Shopify Pre-Launch QA Checklist: What to Test Before Going Live

Shopify Pre-Launch QA Checklist: What to Test Before Going Live

Launch day should feel like a celebration, not a fire drill. But it's easy to spend weeks perfecting the homepage and then discover, an hour after going live, that shipping to Canada costs zero, the discount code doesn't work, or order confirmation emails still show the theme's demo logo.

Those problems are almost always findable before launch. You just need to look in the right places, in an organized way.

This checklist works for any Shopify launch: a brand-new store, a redesign, or a migration from another platform. Share it with your team, split the sections between people, and tick things off as you go.

The Short Answer

Before launching a Shopify store, place test orders with every payment method, check product data and discounts, confirm shipping rates and taxes for every region you sell to, test the storefront on real phones and desktops, and check that apps, integrations, emails, and tracking all work. Then remove the store password, place one real order, and monitor closely for the first 48 hours.

Before You Start: How to Set Up Testing

How to Place Test Orders

Shopify's test order guide explains that test orders let you check your checkout, order processing, inventory, shipping, email notifications, and taxes. There are two main ways to do it:

  • A gateway in test mode. Use Shopify Payments' test mode, Shopify's Test payment gateway, or a third-party provider's test mode, and pay with test card details instead of a real card.

  • A real order you refund. Place a real order with your own card, then immediately refund and cancel it. This is the only way to test some payment methods.

A few important details from Shopify's documentation:

  • Shopify says test mode can't be used to test Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments, PayPal Wallet, or POS card readers. Test those with a real order.

  • While test mode is on, customers can't place live orders. Turn it off as soon as testing is finished.

  • You need to be on a paid plan to test a payment gateway.

Who Should Test

Don't rely only on the developer who built the store. They know where everything is, so they'll miss what a new visitor struggles with. A good testing group includes:

  • Someone from customer service, who knows what customers ask about

  • Someone who handles fulfillment, who will spot order and shipping problems

  • Someone who hasn't seen the store before, testing on their own phone

Devices and Browsers

  • At least one iPhone and one Android phone

  • A tablet

  • Desktop in the browsers your customers use most

  • A slower mobile connection, not just office Wi-Fi

Keep one shared list of issues with the page, device, steps to reproduce, and a screenshot. It makes fixing far faster.

1. Checkout, Payments, and Orders

Start here. If checkout doesn't work, nothing else matters.

Payments

  • A successful test order with each card type you accept

  • A failed or declined payment, to see what the shopper sees

  • Every other payment method you offer (Shop Pay, PayPal, buy now pay later, local methods), using a real refunded order where test mode isn't supported

  • Accelerated checkout buttons on product and cart pages

Order handling

  • Orders appear in your Shopify admin with the right products, prices, and customer details

  • Inventory goes down correctly after an order

  • Fulfill an order, including a partial fulfillment

  • Process a full refund and a partial refund

  • Cancel an order

  • Order notes, gift messages, or custom fields (if you use them) come through

Customer accounts

  • Create an account, log in, and see order history

  • Check out as a guest

After testing

  • Turn off test mode or the Test payment gateway

  • Delete or archive test orders so they don't clutter your reports

2. Products, Variants, Pricing, and Discounts

Product data

  • Spot-check products across every collection: titles, descriptions, prices, compare-at prices, and images

  • Every variant has the right price, SKU, weight, and stock level

  • Variant images switch correctly when a shopper picks a color or style

  • Sold-out products and variants display the way you intended

  • Products are published to the Online Store sales channel (and any others you use)

  • No placeholder or demo products are still visible

Collections

  • Each collection contains the right products

  • Automated collection rules pick up the right items

  • Sorting and filters work and show sensible options

Discounts and pricing

  • Every discount code you plan to launch with works

  • Automatic discounts trigger correctly

  • Discounts combine (or don't combine) the way you intend

  • Minimum order rules, free-gift offers, and bundles behave as expected

  • Gift cards can be bought and redeemed

  • If you sell B2B, test a logged-in wholesale buyer: their catalog, pricing, quantity rules, and payment terms

3. Shipping, Taxes, and Markets

Shipping and tax mistakes are some of the most expensive to discover after launch, because they're often noticed only after many orders have gone through.

Shipping

  • Rates appear correctly for every region you ship to

  • Free-shipping thresholds kick in at the right order value

  • Heavy, oversized, or special items get the right rates

  • Regions you don't ship to are clearly blocked, not quietly charged zero

  • Local pickup or local delivery options work, if you offer them

  • Delivery estimates shown on product pages match your actual shipping times

Taxes

  • Taxes are calculated correctly for your main regions

  • Prices display with or without tax as intended for each market

  • Tax-exempt B2B customers (if you have them) aren't charged tax

Tax rules depend on where you sell and your business setup. Confirm your settings with your accountant or tax adviser.

