Anna Thorsen
A Point of Sale system (POS) is not just a cash register; it is a complex piece of software that interacts with many moving parts (including payment gateways and inventory management systems) often in conjunction within a much larger enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Their smooth functioning is essential for business continuity. Any glitch, or in the worst case - downtime - can lead to lost sales, customer dissatisfaction, and damage to the business's reputation.
This guide covers everything you need to know about POS software testing. You’ll learn about the importance and challenges of testing POS systems, and you’ll find examples of end-to-end POS test cases. To conclude, we highlight what you should look for in a test automation tool to ensure your testing efforts are as effective as possible, without having to rely on developer resources.
Skip ahead to:
- What is POS software?
- Why POS testing is important
- Why POS testing is challenging
- End-to-end POS test cases
- What to look for in a POS test automation tools
- How can Leapwork help you with POS testing?
What is POS software?
A POS system is a combination of hardware and software that businesses use to process transactions and manage sales. It's essentially the place where a customer makes a payment for goods or services. POS systems like Square, Clover, or Lightspeed are software applications used by businesses to manage sales transactions in store. POS systems handle a variety of tasks, including processing payments, managing inventory, and capturing customer data.
In today's retail environment, POS systems are both employee- and customer-facing, making it critical that they function for a seamless shopping experience.
While software like Square and Clover are popular for small-to-medium sized businesses, many enterprise level organisations use pre-packaged software such as Dynamics 365 (D365) for Retail with in-built POS software such as CPOS and MPOS. Whether you’re using a POS system through D365, through an independent vendor, or a homegrown customer application, the testing requirement is still the same.
These systems need to be tested, because if something goes wrong, the consequences can be expensive, especially if you are operating on a global scale, with presence across multiple countries.
Why POS testing is important
POS testing is a way to ensure the quality of your software. From validating the correct pricing display to testing the system’s response to invalid PINs, expired cards, or incorrect invoice numbers, or more simple test cases such as checking that items correctly enter a shopping cart. There are many test cases, and it just takes one bug in one process to cause big problems.
For example, let’s say you’re in a store where a customer uses her mobile phone to scan and pay for the products in store, and they scan a receipt barcode upon exiting the store as a proof of payment. If the scanner logs the wrong items once scanned, or displays the wrong price, this could impact the bottom line of your company. If you are a large retailer processing tens of thousands of purchases a day, the damage will most certainly be noticeable.
Retailers have to deliver seamless shopping experiences to boost loyalty and sales, because at the end of the day, your business and your shareholders happiness is driven by consumers buying your physical goods. If something prevents them from doing so (e.g. because your POS system has a bug), customer experience and brand reputation get damaged.
Automation streamlines testing, reduces errors, and speeds up deployments, ensuring consistent customer experiences.
See how Matress Firm automated their end to end test cases in Dynamics CPOS and F&O, speeding up checkout times by 20%, while reducing their manual testing by 90%.
Why POS testing is challenging
While testing is a must, it’s not always easy to deploy. POS systems have complex interfaces and they are unique because you’re testing the functionality of physical terminals - they can be operating on a Windows machine, or on a different machine with a different programming language like Java. If you were to introduce an automated testing tool, you need to make sure that it works on any operating system. This is something many test automation tools struggle with (e.g. Selenium can only operate on web-based applications).
Related reading: The Top 8 Selenium Alternatives
A POS system triggers lots of business processes, as they almost always integrate with an ERP system. The POS is after all only a small part of what is a much larger and complex retail software environment. If the software your POS integrates with operates on a different platform, your testing tool may not be able to automate tests end-to-end. See the section below for examples of what business processes are typically triggered.
Additionally, because a POS systems is a combination of hardware and software, it is not exempt from updates. The physical in-store terminals require regression testing whenever an update is released to ensure their continuous performance. This process of carrying out testing manually can be tedious and time consuming.
Lastly, using test automation software isn’t always straight forward. Most tools have difficulty testing processes end-to-end because they may only function on one operating system. There can also be onboarding challenges, as many tools require a big time commitment to learn and technical developer skills to use. No-code test automation tools overcome this challenge by offering a solution that is more intuitive.
