Find out your Shopify checkout broke from a test, not a customer.
Tracefox opens your store in a real browser, picks a product, adds it to the cart and goes through Shopify checkout up to the payment step, on a schedule. When a theme update, an app or a settings change stops that flow, the next run fails and you get the step that broke and the error, with a screenshot of every step on the run page.
Free plan: 1 test and 10 manual runs a month · No credit card · Schedules from Starter
What a Shopify checkout test checks
Depending on the steps in your test:
- The product page loads and the variant and Add to cart controls work
- The item reaches the cart and the Checkout button opens Shopify checkout
- Contact, shipping address and shipping method steps accept your test data
- A discount code you choose still applies (if you add that step)
- Text or elements you expect are on the page, such as the order summary
- The flow reaches the payment step, where the test stops and counts as passed
A test checks the steps you configure, on the one viewport you pick for it: desktop, or mobile or tablet on Pro and Business. Covering desktop and mobile takes two tests.
What it can't tell you
- Whether a payment is authorized: tests stop before submitting payment
- 3D Secure prompts and wallet payment sheets (Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay)
- Problems only on real phones or Safari: tests run in Chromium, mobile is emulated
- Anything on pages or steps your test doesn't visit
- Whether customers were affected: a failed check shows a configured step couldn't complete
To prove a payment goes through, use a controlled test order. The Shopify test order guide compares the options.
Setting up your first Shopify test
Create the test
Paste your store URL and Tracefox generates a checkout test for Shopify (any plan). Or record it by clicking through your store with the Chrome extension (Pro and Business), or add steps by hand.
Watch the check run
Creating a test runs it once, so you see each step pass or fail on your real store before relying on it. That run comes out of your monthly allowance.
Put it on a schedule
Weekly on Starter, daily on Pro, hourly on Business. On Free you run it by hand, up to 10 times a month. Each run uses one run from the workspace allowance.
When a scheduled run fails
If the first attempt failed quickly, Tracefox re-runs it once to rule out a passing blip; that re-run doesn't use another run. If it fails again, you get an email with the step that broke, the error message and a link to the run, which shows a screenshot of every step (Slack on Pro and Business, webhooks on Business). Pro and Business also keep a video of the run, except runs that use a password or other sensitive value. When the flow passes again, you get a recovery email.
Agencies can share the result with the client as a checkout report on paid plans.
Shopify problems a scheduled test can surface
Each guide helps you fix the problem now and explains which test step would catch it if it comes back.
Shopify checkout not working
The Checkout button does nothing, loops back to the cart, or checkout shows an error.
Add to cart not working
The button stops responding after a theme or app update, often on one device size.
Discount code not working
A code that should apply is rejected, or the discount disappears before payment.
Apple Pay not showing
Express checkout buttons missing after an app or settings change.
Common questions
Does it place orders on my Shopify store?
No. A test stops before payment, so it never submits a card and never creates an order. The only exception is a test you deliberately build to complete a zero-total order (for example with a 100% discount code and free shipping); that creates a real order you then cancel.
Do I need to install a Shopify app or give store access?
No. Tracefox works from the outside, in a headless browser, like a shopper. It needs no app, theme change, admin login or API access. You give it your store's URL.
How often does the test run?
When you press Run, on any plan. On a schedule: weekly on Starter, daily on Pro, hourly on Business. Each run uses one run from your workspace's monthly allowance (10 on Free, 120 on Starter, 750 on Pro, 3,000 on Business), and so does the check run when you first create a test. Saving edits doesn't.
Will it tell me if Shopify Payments or PayPal is declining cards?
No. Payment authorization happens after the point where tests stop, so declines, 3D Secure prompts and wallet payment sheets aren't checked. Use Shopify's test mode or a controlled test order for that; our Shopify test order guide explains the options.
Set up a test for one store and watch it run.
Free: one test, run by hand. Paid plans add schedules and start with a 7-day trial. Want help setting up the first store? Email support@tracefox.co.