International markets (if you sell abroad)

  • Currency switching and local prices display correctly

  • Translated content appears in each language

  • Duties and import taxes are handled the way you intend

  • Shipping and payment methods are right for each market

4. Storefront: Pages, Navigation, and Search

Navigation

  • Every link in the main menu, footer, and mobile menu goes to a real page

  • Mega menus and dropdowns open and close properly on desktop and mobile

  • The logo links back to the homepage

Pages

  • Homepage sections, banners, and buttons all link somewhere sensible

  • About, FAQ, shipping, returns, and contact pages are complete, with no placeholder text

  • The 404 page is helpful and branded

  • Blog posts (if any) display correctly with images

Search and filters

  • Search finds products by name, type, and common misspellings

  • "No results" pages suggest something useful

  • Filters on large collections give accurate results

Cart

  • Add, update, and remove items in the cart (and cart drawer)

  • Cart totals, discounts, and free-shipping messages update correctly

  • Empty cart page looks intentional

Forms

  • Contact form sends and reaches the right inbox

  • Newsletter signup works and connects to your email platform

  • Back-in-stock and wholesale application forms (if any) work

Look and feel on every device

  • No overlapping text, cut-off images, or horizontal scrolling on phones

  • Buttons are easy to tap

  • Pop-ups can be closed easily and don't block the "Add to cart" button

  • Fonts and colors look right across browsers

5. Apps, Integrations, Emails, and Tracking

Apps

  • Every storefront app (reviews, subscriptions, upsells, loyalty, back-in-stock) appears in the right place and works

  • Apps are set to live mode, not test or demo mode

  • Apps you installed while building but no longer need are removed

Integrations

  • Test orders reach your ERP, warehouse, or 3PL with the right details

  • Stock updates flow in the right direction, and only one system owns stock levels

  • Customer and order data syncs to your email platform or CRM

  • Accounting integration records orders, refunds, and taxes correctly

  • Someone knows how to spot and fix a failed sync

Customer emails

Shopify sends many automatic emails, and they're easy to forget. Trigger and read each one:

  • Order confirmation

  • Shipping confirmation and tracking updates

  • Refund and cancellation notices

  • Abandoned checkout reminders

  • Account invitation and password reset

  • Gift card emails

Check the logo, colors, sender name, reply-to address, and links in each one.

Tracking and analytics

  • Analytics records visits and purchases

  • Ad pixels and conversion tracking fire on purchase

  • Your cookie consent banner works and respects visitors' choices

  • Google Search Console is connected

6. SEO, Speed, Legal, and Settings

SEO

  • Homepage, top collections, and key products have custom page titles and meta descriptions

  • Each product and collection page has one clear H1

  • Images have alt text

  • If you're migrating or redesigning, old URLs redirect to the right new pages

  • Nothing important is accidentally hidden from search engines

If this launch is a migration, our guide on [protecting SEO when migrating to Shopify](BLOG #7 URL) covers redirects in detail.

Speed

  • Test the homepage, a collection, and a best-selling product in Google PageSpeed Insights

  • Hero images and videos aren't oversized

  • Apps that load on every page are genuinely needed

Legal and policies

  • Refund, shipping, privacy, and terms of service policies are complete and accurate

  • Contact information is visible

  • Any product-specific legal notices (age restrictions, warnings, certifications) appear where needed

Store settings

  • Store name, legal business name, and address are correct

  • Store currency and order ID format are set the way you want

  • Staff accounts exist for the right people, with the right permissions

  • The domain is connected, and the primary domain is set

  • Social sharing image and favicon are set

7. Launch Day and the First 48 Hours

Before You Switch

  • Pick a quiet day and time, not right before a big promotion

  • Make sure the people who can fix problems are available for the next 48 hours

  • Test mode and the Test payment gateway are turned off

  • Test orders are cleared out

Going Live

  • Remove the store password so the store is public

  • Confirm the domain loads the new store, with and without "www"

  • Place one real order with a real card, then refund it

  • Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console

  • For a redesign, Shopify's Rollouts feature (Markets > Rollouts) can schedule or gradually roll out the new theme instead of switching everyone at once

The First 48 Hours

  • Watch incoming orders closely, and check the first few in detail

  • Check that orders reach your warehouse, ERP, or 3PL

  • Read every customer support message for patterns

  • Keep an eye on analytics for unusual drops in conversion or add-to-cart rate

  • Keep a list of small fixes and work through them in order of impact

If you're replacing an old store or theme, don't delete it straight away. Keep it available as a fallback until you're confident the launch is stable.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I test my Shopify store before launching?

Place test orders using Shopify Payments test mode or Shopify's Test payment gateway, then check products, discounts, shipping, taxes, apps, emails, and tracking. Test on real phones and desktop browsers, and ask someone unfamiliar with the store to try buying something.

How do I place a test order on Shopify?

Turn on Shopify Payments test mode or activate Shopify's Test payment gateway, then check out using the test card details Shopify provides. You can also place a real order with your own card and immediately refund and cancel it.

Can I test Shop Pay or PayPal in test mode?

Shopify says test mode doesn't support Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments, PayPal Wallet, or POS card readers. To test those, place a real order and refund it.

Can customers buy while test mode is on?

No. While a payment gateway is in test mode, customers can't place live orders. Turn test mode off as soon as you've finished testing.

How long should pre-launch testing take?

It depends on the size of the store. A small new store may need a day or two. A migration or a store with integrations, B2B, or several markets needs more time. Plan testing into the schedule rather than squeezing it in at the end.

Do I need to test again after launch?

Yes. Test checkout after every significant change to apps, theme, discounts, or payment settings, and run through key checks regularly as part of store maintenance.

Want a Second Pair of Eyes Before Launch?

CodeVibez is a Shopify Plus Preferred Partner that has supported more than 1,000 Shopify stores across D2C, B2B, wholesale, ERP integrations, and point of sale. Our Shopify testing team checks checkout, products, integrations, and devices before you go live, so launch day stays calm.

Schedule a free call or contact our team.

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