How to do a Test Order on Shopify – 5 Pro Methods

test payments

Test orders are important to make sure that you have perfected the checkout of your store. The last thing you want is your conversion rate to drop because people aren’t making their way through the checkout.

Or maybe you are just trying to test new apps or features like cross-sell or upsell apps.

See our guide below to learn the best ways to make test payments on Shopify. You can also see our Shopify ultimate guide if you’re interested in learning more.

There are 4 methods for doing test orders on Shopify

1. Using Shopify’s Bogus Gateway (best for new stores)

The reason this is only best for new stores is that you need to change your payment gateway to the Bogus Gateway and it will not allow anyone to place an order on your live store. Therefore it is only best for new stores with no traffic and in development.

The test purchase amount needs to be greater than the equivalent of $1 USD in any currency.

Field nameDetails to enter
Card numberEnter each of these numbers to simulate different types of transactions:
– Enter the number 1 to simulate a successful transaction
– Enter the number 2 to simulate a failed transaction
– Enter the number 3 to simulate an exception (this generates a message indicating that an error has occurred with the provider)
Name on cardType Bogus Gateway
CVVEnter any 3-digit number (for example, 111)
Expiry DateEnter any date in the future.

Selling digital downloads on your store? Use this digital product delivery Shopify app.

2. Using Shopify Payments Test Mode (works with Shopify Payments)

If you’re using Shopify Payments as your payment gateway, you can create a test order by enabling Shopify Payments test mode. You can learn more about testing on Shopify Payments here.

The test purchase amount needs to be greater than the equivalent of $1 USD in any currency.

  • Name on the card – type at least two words (any words)
  • Expiry date – enter any date, it needs to be in the future
  • Security code – type any three numbers
  • Card number – Use any of the following numbers:
Card typeTest credit number
Visa4242424242424242
Mastercard5555555555554444
American Express378282246310005
Discover6011111111111117
Diners Club30569309025904
JCB3530111333300000

3. Create an order in Shopify (fastest method, any store)

It’s possible to create an order within Shopify’s order page. Simply:

  1. Go to the Shopify dashboard and click “Orders
  2. Click on the “Create order” button
  3. Choose a product or many
  4. Click the “Add discount” text and enter 100%
  5. Enter an email in the customer section if you need
  6. Once you have entered the details, click on “Collect payment“, then “Mark as paid
create an order

4. Using a 100% discount code (any store)

This is actually a really nice method to do test orders, but of course, it doesn’t work if you are trying to test money or prices.

This works well if you have a running store and don’t want to mess with the payment gateways.

All you need to do is:

  1. Go to your Shopify dashboard
  2. Go to “Discounts
  3. Click on the “Create discount” button
  4. Choose “Amount off order
  5. Generate a code, type “100%“, then click “Save
  6. Use that discount code for your test order
discounts

5. Do a real payment order, then refund (will cost a little)

This is of course the most realistic option, but it costs and not many people really need to test it this way. Doing a real order shows you exactly what the customer will go through at the checkout.

After a refund, you will probably lose around 1.5% or so from the payment processing fees. But it’s completely your choice if you desire to do it.

Summary

So it’s pretty straightforward to do this in Shopify. I hope this has helped you a bunch! If you’re interested, you can read more Shopify tutorials from Shopify experts here.

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Jason Clarke

Building Shopify stores for 8 years. Built 2 Shopify apps. Crazy about marketing and SEO.

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