Assignment 8: Store Testing and Analytics Review

ITP-W10 Shopify Store

Author

Yujia Luo

Published

August 16, 2026

Store tested: Cal Poly Pomona Farm Store
Storefront: https://ywanrn-2f.myshopify.com
Test date: August 16, 2026
Test scope: The customer journey was tested through checkout preview only. No real payment or transaction was completed.

1. Customer Journey Test

I tested the Shopify storefront from a customer’s perspective by moving through the major stages of the shopping journey: homepage, collection overview, individual collection, product page, cart, and checkout preview. The overall path was easy to follow, the product information loaded correctly, and the selected item carried successfully into checkout. The test also identified several opportunities to improve the customer experience before the final submission.

Stage Test action Result
Homepage Opened the storefront and reviewed featured products and navigation Passed; products and main menu loaded correctly
Collection overview Selected Collection from the main menu Passed; collection categories displayed clearly
Collection page Opened Fresh Produce and reviewed available items Passed; description, filters, sorting, and three products appeared
Product page Selected a product and reviewed its details and purchase controls Passed; product image, title, description, price, quantity selector, and Add to cart button loaded
Cart Added one item and continued toward checkout Passed; one Fresh Avocados item at $3.99 carried into the checkout summary
Checkout preview Reviewed contact, delivery, shipping, payment, and policy areas Passed for preview; no transaction was attempted, and payments are currently unavailable

Stage 1: Homepage

The homepage loaded successfully and displayed a Featured Products section with clear product images, names, and prices. The top navigation provided direct access to Products, Gift Baskets, Collection, Seasonal, and Contact. I began the test by selecting Collection from this menu.

Cal Poly Pomona Farm Store homepage with featured products and navigation

Homepage showing featured products and the main navigation menu.

Stage 2: Collection Overview

The Collection page organized the catalog into visual categories, including Daily Need, Dairy & Refrigerated, Fresh Produce, and Pantry Essentials. The large category images made the choices easy to recognize. I selected Fresh Produce to continue the journey.

Collection overview with product category cards

Collection overview showing the store’s major product categories.

Stage 3: Fresh Produce Collection

The Fresh Produce page included a short category description and displayed three products: Fresh Valencia Oranges, Fresh Avocados, and Fresh Purple Broccoli. Availability and price filters, sorting, and grid controls were visible. These features help customers narrow or reorganize the products as the catalog grows.

Fresh Produce collection showing oranges, avocados, and purple broccoli

Fresh Produce collection with its description, filters, sorting, and products.

Stage 4: Product Page and Cart

I opened an individual product from the Fresh Produce collection and reviewed its title, image, price, description, quantity selector, and purchase buttons. The page presented the information in a clear two-column layout, and the Add to cart and Buy it now buttons were easy to locate.

After I selected Add to cart and continued to checkout, the store retained one Fresh Avocados item and the correct $3.99 subtotal. This confirmed that the cart-to-checkout handoff worked correctly.

Stage 5: Checkout Preview

The checkout preview displayed the selected Fresh Avocados item, quantity of one, and a subtotal of $3.99. Customers can enter contact and delivery information and choose either Ship or Pickup. Shipping costs remain pending until a shipping address is entered, which is appropriate behavior.

Checkout contact and delivery page with Fresh Avocados order summary

Checkout preview showing contact fields, Ship and Pickup options, and the order summary.

The lower checkout area displayed the shipping-method and payment sections. It also stated that transactions are secure and encrypted. The practice store currently cannot accept payments, so the Pay now button is disabled. This was an appropriate stopping point because the assignment did not require a real transaction. Refund, shipping, privacy, terms of service, and contact links were visible at the bottom of the checkout, providing useful trust information.

Checkout payment area and policy links with payment disabled Checkout payment area and policy links with payment disabled

2. Store Strengths

  1. Clear navigation and collection structure. The main menu supports a logical path from the homepage to products and collections. Visual collection cards help customers understand the catalog and move quickly to a relevant product category.

  2. Strong product imagery and browsing tools. The store uses large, consistent product images with visible names and prices. The Fresh Produce collection also includes a description, availability and price filters, sorting, and grid controls that support efficient browsing.

  3. Functional checkout preview and visible trust information. The selected item, quantity, and subtotal transferred correctly to checkout. Customers can review shipping or pickup choices, and the checkout provides direct access to refund, shipping, privacy, terms, and contact information.

3. Areas for Improvement

  1. Complete mobile and accessibility testing. The storefront should be tested on smaller phone screens to confirm that navigation, product images, buttons, forms, and text remain easy to use. Image alternative text, heading order, color contrast, and keyboard navigation should also be reviewed before the final submission.

  2. Improve branding and message consistency. The store name appears prominently on some pages but is not equally visible on the captured homepage. Generic messages such as “Welcome to our store” and “Shop our latest arrivals!” should be replaced with copy that specifically communicates the Cal Poly Pomona Farm Store brand and its farm-fresh product value.

  3. Complete final checkout and measurement verification. The practice store appropriately stops before payment, but the final review should confirm shipping or pickup settings and verify that GA4 receives the important journey events. If the store were prepared for a live launch, a valid payment provider would also need to be configured.

4. Analytics Review

GA4 was connected to the Shopify practice store during the previous setup assignment. Because the property is newly connected and the store has limited practice traffic, the available data are not yet sufficient for reliable conclusions about conversion rate or customer behavior. For this test, the most important activities to review in GA4 are page_view, view_item, add_to_cart, view_cart when recorded, and begin_checkout. The screenshots confirm that the test session reached the product and checkout stages, but GA4 Realtime or DebugView should be checked again after processing to confirm that these events were received. Future test visits should be separated from real customer traffic when analyzing performance. No purchase event was expected because no transaction was completed.

5. Improvement Plan

Before the final Shopify submission, I plan to repeat the entire customer journey on both desktop and mobile and improve any navigation, image, button, form, or text elements that are difficult to use on a smaller screen. I will also standardize the store name and replace generic announcement text with clearer Cal Poly Pomona Farm Store messaging. Next, I will verify all navigation and policy links, confirm that shipping and pickup settings display correctly, review basic accessibility features, and check GA4 Realtime or DebugView for page-view, product-view, add-to-cart, and begin-checkout activity. These changes will make the storefront more consistent, accessible, trustworthy, and ready for the final Week 11 submission.

Appendix