01The organization
Consider a retailer with 200 stores and a growing online business. Customers shop on the website, on mobile web and in native apps, and can buy online and pick up in store. Promotions change every week and spike before the holidays.
Each channel has its own testing tool, and hotfixes after a release are routine. The worst bugs are the quiet ones: a promo code that applies to the wrong items, or a checkout button that slips below the fold on one browser.
Retail testing is a race against the calendar. The changes that matter most, such as new promotions, price updates and theme refreshes, arrive right before the days that matter most. A test suite that takes a week to update is no help in the week before a sale.
02Business objectives
- Test search, cart, promotions and checkout on every channel each release
- Verify every promotion rule before it goes live
- Catch layout breaks across browsers
- Make peak readiness a routine run, not a war room
03Testing challenges
Promotions multiply
Discounts, exclusions, free-shipping thresholds and bundles combine in ways nobody tests by hand.
One tool per channel
Web, Android and iOS were tested separately, so the same bug was found, or missed, three times.
Visual breaks
Functional tests pass while a banner covers the checkout button on a smaller screen.
Peak pressure
Code freezes before peak days push changes into a few risky releases.
04Before and after
How the testing work would change once the journeys run in Robonito.
- Channels
- Today:Separate tools for web, Android and iOS, each with its own gaps.
- With Robonito:One set of journeys runs across browsers and both apps in parallel.
- Promotions
- Today:A few codes spot-checked by hand before launch.
- With Robonito:Each promotion rule runs as a named test before it goes live.
- Layout
- Today:Visual breaks reported by customers on social media.
- With Robonito:Visual checks compare key pages with an approved baseline.
- Peak
- Today:A war room and a long manual checklist before peak days.
- With Robonito:A scheduled peak-readiness suite with a clear pass or fail.
05How Robonito would test it
- 1
Shopping journeys in plain language
Merchandisers and QA write journeys like 'apply SAVE20 to a cart with a clearance item' in plain English.
- 2
Across browsers and apps
The same journeys run across major browsers and on Android and iOS, in parallel.
- 3
Visual checks
Visual testing compares key pages with a baseline and flags layout breaks functional checks miss.
- 4
On every merge
GitLab CI runs the suite on merge and on a schedule before each promotion goes live.
06Test scenarios, in plain language
Tests you'd write in Robonito on day one. Each one is typed as written; the agent works through the app and saves the steps.
- PromotionsAdd two items and a clearance item, apply SAVE20, and confirm the discount excludes the clearance item.
- Store pickupChoose buy online, pick up in store at a store with stock and confirm a pickup time is offered.
- ShippingCheck out as a guest with an Alaska address and confirm free standard shipping is not offered.
- SearchSearch for running shoes, filter to size 10, and confirm every result has size 10 in stock.
- Cross-browserComplete checkout on Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge and confirm the order confirmation page on each.
- VisualCompare the product page with the approved baseline after the theme update and flag layout changes.
- Mobile appAdd an item to the wishlist in the iOS app and confirm it appears in the wishlist on the website.
07What the pilot measures
No made-up numbers: a pilot measures these against your current baseline, on your own app.
Channels covered per release
Whether every release is tested on every channel and browser.
Hotfixes per month
Post-release fixes, before and after.
Promotion defects
Promotion errors found before go-live, not by customers.
Peak readiness
Time to run the full peak checklist.
08Rolling it out: the first month
A realistic plan for a team starting from zero, with the baseline comparison built in.
- Week 1
Cover checkout first
QA writes search, cart and checkout journeys for guests and signed-in customers.
- Week 2
Add promotions and pickup
Merchandisers add the current promotions and buy-online-pick-up-in-store paths in plain language.
- Week 3
Go wide
The journeys run across major browsers and the Android and iOS apps, with visual baselines for key pages.
- Week 4
Schedule peak readiness
GitLab CI runs the suite on merge and before each promotion launch, and the team tracks hotfixes against last month.
09Frequently asked questions
Can Robonito test checkout across browsers?
Yes. The same journey runs across major browsers in parallel, in isolated cloud workers, so a browser-specific break shows up as a failed run with video and traces.
Can merchandisers test promotions without code?
Yes. A promotion rule such as 'SAVE20 excludes clearance items' can be written in plain language, and the agent turns it into steps that run before the promotion goes live.
Does Robonito test native shopping apps?
Yes. Android and iOS app testing is included on the Pro and Custom plans, alongside web testing.
How does visual testing differ from functional testing?
Functional tests confirm that something works, such as an order being placed. Visual tests compare the page with an approved baseline and catch layout problems, like a banner covering the checkout button, that functional checks miss.