How to Create Dummy Data in eCommerce

Discover how to generate dummy data that'll help you test and improve your Shopify store's functionality.

Head and shoulders photo of Jessica Hughes
By Jessica Hughes
Joel Taylor
Edited by Joel Taylor

Updated August 16, 2024.

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Using dummy data for your Shopify store has various benefits. It lets you troubleshoot and optimize various aspects of your store without risking any real customer information or disrupting your live site.

Think of dummy data as a stand-in actor for your real data. It's randomly generated information you can use when running tests to ensure that if things go sideways, your actual data stays safe.

Below, we explain how to create and apply dummy data to test and refine your Shopify store efficiently.

» Optimize your testing process by generating sample data for your Shopify store

4 Ways to Create Dummy Data

There are various ways to create dummy data, as well as multiple programs you can use to help you do just that. However, it's possible for you to adequately put together dummy datasets in a program as easy to use as Microsoft Excel.

There are at least four ways to create dummy data that vary in complexity. There are more ways to generate Excel dummy data, but these are the simplest:

  1. You can enter any data manually. This can be anything from a bunch of random letters, numbers, names, months, etc. Basically, anything that means something to you.
  2. You can use the sequence function to generate a quick dataset. For example, making a sequence with TEXT, DATE, YEAR, and TODAY will create a dynamic list of months for the header row.
  3. You can create a categorical grouping variable by grouping unquantifiable data to get a dataset with qualitative characteristics.
  4. You can write a numeric grouping variable and create a quantifiable dataset whose values are numbers.

» Still not sure dummy data will help? Here's why your eCommerce store needs dummy data

Easily Create Dummy Data With Egnition

To save the time and effort that manually generating dummy data requires, you can opt for an easy-to-use dummy data generator like Egnition's Simple Sample Data. With this solution, you'll be able to create dummy data for testing and optimizing your Shopify store database in no time.

» Check out this comprehensive Simple Sample Data review to learn more

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Simplify Your Dummy Data Generation

Easily generate dummy data for your development store

Test user journeys and flows by generating customers and orders

Delete test data with one click



Your Next Move: Leveraging Dummy Data

Dummy data isn't just a substitute—it's an essential tool for eCommerce development. It allows you to safely mimic real situations so you can enhance your operations and make smarter decisions. Whether you create it manually or use tools like Egnition's Simple Sample Data, you're investing in your store's future.

» Start testing key areas of your Shopify store with sample data today and see how you can optimize performance and enhance user experience

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