An e-store bug can be a problem of gigantic dimensions. System failures have caused everything from selling products for a fraction of the correct value to canceling a rocket launch.
When it comes to a problem in a large company, a failure causes losses, but in the case of medium and small companies, they can even mean the bankruptcy of the business. In this post we will look back at some of these cases of historical bugs that caused major distortions.
Then we'll talk about how to prevent these problems. Check it out:
Damages and Invasion of Privacy
Bugs have already caused a lot of damage for companies. In May 2017, a glitch caused by a software update caused Starbucks cash registers in the United States and Canada to shut down for several hours. The stores were forced to take cash only and hand out free coffee to card-only customers.
For its part, GM was forced to recall 4.3 million vehicles. A defect in the software of the airbag system caused the system to not deploy properly when the car was impacted.
And, Walmart went through a similar situation because of a bug in its Brazilian online store. Thousands of internet users bought computers with a 75.8% discount in relation to the original price of the product. Instead of charging R$ 2.398, the Walmart site charged only R$ 580.
The supposed promotion lasted for hours, and the company subsequently cancelled the sale of the product, sparking outrage among consumers.
Many security breaches have also allowed user data to be stolen. One of the most famous cases was the theft of Yahoo's user data, which affected 3 billion accounts.
This data corroborates the survey by Austrian company Tricentis, which estimates that the cost of software bugs, performance and security flaws worldwide causes massive damage to the world economy. The company estimates that this figure reached U$ 1.1 trillion in 2016 alone.
Prevention Is Possible
To prevent problems like these, it is practically impossible to rely on a team of employees. It would be impractical for the team to manage all sectors, transactions, and check all the time if there is a bug in the online store, for example.
The best option in this case is to hire services such as Testby, which uses robots to perform routine tests on users' systems. As soon as a failure is identified, the system sends an e-mail to the client informing him of the error.
In this way, the client has the chance to resolve the problem quickly, preventing system failures from taking on major proportions and causing significant losses.
Considering that failures happen constantly, even with large companies, the best option to avoid a bug in the virtual store is to invest in prevention. Don't wait until a failure in the system causes the sale of a product that is out of stock or a liquidation for a value below the cost of the product to identify the weak points of your e-commerce. Contact Testby and protect your business.
