A checkout that works in your home country can still fail in another. The tax line is missing, a free-shipping threshold is in the wrong currency, a payment method does not show, or the confirmation email carries the wrong amount. You then hear about it from a customer, or you do not hear and they leave.
This is a test plan for a Shopify store that sells to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe. It uses Shopify Help Center pages read on 5 November 2026. Where a page said nothing, the plan gives a question for Shopify, your payment provider or your tax adviser. It ends with 35 numbered cases you can print and sign.
Set up test mode and test data
Shopify describes two ways to test. One is a gateway in test mode: Shopify's Test payment gateway, Shopify Payments test mode or a third-party gateway's own test mode. The other is a real order that you cancel and refund at once, though the processor may charge fees. Its test order page says you can test a gateway only on a paid plan, and that customers cannot place live orders while a provider is in test mode, so switch it off afterwards.
For Shopify Payments, the page says to go to Settings, Payments, Manage, then Enable test mode, once setup is complete. At checkout, use a name of at least two words, any future expiry date and any 3 digit security code (4 digits for American Express). The page lists test numbers, such as 4242424242424242 for a Visa payment that succeeds, 4000000000000002 for a general decline and 4000000000009995 for insufficient funds, plus other brands and failures. The page writes them without spaces. Check it for the current list.
Local methods such as iDEAL | Wero do not show while Shopify Payments test mode is on. Shopify POS card readers, Shop Pay Installments and PayPal Wallet cannot be tested that way. Manual methods such as cash on delivery and bank transfer have no test mode, so they need a real order. Use an @example.com address for test orders, and turn off fulfilment services and auto-fulfilment apps first. To test fulfilment, cancel the fulfilment or the order before you turn the service back on.
See the store as a buyer in another country
Shopify's localisation page describes no tool for previewing your storefront as a shopper abroad. Its Markets checkout preview page said the feature was coming soon when I read it, so this plan does not assume it exists. Use these pieces for a manual test:
- A first visit is matched to a market by IP address, browser language picks the language, and a market's own domain, subdomain or subfolder gives that market's experience.
- Country and language selectors let customers choose their own experience, and the page recommends them for VPN users, travellers and price comparison. Use them in your tests if your theme has them.
- The shipping address entered at checkout decides the final experience, which can change the currency and market customisations. Test with an address in each country.
- IP location is not always accurate, and VPNs, company networks and some mobile carriers can place a customer wrongly. Treat a VPN test as a check, not proof, and ask a real shopper in each place to place one order.
Record each case as pass or fail, with the date, the tester and a screenshot. A quality and testing team can run the plan for you.
The 35 test cases
Markets and currency. Shopify's pricing page says prices convert at the current exchange rate unless you set rates by hand, and you can round prices for each market. It says shoppers need a country selector to see another country's currency, and that only stores using Shopify Payments with one-page checkout can use every feature. See our Shopify Markets guide for the set-up.
- Open each market's address in a private window: language, currency and country selector are right.
- Change country with the selector: prices, currency and cart total update, and the items stay in the cart.
- Enter a shipping address in a different country from the selector: check the currency and total at the final step.
- Check three products, the cheapest and dearest included: rounded prices look like real prices in each currency.
- For a product limited to certain markets, check what the other markets show. Shopify's SEO page says a market that does not include a product returns your 404 page for it.
Tax and duties. Shopify says that with tax-exclusive prices, tax is added at checkout. With tax-inclusive prices, set per market under Settings, Taxes and duties, checkout shows the included tax beside the total. The setting changes the display, not the calculation, and with it on, tax-exempt customers still pay the full listed price. Shopify says tax-inclusive pricing helps where it is common or required, but does not say where that is, so ask your tax adviser which of your four places need it. For the US, see our sales tax guide, and for display design see our price and tax display checklist.
- US address in a state where you collect tax: tax is added at checkout and matches your adviser's figure.
- US address in a state where you do not collect tax: no tax line, as your adviser expects.
- UK address: product page, cart and checkout totals agree, and the tax line reads as you set it, included or added.
- Addresses in two EU countries: same check, with the rate you set for each.
- Canadian addresses in two provinces: the tax lines match what your adviser expects.
- A tax-exempt customer, if you have any: the total is what you promised.
- Duties on: an address where you collect duties and import taxes shows them as a line item or in the price, as you chose. Shopify calls these charges estimates.
- Open the order's duty summary: HS codes and rates are filled in. Ask Shopify whether duties are calculated on test orders, because its page does not mention test mode.
- Repeat cases 6 to 10 after any duty change. Shopify's tax page says collecting duties might override your store tax settings in complex international sales.
Shipping. Shopify's pages say a shipping zone is a group of countries, a country can sit in only one zone per profile, and a country needs an active market before you can sell there. Customers see no rates until they enter an address, then see the rates that apply with the cheapest as the default. Flat rates in local currencies need Shopify Payments. Shopify says stores are moving to shipping options by market, so menus may differ.
