Have you embraced the trend for online shopping yet? It’s a great way to search for products that you’ll love and find them at prices that you can afford too!
There are billions of websites on the internet, and shopping websites (also known as eCommerce websites) make up a huge proportion of them. Since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020, the rise in people buying online has been steady and expected to continue rising.
Get Your Garb Online
People order all sorts online, from clothing to DIY materials, dog food to take-out human food!
There’s a place for everything to be sold, but this does mean that there are heightened risks when it comes to buying online, and for the online shopper, the pitfalls can be hard to spot.
In this article, you’ll learn about six ways you can stay safe and get the best out of your online shopping experience, whether you are buying a new dress or a kitchen appliance.
Use a Digital Size Solution
Online retail is big business, and so is making sure your apparel or footwear items are the best fit when you order it.
Businesses want to reduce the number of returns they get coming back to them, which means they are likely to invest in a quality-size solution to help you make the correct fit purchase.
Fit predictors can help you find your perfect fit when it comes to clothing or footwear. These intuitive size solutions also improve personalized shopping experiences by asking a series of fit-related questions which enables the solution to use machine learning algorithms to recommend your perfect fit.
And the great thing about size solutions is they are easy to use – isn’t it about time you started buying your favorite items with confidence?.
Only Visit Trusted Retailers
As was said in the introduction, there are billions of websites on the internet, and it can be hard to know which ones are legitimate and which ones aren’t
For your first shopping experience, it might be worth sticking to stores you already know and love. This may mean finding hardware in Lowe’s online or buying your new shoes from Ruby Shoo shoes.
Once you’re a bit more confident, you can branch out to other websites that may have caught your interest and follow the following tips to stay safe.
Look for the Security Certificate
Google wants every website to use an enhanced TLS security certificate, but not every website does.
If you are going to be buying online, ensure that there is a little locked padlock to the far left of your address bar. This indicates the website is secure and safe for you to use.
Use a Trusted Payment Method like PayPal
Another thing to watch out for is how the website asks you to pay for your items; this can be a big red herring to any first-time online shopper because it’s so easy to get caught out.
It’s probably safe to say that most of the websites you’ll be buying from will use an external service to handle card payments; services like PayPal and Sage Pay are both very popular choices.
Any website that asks to see photos of your card, especially of the back, is best avoided completely.
Don’t Shop Using a Public WiFi Hotspot
While you’re busy looking after your card online, it’s time that you turned your attention to the WiFi you are currently using. Is it up to standard?
The simple answer to this is no, not if it’s public WiFi and not if your own WiFi isn’t secured.
When you install WiFi at home, it’s likely that your WiFi setup will include options to make it more secure, such as setting a password or passphrase and locking your internet access point.
With a public WiFi hotspot, it’s unlikely that all of these security measures would have been taken into account, even if they give you the WiFi password for the establishment you’re sitting in (such as a coffee shop).
Public WiFi hotspots are more at risk from an attack, which is why it’s best that you avoid checking out for items until you get home. Of course, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from adding all of your favorite items to a wishlist to come back to later!
Read the Delivery, Cancellations, and Returns Policies Thoroughly
Last but not least, make sure you have a read-through of all of the policies so you know exactly how long your item will take to arrive and how easy it is to return it should it not be right.