Demo
Menu
Platform
Real-Device Testing
Easily test your App on real-devices with low latency
Device Lab Management
Deploy a global device cloud and connect on-premises devices for remote access
Scriptless Test Automation
Scriptless mobile test automation for continuous testing at scale
Functional Testing
Enjoy manual, automated and scriptless functional testing
Visual Testing
Ensure visual perfection throughout your entire mobile app
Performance Testing
Optimize mobile application performance to drive better app store ratings, lower app abandonment, and capture more revenue on mobile channels
Pricing
Solutions
By Industry
Retail, eCommerce
Financial & FinTech
Entertainment & Gaming
Travel, Leisure and Hospitality
Insurance & InsureTech
Healthcare & Health Insurance
Telco, Media and Entertainment
Mobile Critical
By Need
Coverage
–
We need to test on more devices
Management
–
We need to tame device chaos
Automation
–
We need to move to automated testing
Remote Enablement
–
We need to enable a globally distributed remote testing team
By Test Type
Manual Testing
Automated Testing
Scriptless Automation
Continuous Testing &
DevOps Integration
By Outcome
Improve the customer
Experience
–
We need to lower app abandonment or improve our app store ratings
Improve Revenue
–
We need to drive improved revenue and conversions on our mobile channel
Improve Release
Efficiency
–
We need to speed up our time-to-market and shorten the QA cycle
Improve compliance
–
We need to to ensure our app is compliant in our highly regulated enviroment
Company
About & Meet the team
Partners
Press
Blog
Careers
Contact Us
Resources
Appium
Download the ultimate Appium guide
Kobiton Certification
–
Gain a competitive advantage by validating your test automation skills
Blog
Calculators
The Cost and Savings of Automation
A cost/benefit analysis for doing Automated Testing
Cost of App Abandonment Calculator
User churn and App abandonment cost you money. Find out how much.
Datasheets
Platform Overview
Deployment Options
Scriptless Automation
In-Depth brochure
Content
Product Brochure
Whitepapers
Success Stories
Q2 Case Study
GreenSky Case Study
View more success stories & case studies
Training (Kobiton University)
Help
Documentation
Portal Login
Integrations
FAQ
Other Content
10 Things to Ask when selecting a mobile testing platform
Mobile-First Development and Testing Landscape
Login
Contact Us
Kobiton
Features
Real-Device Testing
Device Lab Management
Intelligent Test Automation
Pricing
Solutions
By Industry
Retail
Teleco
Financial & FinTech
Entertainment & Gaming
Travel
Mobile Critical
By need
Coverage
Management
Automation
Remote Enablement
By Test Type
Manual Testing
Automated Testing
Continuous Testing & DevOps Integration
By Outcome
Improve the customer Experience
Improve Release Efficiency
Improve Revenue
Improve compliance
Company
About
Partners
Press
Events
Contact Us
Resources
Whitepapers
Documentation
Login
Contact Us
What We Learned from the Holiday Season
07 Dec
What We Learned from the Holiday Season
Posted at 19:37h
in
Blog
by
Adam Creamer
As the dust settles on the first retail battle of the holiday season, app designers and testers alike aren’t granted much time to reflect before prepping for the next onslaught of shopping and booking alike. The two months concluding months of the year are devoted to fixes on the fly, and with time at a premium, it can be relatively easy for software and mobile app testers to keep their nose to the grind and try to push through the rush.
Today, we’re suggesting a slightly modified approach. While it can be easy to lose yourselves in the gusto of the holiday season, filling holes in the boat as you try desperately to row to the shore that is the new year, perhaps a moment to pause and reflect may remind you that there’s a liferaft waiting for you under the seat within the hull.
We’re going to rewind on the Black Friday and Cyber Monday that just were, and consider some more immediate tweaks and subtle responses that we can make as the holiday season marches onward. Just as well, we’re going to note some potential takeaways for next holiday season as we round the turn into the new year and renew our focus on subsequent versions and rollouts of our mobile apps.
