Can you increase customer spend with test automation?

There are lots of graphs, articles and metrics out there about how test automation delivers great benefits, many of which focus on the saving of time and money. I’m not saying this is wrong in any way as I know this is true. ROQ has delivered many successful client engagements providing benefits like:

·        Thousands of pounds saved on licences by utilising open-source tools

·        5 weeks of manual testing done in just 11 hours via test automation

·        Delivery speed increased from monthly to daily releases

However, another key benefit that I don’t think is talked about as much is that test automation should ultimately increase customer spend.

Test automation and customer spend – some may think that the two are not connected and others might think they very much are. It is hard to directly correlate test automation to customer spend and your view on this might depend on the technology being tested or perhaps your own role within the business.

But in very simple terms, test automation which provides benefits, similar to those mentioned in the above bullet points, enables businesses to respond quickly with quality solutions, without increasing costs, and so delighting both the business and customers. Delighted customers are likely to remain loyal, recommend you, spend more money with you. (Actually, some might suggest they don’t really need to be delighted, just simply not annoyed by a solution – but let’s aim for delighted).

The most obvious example would be in the eCommerce world. A slick, quick, bang on trend, bug-free customer journey means customers will return again and again (assuming they like what you actually sell) because there are no barriers to them spending with you. 

We have helped clients in the eCommerce space by implementing test automation to reduce execution time and more than double test coverage, resulting in a significant rise in quality. In many cases, this has been shown to increase customer satisfaction and spend – directly impacting the bottom line.

The same can be true for other technologies, for example, cloud-based solutions with regular releases. They might well win new customers each year, but introduce bugs into the application every few months, weeks or even days, and will the customer look to increase the number of licences, or renew the contract next year? Perhaps...perhaps not.

In similar environments, ROQ has delivered test automation to support CI/CD which gives the ability to deliver change quickly, but more than that, it allows the delivery of quality change quickly, delivering new features to users. This results in delighted customers, who remain loyal and keep spending (or renew that contract).

Businesses need to generate revenue and perhaps now more than ever, need to do so to ensure longevity, to support their staff, shareholders and communities. Quality products or digital experiences that delight customers and make them want to spend money with your organisation is a great way to do that. I think that rings true regardless of what you do or sell.

I’m obviously in the camp that thinks customer spend and test automation are very much linked, but I’d be interested to hear your views and also to hear about any other benefits that test automation has provided to your organisation.

Thanks for reading.