End-to-end POS test case examples
POS systems rarely operate in isolation. They are typically interconnected with other systems such as Supply Chain Management (SCM), Inventory Management (IM), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Below are specific test case examples that should be considered when testing POS systems.
1. POS and Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Interaction:
- Order processing: Sales data from POS triggers automatic reordering of products.
- Demand forecasting: POS data feeds into SCM systems to forecast demand.
- Supplier communication: Real-time POS data helps manage supplier relationships.
Test Cases:
- Sales data synchronisation: Ensure real-time transmission of sales data from POS to SCM.
- Automated reordering: Validate the reordering process based on inventory thresholds.
- Demand forecasting integration: Check if POS data is accurately reflected in SCM forecasts.
- Order fulfilment status: Ensure POS displays accurate order status.
- Supplier alerts: Test alert generation for inventory thresholds.
2. POS and Inventory Management (IM)
Interaction:
- Real-time inventory updates: POS transactions update inventory levels in real-time.
- Stock alerts: POS triggers alerts when stock is low.
- Inventory audits: Supports periodic audits by providing accurate data.
- Product transfers: Manages inventory transfers between locations.
Test Cases:
- Real-time stock deduction: Verify inventory updates with each transaction.
- Low stock alerts: Test alert functionality for low inventory.
- Inventory reconciliation: Ensure POS and physical inventory levels match.
- Multi-store management: Validate POS handling of multi-location inventory.
- Backordering process: Check POS integration with backordering systems.
3. POS and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Interaction:
- Customer data capture: Collects and syncs customer data with CRM.
- Loyalty programs: Manages rewards and discounts based on purchase behavior.
- Personalized marketing: Utilizes POS data for targeted marketing campaigns.
- Customer feedback: Captures feedback at the point of sale.
Test Cases:
- Customer data sync: Verify accurate synchronization of customer data.
- Loyalty points application: Test the application of loyalty rewards.
- Personalized offers: Validate the application of personalized discounts.
- Customer feedback capture: Ensure feedback is correctly recorded.
What to look for in a POS test automation tool
Selecting the right test automation tool is critical to the success of POS software testing. If you have had experience working with testing solutions in the past, you will know that not all are created equal.
Some are platform-restricted, meaning that they can only operate in a web environment (like Selenium), while others only work with a specific product, such as D365. If you choose a test automation tool for your POS, it should have cross-platform compatibility, meaning that it supports multiple platforms, including desktop, web, and mobile/physical/tablet POS systems, along with your specific ERP provider.
If your POS runs on legacy systems (note: many companies operate on a legacy version of windows, and only some testing tools can automate legacy), choose a tool that can handle older technologies without compromising on functionality.
And lastly, your tool should be easy to use. Your POS set-up is complicated enough. Don’t make it harder by adopting a testing tool that takes a long time to learn and is difficult to maintain. The tool should have an intuitive interface, enabling both technical and non-technical users to create, manage, and execute tests.
How can Leapwork help you with POS testing?
Leapwork is an AI-powered test automation platform helping enterprise retail companies deliver continuous quality across their business.
Software testing teams rely on Leapwork to deliver higher-quality experiences from the moment their customer interacts with the business through the applications, APIs, and data that drive it. With Leapwork, you can seamlessly test end-to-end across your POS system, CRM, ERP, ecommerce platform and inventory platform.
Providing an intuitive visual workflow and generative AI capabilities, everyone from engineers to business users can build, maintain, and scale complex data-driven tests faster and more efficiently than ever.
To find out more, read our “Optimizing Omnichannel” solution brief to learn how some of the largest retailers in the world are using Leapwork to deliver seamless retail experiences.
In retail, if software hasn’t been sufficiently tested, the business can be exposed to serious risks. POS systems are just one part of a much larger retail machine. If just one step fails, the business can lose customers instantly. Learn how you can safeguard your existing processes through testing in our webinar on the risks in retail testing and how to overcome them.
