Friction Observatory
Checkout monitoring across 8 buyer markets
Generate checkout tests in about two minutes, then watch product → cart → checkout on US, CA, GB, FR, DE, AE, ZA, and AU — with alerts only when a store-side issue is confirmed. Runs stop at checkout presentation — no real payments, no card details, no orders placed.
What a report looks like
Checkout works in 7 of 8 markets. Australia cannot finish shipping.
Example: 2 checks per market (mobile + desktop) on the same product → cart → checkout path. Seven markets pass; Australia fails on shipping.
Shopper path
- 1Opened the product page
- 2Added it to the cart
- 3Reached checkout
Tests passed by market
United States
2passed
of 2 checks
Canada
2passed
of 2 checks
United Kingdom
2passed
of 2 checks
France
2passed
of 2 checks
Germany
2passed
of 2 checks
United Arab Emirates
2passed
of 2 checks
South Africa
2passed
of 2 checks
Australia
0passed
of 2 checks
Australia: shipping rates are missing, so those buyers cannot check out.
How it works
A buyer path you can schedule — without touching real payments
Install the app, generate checkout tests from your catalog, pick markets, and we walk the storefront the way a customer would — stopping at checkout presentation.
01
Connect your shop
Install on Shopify and generate checkout tests from your live catalog — or paste product URLs — then choose markets and devices.
02
We run each selected market
Scheduled synthetic tests hit product → cart → checkout in the markets you pick (from US, CA, GB, FR, DE, AE, ZA, and AU). Videos and screenshots capture what failed where.
03
You get a clear verdict
Health scores, fix checklists, and Slack or email alerts only when the same checkout fault repeats on the store — not one-off flukes.
Coverage
What we test — and what we don't
Runs stop at checkout presentation — no real payments, no card details, no orders placed.
What we test
- Product → cart → checkout presentation on the markets and devices you choose
- Optional paths: collection, Buy Now, homepage, and search (Pro / Agency)
- Shipping and payment method presentation as a buyer in that market would see them
- Theme and app regressions vs a pinned healthy baseline
What we don't
- Real payment capture or placing an order
- Logged-in / customer-account-only flows (roadmap)
- B2B catalogs, discount codes, or subscriptions as custom paths (roadmap)
- Uptime-only pings — we walk the buyer path, not just HTTP 200
What you catch
Market breaks, missing payments, and theme regressions
One primary market as baseline. Failures only elsewhere show up as localization issues — not a vague “site down.”
Multi-market checks
We monitor US, CA, GB, FR, DE, AE, ZA, and AU. Pro and Agency watch up to 5 of these at a time, with one baseline country.
Mobile and desktop
Run the same journey on phone and desktop viewports so theme bugs don’t hide.
Confirmed alerts
Optional Slack when the same critical issue repeats on the same store, market, and device.
Evidence you can share
Session video, screenshots, PDF, and signed share links for owners and theme partners.
Before / after themes
Pin a healthy baseline before you publish, then compare after the deploy.
Agency portfolio
See client shops together, peer health, and white-label client reports under your brand.
Why us
Built for multi-market truth — not a single-country ping
Most checkout monitors cover one path in one place. Friction Observatory treats markets, geo failures, confirmed alerts, and agency reports as first-class.
| Capability | Friction Observatory | Typical monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-market audits | Primary + monitored markets with baseline compare | Often one locale |
| Geo failure taxonomy | Localization vs site-wide called out | Generic “down” |
| Confirmed-repeat alerts | Same store · market · device before paging | Alert on first flake |
| Theme regression | Pin baseline, compare after deploy | Manual re-checks |
| Agency white-label PDFs | Client reports under your brand | Shared vendor branding |
| Self-healing visibility | Healing history when selectors change | Silent retries |
Pricing
Simple plans through Shopify Billing
Start free on Trial with a daily schedule and confirmed Slack or email alerts while your free tests last. Pro and Agency include a 14-day Shopify trial with 30 tests total — not per day — then unlimited runs after billing starts. Cancel anytime.
Trial
Free
Prove the product path works on one shop before you pay.
- Prove checkout before you pay1 product URL, United States only, mobile and/or desktop.
- 5 lifetime tests + daily scheduleEach market × device × URL uses one test. Schedule once a day while free tests remain.
- Confirmed Slack or email alertWire one channel and get paged after a confirmed store-side fault — not one-off flakes.
- Evidence on every runHealth score, findings, session video, screenshots, and a watermarked PDF.
- Link this shop to an agencyPaste a connection code so your agency can watch checkout for you.
Pro
$49/mo
Continuous checkout monitoring for one store that sells in more than one market.
- One-click setup for this storeGenerate tests from your catalog, or paste up to 5 published product URLs.
- Multi-market checkout truthWatch up to 5 markets (US, CA, GB, FR, DE, AE, ZA, AU) with a baseline country. Market Health shows where shipping, payments, or localization break.
- 14-day Shopify trial, then unlimited30 checkout tests total while Shopify is not charging (not 30 per day). Unlimited after a live charge starts.
- Set-and-forget after billing startsSchedule every 1, 6, 12, or 24 hours. Scheduling stays off during the Shopify trial.
- Five paths to checkoutProduct, collection, Buy Now, homepage, and search — not only product → cart.
- Alerts you can trustSlack and email after a confirmed repeat on the same shop, market, and device, plus a weekly digest.
- Theme baseline and proofPin a healthy run, compare after a deploy. Premium PDF, share links, health history, and visible self-healing.
Agency
$149/mo
Watch every client Shopify shop from one dashboard, with reports under your brand.
- Everything in Pro, on every client shopSame markets, paths, alerts, and evidence wherever the app is installed.
- 15-minute schedulesAfter Shopify starts charging, run as often as every 15 minutes (Pro starts at 1 hour).
- Client stores dashboardPortfolio pass-rate KPIs, worst-market view, and an alert inbox across linked shops.
- Connection codeClients stay on Trial or Pro and paste your code. Each shop still installs the app.
- White-label client PDFsYour agency name and logo on downloadable reports — not our brand.
- Peer benchmarks and agency SlackCompare clients to each other and send one agency-wide Slack feed.
Install once. Keep watching checkout.
Open Friction Observatory in Shopify Admin, generate checkout tests, and run your first multi-market audit in about two minutes.