Safe Online Shopping Tips

10 Tips To Safe Online Shopping

by Gina Stathopoulos


The internet has changed our buying habits. Many people have found the convenience of online shopping to be a great experience. You can easily click and see the product. You have a fun time shopping, browsing, reading and getting informed about products. And you don’t have to take time out from your busy schedule to fight traffic, crowds and lines to buy the perfect gift for your recipient.

No wonder Internet business generated $301 billion in revenue last year, by a University of Texas estimate.

If you compare shopping online to offline you would think as far as security goes, it would favor offline shopping, right? Not really.

In the years past, shoppers were more reluctant to do their shopping online – now things have changed greatly. And that confidence in consumers directly reflects the enormous growth of online sales.

I have a friend who took his wife out for a romantic evening to a local restaurant. The last place you would expect credit card fraud to happen. By the time he noticed they had charged him double the amount for their dinner, it was too late to go back to the restaurant. He rang me and we concluded that it must be a mistake. It was later that we found out that the restaurant owner’s reputation was a bit shaky. Apparently he frequently overcharged customers in the hope they wouldn’t notice.

I don’t know. It’s a funny world we live in.

Does this mean the internet is safe? Relatively yes, but don’t forget, the Internet is an open field and there are some bad elements out there.
We have been shopping online for years. We never had a problem with credit card fraud on the Internet. But then again, we always take precautions. From this point forward, you will see 10 checkpoints online merchants have to pass to secure our business...

Will your credit card details be safe?

Reputable companies online know that one of the things preventing customers from placing orders with them is customers not been sure whether their credit card details will be safe. Responsible companies have taken this concern onboard and have set up their systems to provide the customer with maximum security.

How would you know if you are entering your payment details on a secure page?

You should see a picture of a lock on the bottom right hand side of your screen. This lock will appear on the page that you fill in when ordering and ensures that your name, address and credit card information is being sent to the online store through encrypted code. This encrypted code means that a hacker will not be able to steal your credit card information.

Does the online store value your privacy and confidentiality?

Prior to the internet days, when I used to order something from a mail order company, mysteriously I would be sent advertising from companies that I hadn’t done business with. Back then I didn’t know that companies sold your personal information for advertising purposes to other companies.

Receiving junk mail was annoying but because of the cost involved, it didn’t happen constantly. Imagine now if you do business online with a company that doesn’t respect your privacy and sells your email address.

Next time you open your email software, you are bombarded with emails ranging from a dozen to hundreds. Now that’s not annoying – it’s intolerable.

So moral of the story here, make sure your email address won’t be sold. Ensure the online store has a privacy statement which would state they will maintain your personal details in the strictest privacy and confidentiality.

Does the online store have contact details?

You may think, of course an online store would display their contact details on their website. You would be surprised. I was. No email address, nothing. This is a sure red flag.

Reputable companies will have contact details.

Do they have a refund policy?

Offline stores have a refund policy and you go into the store, physically select the product and are then allowed to return it for whatever reason. If a refund policy is important in offline stores, it’s twice as important for online stores.

The internet in convenience surpasses the offline world when it comes to shopping - but one thing it can’t match is that offline you can physically touch the product. Therefore a refund policy of 30 days is great, more is better. No refund policy and I would stay away.

Do they send you some sort of confirmation when you place your order?

When you place your order what you need is something to tell you they have receive it, a receipt if you like.

A reputable company will either issue you one via email or display a new page of their website where they thank you and tell you the order went through okay and your product is on its way.

When do they deliver?

What times do they deliver during the day? Do they deliver on the weekends? Can you choose a time to have your gift delivered? Will it be delivered personally to the recipient intended or will the courier leave it outside their door?

How will your gift arrive?

If its flowers, will it come with a vase or in a nice box or wrapped? Will your bouquet contain flower care instructions? How about flower food to make your flowers last longer?

If you’ve ordered another gift product, will they wrap it? In what kind of material will they deliver it? Do they tell you these things on their website?

How long have they been in business?

This may not mean too much. There are companies that start off and surpass all others. But perhaps for your peace of mind, you may want to use an online store that has been in business for some years. To check the history of the company is easy.

You can go to networksolutions.com and click on "whois" on the top bar. You will be taken to a page where you can enter the web address of the online store you want to check and you will receive the relevant information.

Is the online store’s site easy to use?

Is navigating easy? Is looking for products easy? Do their graphics download in a reasonable time? A sure sign of an amateur sight is if they have their website cluttered with information.

Have they gotten any bad reviews?

A reputable company isn’t necessary one that hasn’t any bad reviews to its name. It’s virtually impossible to please everyone.
There have been companies I have bought from and absolutely loved. So it surprises me sometimes when I stumble on a bad review about their products or even bad comments about them.

So when is a bad comment about a company worth considering? I take note of reviews where the writer complains of:
*not receiving the product
*not receiving a refund
*not having their emails answered

If you want to see what kind of reviews a company may have, click on alexa.com. When you get to the website, type in the address of the store you want to check out. This will also show you how long the company has been in business.

Online shopping is fun. Take a little care and make it an experience! Happy shopping!
Copyright © Gina Stathopoulos & Nick Vernon

Looking for a gift? Let Gina and Nick show you what we buy for friends/family and each other. At our site you will find popular gifts, gift information and stories from our readers. Come have a look http://www.we-recommend.com


Buyers Drive The Process Online But The Lowest Price Isn't All They Want

by B.L. Ochman


Online buyers' ability to comparison shop -- aided by a vast array of shopping bots -- has turned traditional retailing on its head. But are low prices all customers want? No way!

