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Testing checkouts and customer portal

This is how you can test the checkout flow for your products and how you can see what your customer will see inside their customer portal

Previewing Product Checkouts

You can test the checkout flow easily by navigating to the products section here and clicking the Preview Checkout from the drop-down menu on the right. This will load the checkout in test mode and will not actually charge your card in the end (nor will it generate an order on your Subbly admin.

You can also use the shortcut and use it directly from the product menu by hovering over the product.

Remember, each product you create on Subbly has a unique checkout URL which can be accessed from the product page and can be found inside the Checkout URL field as in the picture below:

To test the full checkout experience (including email confirmations, funnel offers, survey preferences, and backend record creation), you'll need to run a test transaction using Stripe Test payment gateway.

Running Test Transactions on the Checkout

To experience the full end-to-end checkout—including order creation, customer record generation, and testing post-purchase funnels—you'll need to run a test transaction using Stripe's test account.

For more information on how to connect your Stripe test account, see this article

Once your Stripe Test gateway is connected and set as the primary payment gateway, follow these steps:

How to run a test transaction:

  1. Get your product URL:
    • Go to your product in the Subbly admin and copy the product checkout link.
  2. Open the link in a new browser tab to simulate a real customer experience.
  3. Fill in the checkout details:
    • Email, shipping address, and preferences.
  4. Use the Stripe test card:
    • Card number: 4242 4242 4242 4242
    • Expiry: Any future date (e.g. 09/39)
    • CVC: Any 3 digits (e.g. 123)
    • ZIP code: Any valid format (e.g. 12345)
  5. Complete the transaction by clicking Pay.

Subbly will now:

  • Create a test customer record.
  • Create the subscription/order based on the product setup.

You’ll see the new test customer/subscription is marked with an orange “Test” badge next to their subscription. (picture above)

This is the best method to see the complete customer experience, from product selection through to backend visibility. Especially if you are testing the Post-purchase Funnels that only appear once the checkout is completed.

Testing the customer portal

Seeing the full experience of the customer login area requires you to actually finish the test checkout instead of using a Preview checkout mode as described above. That said, you'll first need to have active test subscribers on your store in order to be able to see the customer login area the way they see it.

You can access (and ultimately manage) each customer profile and subscription from the Customers tab on your admin. Once inside the customer profile, go to the square to the right with the contact details and historical activity of the customer, click on the three dots and then on Login as customer button so you're taken straight into the subscription portal of a customer in question.

While as this is the example for the test account, please be super careful when loging in as a real customer as everything you change once inside the customer login area will actually reflect changes on the customer's subscription.
Make sure to read more about the customer login area here. 

Final Steps

Once you're happy with your test experience and ready to go live:

  • Switch from Stripe test mode to your live Stripe account following this guide.
  • Contact our team if you want to remove any test data from your account to avoid confusion.

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