Verify a creator discount by following the creator's link on a phone, building eligible and ineligible carts, and completing an authorized test order. Compare the promised offer with the discount, shipping, tax and final payment amount. Save the order record alongside the mobile evidence. A code accepted in the cart is only one checkpoint.
This mobile checkout test script uses Shopify for platform-specific rules. The testing sequence is a recommendation you can adapt to another commerce platform. It does not establish that any particular store works.
Agree on the offer and the test authority
Before touching checkout, ask the merchant to confirm:
- The exact link and code the creator will share.
- Eligible products and variants, excluded items, and whether subscriptions qualify.
- Minimum spend or quantity, customer eligibility, permitted markets and use limits.
- Start and end times, including the store's time zone.
- Whether the code combines with automatic discounts, other codes or free shipping.
- Who authorizes test purchases, prevents shipment and handles cancellation or refunds.
Save that approved offer beside the test record. Use the merchant's current product listing and configuration for SKU, price and availability. Do not substitute an old campaign brief for those facts.
Shopify's amount-off discount documentation describes product, customer and market eligibility settings. It also says discount timing follows the store's configured time zone. Record those settings before deciding whether a rejection is a bug.
For a US promotion, the FTC's advertising guidance says claims must be truthful and supported. Necessary qualifying information should appear where people can notice and understand it. As a practical check, compare exclusions and minimum-spend terms across the creator's copy, destination page and checkout. This is an operational review, not legal advice.
If the destination already names the wrong product or offer, resolve that with the creator landing-page checklist before testing payment.
Choose a test method without disrupting customers
Shopify supports simulated transactions through its test payment gateway or Shopify Payments test mode. Its test-order guide warns that customers cannot place live orders while payment providers are in test mode. Do not switch a live store into test mode without merchant approval and an agreed window.
Ask the merchant's commerce owner to choose the method and prepare fulfillment safeguards. A test should not send an unintended parcel or customer message. Use authorized test identities and addresses. Use gateway-provided test payment details only in the corresponding test mode.
A real purchase may be necessary for a payment method the test setup cannot exercise. Shopify's processing guide describes this route, with cancellation and refund afterward. It also directs merchants to review payment-provider terms and warns that some fees are not returned. Get approval for the spend and cleanup before placing the order.
Keep the limit visible. A simulated card success does not prove a live mobile wallet works. If an advertised payment method cannot be tested, record it as unverified.
Run the mobile checkout script
Use a real phone for the shopper-facing run. Record its operating system, browser or social app, and version. Start with an empty cart and note whether the customer is signed in. Repeat the main purchase path in the creator's social app browser, if available, and the phone's usual browser.
The table is a recommended test plan. Shopify itself recommends testing mobile devices, account states, discount codes, shipping addresses, different payment methods and failed transactions in its processing guide.
| Step | Action | Evidence to save |
|---|---|---|
| Enter | Open the actual creator link. Follow every redirect. | Starting link, final URL, product and selected variant |
| Build | Add an eligible item, then try an excluded item and a mixed cart. | SKU, quantity, displayed price and eligibility result |
| Apply | Paste the exact code. Try the approved minimum, just below it, and any advertised combination. | Discount amount or exact rejection message |
| Edit | Change quantity or variant after applying the code. Remove an eligible item. | Recalculated subtotal and whether the discount remains valid |
| Deliver | Enter an authorized address in each advertised shipping region. Select the relevant rate. | Region, rate name, shipping charge, tax and final total |
| Pay | Complete each authorized payment path. In supported test mode, simulate a decline and retry. | Payment result, error text and order identifier |
| Reconcile | Compare the confirmation page, order notification and merchant order record. | Matching items, discount, shipping, tax, total and payment status |
On the phone, also check whether you can find the code field, read a rejection without zooming, and return from a payment handoff. If a wallet appears, inspect its final amount before confirming. A different payment path needs its own evidence.
For customer-restricted offers, run both eligible and ineligible test identities. Do not interpret a returning customer's rejection without checking the approved rule. The existing-customer offer matrix helps define those cases.
Work through the minimum-spend boundary
Consider this hypothetical Shopify offer:
- Code
MOBILE15gives 15% off selected one-time-purchase products. - Eligible products must total at least $50.
- An unrelated accessory is excluded.
- No earlier discounts apply, and shipping costs $6.
Shopify says product-specific amount-off minimums count eligible products. Shipping and taxes do not count. Amount-off discounts also do not reduce shipping charges.
| Hypothetical cart | Expected discount | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| $48 eligible item plus $10 excluded accessory | $0 | Minimum not met, despite $58 in products |
| $50 eligible item | $7.50 | $42.50 in products, plus $6 shipping, before tax |
| $60 eligible item plus $10 excluded accessory | $9 | $61 in products, plus $6 shipping, before tax |
For the second cart, $48.50 is the expected total before tax. Record the actual tax separately; this example does not specify a tax jurisdiction. If checkout shows free shipping, investigate the shipping configuration or another offer. Do not assume the creator's percentage code caused it.
Keep evidence that someone else can repeat
Create one record per case. Copy these fields into a test sheet:
Case ID and tester:
Run time and store time zone:
Store environment and authorized test method:
Phone, operating system, browser or app version:
Creator entry URL and final URL:
Customer eligibility and signed-in state:
Product SKU, variant, quantity and purchase type:
Code, other active offers and expected result:
Observed discount or exact error:
Shipping region, rate, charge and tax:
Final amount and currency:
Payment method, outcome and order ID:
Redacted screenshots and merchant-record references:
Pass, fail or unverified; owner and retest date:
Cancellation, refund, shipment prevention and cleanup:Keep addresses, payment details and personal account information out of shared screenshots. Retain only the evidence your team needs to reproduce the issue.
Separate discount testing from commission attribution. Modash's affiliate-tracking article discusses why links and code redemptions can produce different records. Seeing the right checkout total does not establish creator credit. Use the affiliate-link test journey for that separate check. Shopify also says simulated transactions do not appear in payouts or reports, so they cannot prove live reporting end to end.
Decide whether the creator can publish
Hold the offer if an eligible shopper cannot redeem it, the total contradicts the approved terms, or an advertised payment route remains broken. A correct rejection for an excluded product can pass, provided the terms and message explain it.
After any correction, repeat the failed case and the main eligible purchase. Ask the merchant to confirm test-mode removal, order cleanup and fulfillment safeguards before resuming ordinary sales.
Send the creator the approved link, code, visible restrictions and publication time only after the merchant signs off on the tested paths. Attach unresolved cases with an owner rather than describing the whole mobile checkout as verified.