- One address per zone: only that zone's rates show, with the cheapest chosen.
- An address outside your zones: the notice that no rate is available shows.
- Free shipping: an order just under and just over the threshold, in each currency.
- An order with a very high total or weight. Shopify says if the top tier has a maximum and an order goes above it, checkout shows a shipping error.
- If you use carrier rates, confirm a backup rate is set. Shopify says backup rates let checkout finish if carrier rates fail.
Payments and discounts. Shopify's payments page says customers can pay with the methods you activate, tells you to consider where your business and customers are, and points to a list of gateways by country with the currencies they support. It says no method is preselected for customers in Finland. A percentage discount applies the same percentage in any currency. A fixed-amount discount is set in your store currency and converted at checkout, and a code cannot be limited to one currency.
- List the payment methods shown for each country and compare with your plan. Test mode hides some local methods, so use a small real order and refund, or ask your provider.
- A successful test card in every checkout currency.
- A declined card: the message is clear and the cart is intact.
- Cash on delivery or bank transfer, if offered: one real order, then cancel it.
- A percentage code in each currency: the same percentage comes off.
- A fixed-amount code in each currency: the converted value is one you accept.
Emails. Notifications are under Settings, Notifications. Shopify's page says Send test email goes to the account you logged in with, and customers get notifications in the store languages you activate. The page does not address multiple currencies.
- Order confirmation in each language and currency: amounts, tax and duty lines read correctly.
- Shipping confirmation with tracking, on a partly fulfilled order.
- Refund email, after a refund.
Refunds, cancels and clean-up. Shopify's refund page says partial refunds can be repeated until the total is reached, shipping can be refunded up to the amount charged, and you choose whether to refund duties. It says store credit can be given an expiry date and countries have different rules, so check yours, a started refund cannot be reversed, and it does not say whether refunds use the customer's or the store currency. Our returns and refunds guide covers the rules.
- Refund a foreign-currency order in full, and another in part with shipping: check the amounts the customer sees.
- Cancel an order that holds a payment authorisation. Shopify says cancelling releases it.
- Delete or archive test orders. Shopify says only orders paid with the Test gateway or Shopify Payments test mode can be deleted, so archive the rest.
Devices and access. Shopify's own checklist says to place orders on desktop and mobile. Shopify publishes a checkout accessibility conformance report dated March 2026, covering WCAG 2.0 to 2.2 at levels A and AA. Test your own theme and apps as well. For the EU rules, see our accessibility guide.
- Complete an order on a real iPhone and a real Android phone.
- Complete an order in two desktop browsers.
- Complete checkout with the keyboard only.
- Enlarge the text and zoom: nothing is cut off, and the pay button stays reachable.
Who signs off
Give each area an owner. Operations signs shipping and emails. Finance and your tax adviser sign the tax and duty cases. A person in each market signs language, currency and delivery wording. Your developer fixes anything that fails, and someone retests it. Hold the launch if a payment, tax or refund case fails. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rules or ask a qualified adviser before you decide.
ESTASOFT offers quality and testing for online stores, and its site shows a Clutch 2026 ranking as a Top Shopify Company in the United Kingdom. To have this plan run for you, send a short brief on the contact page. If you sell in several countries, also read our guide to country URLs and hreflang.
Sources
- Placing a test order: ways to test, paid plan, no live orders in test mode; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Processing a test order: steps, manual methods, deleting versus archiving, checklist, cancel and refund; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Shopify Payments test mode: path to enable, test card rules and numbers (checked digit by digit), unavailable methods; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Setting up localization for markets: market matching, selectors, VPN and IP caveats, shipping address at checkout; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Checkout preview: page says the feature is coming soon, so not relied on; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Pricing in local currencies: conversion, rounding, country selector, Shopify Payments requirement; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- International SEO for markets: a market that does not include a product returns the 404 page; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Include taxes in product prices: Settings, Taxes and duties, tax-inclusive display, tax-exempt customers; page shows no overall date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Understanding the impact of tax collection on displayed prices: tax added at checkout when prices exclude tax, display only, duties might override (English page); page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Collecting international duties and import taxes at checkout: line item or included, estimates, order duty summary; page shows no test mode; no date for the parts used (checked 5 November 2026)
- Setting up shipping zones and rates: zones, rates at checkout, notice outside zones, currency, tiers; page shows a dated carrier note (25 September 2025), not used (checked 5 November 2026)
- Setting up shipping rates: backup rates, transit time, active market needed; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Payments: methods you activate, country and currency, Finland; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Discounts and markets: fixed-amount and percentage discounts across currencies; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Customizing email notification templates: Notifications settings, preview and test email, languages; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Refunding orders: partial refunds, shipping, duties, restock, store credit, no reversal; page shows no date (checked 5 November 2026)
- Shopify Accessibility Conformance Report, WCAG Edition (checkout): WCAG 2.0 to 2.2 levels A and AA, report dated March 2026 (checked 5 November 2026)