Some web-wise merchants have responded to the Internet's new retail rules retailers by including comparison shopping on their own sites, others put their heads in the sand. Leading the list of slow to get online retailers is Home Depot who, according to the Aug 16 issue of Fortune, recently issued "a Godfather-esque" directive to its suppliers selling goods online. The gist of it was stop selling online or you won't be selling to us.

"Dear Vendor," the May 19 letter began, "It is important for you to be aware of Home Depot's current position on its'(sic) vendors competing with the company via e-commerce direct to consumer distribution. We think it is short-sighted for vendors to ignore the added value that our retail stores contribute to the sale of their products....We recognize that a vendor has the right to sell through whatever distribution channels it desires. However, we too have the right to be selective in the vendors we select and we trust that you can understand that a company may be hesitant to do business with its competitors."

What Home Depot really is worried about is its customers going straight to the manufacturer and bypassing Home Depot.

Going head to head with Home Depot won't be simple for any company. Stanley Tools, for one, has scrapped its e-commerce plans in the face of Home Depot's threat. After all, Home Depot is one of the "category killers" who put thousands of mom and pop hardware stores out of business."Who's to say," Fortune reporter Katrina Brooker muses, "that it can't do the same to pesky suppliers with dot.com dreams?" Web shoppers, that's who!

Several factors come into play:

oOnline shopping does not provide instant gratification. Sometimes, all a customer wants is to buy something and use it right now

oPeople are still willing to pay more for superior service, even online
oFew retailers will be able (or want) long term, to sustain prices so low they cannot make a profit
oAlthough low prices might bring customers to a site, discounts alone won't necessarily keep them there or convince them to return
oOnline, a store that provides complete information from a variety of sources can be more valuable than a single site that provides only its own or partial information.

Online comparison shopping is available at a wide range of sites. These sites promise "you'll never miss a sale again;" "40 - 60% off retail in 13 categories;" daily or weekly sales updates; and email bargain newsletters tailored to your shopping interests. Some claim to scan 50 million products.
Each of these services is powered by shopping bot software. Some even provide shoppers with the ability to search, compare and buy in a secure e-commerce environment. The majority accept advertising, but a few, like Price Scan claim to be unbiased and objective because they eschew advertising. Some online shoppers, no doubt, study the information on these price comparison sites before they make a buying decision. Then there is everyone else.

What makes a shopper decide that price isn't all that matters? Extraordinary service -- the very same quality that allows some stores to charge more for their items because they make shopping convenient, pleasant and reliable -- still can win over price. Superior service makes fancy cars, designer duds and luxury travel appealing. It also allows L.L. Bean, Nordstrom's, and a handful of other merchants able to charge more for their products than bargain merchandisers selling essentially the same goods. And great service is not going out of style any time soon.

In terms of costs, online retailers seem to have obvious advantages over bricks and mortar retailers. Traditional retailers need to spend $3 to $5 million to open a store. They usually can only pull from a 25 mile radius, meaning they need to make a fair margin. While online merchants can set up shop for less, and sell internationally, many have set prices so low that it is impossible for them to make a profit. Therefore, the good deals consumers now expect won't be sustainable over the long haul. Only the ones with the deepest pockets can hold out, and one begins to wonder why they would want to.

Retailers are dealing with online sales in different ways. Barnes & Noble made the mistake of not being first in their category to get online. Like so many other traditional merchants, they finally realized they could not afford to ignore the brand reinforcement of the Internet. Now they charge more for the same books in their bricks and mortar stores where overhead prohibits Amazon-like bargain prices. It seems they are betting that the instant gratification of talking to informed sales help and being immediately able to read a selected book in soft in-store chairs is worth a higher price. They may be right.

Meanwhile, like Amazon, a handful of online merchants realize that they need to emphasize superior service. Although low prices might bring a customer to a site, discounts along won't necessarily keep them there or get them to return. "We recognize we're a price leader, but we don't say to ourselves every day, 'Let's just slash and burn," says online electronics retailer NECX' director of operations Brian Marley. "I think it would be irresponsible for all of us just to compete on price, without doing the heavy lifting that goes into creating a value-added service," Marley told The New York Times.

One very innovative online approach comes from Fruit of the Loom, which provides not only its own t-shirts and underwear but also it competitors inside its e-commerce storefront. The company got 24 of the nation's top 30 t-shirt wholesalers in the $5 billion industry to commit to its electronic commerce platform. Fruit of the Loom provides consulting and software to t-shirt wholesales setting up online stores. The stores' customers then search for t-shirts from any number of manufacturers. Fruit of the Loom only demands that its products are the first replacement option offered when another company is out of stock. Online, a store that provides complete information from a variety of sources can be more valuable than a single site that provides only its own or partial information.

NECX lets customers compare their prices to other stores on the same item. Customers were comparing prices anyway, they reasoned, why not help them. The result? NECX is losing customers but making money. Sales are up 20% even though the comparison engine is the site's most common point of departure.

Still, bricks and mortar merchants have the distinct advantage of giving customers what they want when they want it -- an experience that can supercede low price. Online shopping, no matter how pleasant, cannot (yet!) provide the immediate reward of buying something and then wearing or using it an hour later.

There is a long way to go before Internet commerce shakes out. At this point I'm betting that at end of the road the lowest price won't be the winner.


About the Author
B.L. Ochman http://www.thebestwebideas.com , is an award?winning marketer who has helped local, regional and multi?national corporations to increase awareness and sales of their products both online and off. Sign up for her marketing tips newsletter, What's Next Online, at Mailto:BLOchman@thebestwebideas.com .