Report Toaster Testing

By default, Report Toaster is configured for use with real orders and real Shopify data.

However, agencies or merchants who are setting up a store for the first time may want to look at reports with Shopify test order data before moving to a live storefront. 

Currently, no other reporting apps support this feature (including Shopify reports), so Report Toaster is unique in providing this kind of testing capability.

Therefore, this article covers how to set up and utilize test orders when creating your reports.  

What is a Test Order

Test orders are used in Shopify to place a simulated order on the storefront. Unlike a real order,

These orders involve the use of Shopify's Bogus Gateway to simulate a transaction, rather than making an actual payment (that would be charged fees and so on).

Test orders are useful to validate certain settings, as you can place a test order to confirm that your checkout, order processing, products, inventory, taxes, shipments, etc. are all working as expected 

See the main Shopify guide here

Enable Test-Data

If you want Report Toaster to providing reporting for test orders, click the Settings Menu (1) and under Test data, you can click the button to switch between Live data vs Test Data: 

This lets you choose between seeing your real orders or your test orders. 

Remember - The choice is either/or, so be sure to put the toggle back again once you're ready to look at real data from your storefront (!)

Syncing/Refreshing Your Data

After your account has been setup and any initial data has been provisioned, Report Toaster syncs with your Shopify account (approximately once per minute) to keep your information up to date. 

The process is automatic, so you don't need to do anything to ensure these changes are reflected.

However, if you're waiting for some new data to appear (e.g. you just created a new order in Shopify), give it a minute or two to show up in Report Toaster. 

You should also feel free to refresh your browser to ensure you always have the most up-to-date view of your data. 

Historical vs. Live Data 

One important thing to remember when testing Report Toaster is the difference between attributes that were true at the time of sale vs. those that are true now. 

This is a common discrepancy for merchants who are testing their storefront, as they are typically making a large number of changes (e.g. tags, cost, price) to their products. 

E.g. If I had a test order (#1001) placed yesterday where the Total Price was $50, but I changed the Total Price on the Product this morning to $60, the price change would not be reflected in the Sales reports.

This is because the Sales reports measure what is true at the time of sale, to report the correct sales figures and maintain historical integrity.

You may want to review our guidance on NOW fields to see the difference between fields that are true at time of sale vs fields that are true right now to make sure you are using the right one in your reports.

How to Test Changes?

Therefore if you have made changes to your storefront and want to check it's being shown correctly in your account, the process is simple.

- Make the changes

- Place a fresh test order.
- Wait 2-5 minutes for Shopify to pass us the webhook updates (be sure to refresh your browser as needed), then
- You should see the new order in Report Toaster with the updated information 

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