Gone are the days of window grazing, store hopping, and price hunting. Now, everything is available at the click of a button and your seasonal shopping spree, which would take hours, can be done in a matter of minutes. Every product from every store is available at the best prices with quick comparisons.
Fast deliveries have become so incredible that some online retail giants ship products near you before you even order them because their AI tech can anticipate buyer trends. Online shopping has truly streamlined every aspect of shopping and made it easy, convenient, and quick.
However, online shopping has its own drawbacks. These drawbacks are mainly related to buyer privacy and transaction safety concerns.
This is why we have come up with our online shopping safety considerations that will help you identify key elements that keep your online shopping experience safe and private.
Online Shopping Safety Considerations
Here are the things you should consider before you opt to shop at an online store.
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Website Encryption Certificate
Unless you are buying from Instagram sellers (not recommended), almost every online store or retailer is a website where they sell their products or the products of others. As patrons, it is your responsibility to always check the website’s encryption certificate before you go about your online shopping.
The standard one is a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. This type of encryption creates a safe communication channel between your browser and the website. You can easily tell if a website has secure or SSL encryption by clicking on the lock symbol in your browser’s URL bar or “address” bar.
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Privacy Policy
Every online store gathers some amount of data from its visitors and customers, which is why they are legally bound to post a “Privacy Policy” on their websites. You will typically find it at the bottom of every webpage. If a website doesn’t have a privacy policy, it can only mean one of two things.
- It’s a scam
The website is scamming you or is illegal and you should get off it immediately. - They aren’t collecting any data
We are yet to find an online store that doesn’t collect data so, this is extremely unlikely.
Not all data collection is harmful and taking 5-10 minutes to go through the privacy policy of an online store can tell you incredible things like what type of data they collect, how they use it, how they ensure your privacy and online shopping, and how your credit card details are handled.
The best online stores will offer easy readability in their privacy policy for complete transparency.
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Trusted/ Verified Sellers/ Brands
Many online stores use third-party sellers or brands to sell products that are not their own. For example, people may want to buy their Macbooks from an online tech store that is offering convenient payment methods, like instalments, or promotions or deals that aren’t necessarily available at Apple.
Similarly, some e-commerce marketplaces sell everything on their websites. Often, such websites sell products from external manufacturers, sellers, and vendors. However, they will likely list some of them as “trusted”, “verified”, or “partner” sellers and brands.
This means that those sellers and brands are verified or trusted by the website itself. It is recommended to always opt for such sellers and brands to avoid faulty products and bad online shopping experiences.
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Deliveries, Returns, and Refunds
Speaking of faulty products and bad online shopping experiences, it is always best to check the delivery, return, and refund structure of the online store you shop at. This will help you better understand how to handle common online shopping problems faced by millions every day and protect your purchase.
Conclusion
Online shopping is an excellent way to shop for anything. Whether you are shopping for groceries or clothes or making major purchases, like tech products or furniture, a secure and transparent online store is your best bet.
They offer you the best deals, prices, comparisons, and quick deliveries that are often free. It is hard for physical, brick-and-mortar stores to beat such benefits. This is why online shopping is so popular and quickly taking over the retail industry.
However, online shopping has different types of drawbacks, and modern shoppers should always shop responsibly by considering the mentioned things to protect their online privacy and purchases.
