This article was originally posted by Mike Wager from Keysight Technologies here.

About IT Ecology
Founded in 2004, IT Ecology made it its mission to provide technical testing and monitoring competencies to the sub-Saharan African market. The company excels at delivering against unique customer requirements. Customers call upon IT Ecology as the solution thinkers and advisers. Coupled with a can-do attitude, our team has delighted our customers, again and again, exceeding their expectations. For more information, visit www.itecology.co.za. or connect on LinkedIn.