Automation & AI Reign Supreme This Holiday Season
The first noteworthy movement in the testing realm that’s been vaulted into the forefront in the wake of this year’s Black Friday is the prevalence and newfound reliance on automation via AI tech. Testers across the industry are doubling down on utilizing AI-centered testing platforms to augment their quality assurance automation on the fly as the holiday season carries onward.
The manual QA of the past would require teams to essentially wait until after the holiday season to even address modest concerns plaguing the performance of their mobile apps, possibly identifying and patching catastrophic occurrences on the fly just to make it through. AI has transformed QA diagnostics, allowing teams to prioritize certain types of testing as they see fit and optimizing overall test coverage as necessary.
The other component of this exercise is the way in which AI and machine learning principles are creating testing spaces of exponential performance over time. The early adopters are now reaping the benefits of artificial intelligence’s ability to forecast and develop predictive analytics on performance and data, refining itself with each iteration. What this means is that with increased usage comes a greater propensity for AI testing to reform itself and operate in a manner that maximizes time allocation to certain testing procedures and focuses on likely problem areas that are learned over time. In this way, the lessons learned from the early stages of the holiday season are already being digested, processed and addressed by testing teams that rely on artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate their testing procedures.
Long-Term Strategies For Next Season’s Travel Rush
As the retail and travel boom continues, it’s critical for mobile app designers and testers to look ahead at ways they can utilize the dominant trends that are setting the tone this holiday season. Leveraging trends like wayfinding and in-store purchases as we look ahead at the remainder of this holiday season is a crucial way to stay current with industry standards and set your app to perform at its peak.
Wayfinding Guides the Holiday Journey
The first method we’re going to consider is implementing wayfinding software into retail and travel apps, and considering how the holiday season may affect their utilization for testers and app designers. Wayfinding features in mobile apps are an excellent investment for physical companies, such as retail stores like Walmart and Target, to make as the holiday season is upon us. Interactive wayfinding encourages shoppers to rely on their screen for self-navigation and a wealth of services, freeing up employees to ensure that the shelves are stocked and the register lanes operate smoothly.
Implementing wayfinding requires regular vigilance on the behalf of testing teams that must consider the ever-changing needs and layout of stores, developing tests that support these ongoing measures. Retail wayfinding operates as a sort of go-between in the realm of navigation and content management systems, providing direction and interior layouts that rely on elements of GIS technology to function, but operate in a retail-driven manner that accommodates information otherwise delivered via map, brochures, coupon-coding or employee assistance. The entire point of wayfinding is to increase accessibility and confusion, which means that a smooth operation on behalf of the testing team is a key point of emphasis as the holiday season continues.
In-Store Purchase App Features Rock the Shopping Season
Just as well, retail mobile apps during the holiday season are increasingly turning to in-store purchase functions to drive commerce. Using data collection to drive customized shopping experiences, complex user profiles can be employed via your mobile app to deliver in-store purchase incentives that drive holiday commerce. Facilitating this type of commerce is a vital facet of mobile app testers in the midst of the holiday rush, and supporting in-store purchase features is a must to thrive this holiday season.
For testers, that can mean a number of focus points. Building out a rapid feedback channel may be an endeavor to develop for the subsequent holiday season, but it can be crucial for retail app teams looking to respond to QA concerns via a variety of different user devices, networks, and locations. Recognizing location-based reactions, particularly in retail settings, is key for a proper rapid feedback channel. Along those lines, this can be a good time to utilize AI to clean up complex data, so often a problem for retail mobile apps. With a variety of inputs from users, including demographic information, shopping habits and purchase points, waypoint geographic data, and a multitude of other areas that tests will comb, using AI testing software to clean up data and represent it in clear visualizations can assist with ongoing testing efforts as the holidays continue onward. Losing the signal to the noise is a surefire way to complicate a tester’s life, so recognizing the power of AI-driven testing apps (not unlike what Kobiton provides) will expedite the debugging process and spread a little bit of holiday joy to your testing team.