From Clothing to Electronics: A Buyer’s Guide to Online Shopping by Category

Modern technology has made shopping easier for us, so more and more people around the world choose online shopping. It’s so easy via the Internet, you can buy everything you need from a comfortable armchair, but it’s not a bad idea to pay attention to safety so that there are no negative consequences. This shopping trend recorded significant growth during the coronavirus pandemic when our movement was restricted. In any case, today there are many platforms that deal with online sales and in their offer, you can find different categories – electronics, clothes, toys, beauty, and many others. So, it is more than obvious that everyone will find something for themselves.

To order from any online shop, it is necessary to register. Check if the site you registered on even sends orders to your country. After registering on one site, you can make countless purchases.  As we have already mentioned, there are many online retail stores that you can learn more about if you visit this site. In any case, there are a few tips you should follow to make your purchase safe and successful.

Shop on secure sites

Source: cyber.gov.rw

We believe that you yourself know that the Internet has brought us many conveniences in our daily tasks, but we must not forget about the potential risk if we end up on an unreliable shopping platform. If the online store or website has the letter “s” (https: //) in front of www. means that it is a secure page, and therefore entering your data is safe. This is one of the most reliable ways to check the reliability of your purchase. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to read other users’ reviews to make sure the site is safe to buy from.

Registration

Of course, registration is mandatory, although you will be able to access the articles unhindered even if you skip that step. Only if you decide to buy, registration is necessary. Many people are skeptical about leaving their bank card number during registration. If you are like that, you can always open a new dedicated account (in which you will keep controlled funds intended for your online shopping) and connect a new debit card to it, which you will use only for those purposes.

Shopping

We come to the main part, which is debit card shopping. You can always type keywords into the search engine and improve your search that way. However, know that in this way you will not get to review all the articles that are on offer, but only those that have the keyword in them. On the other hand, if you access the search via the Category option, you will get more reliable results. Once you have chosen everything you wanted, click on the shopping cart, after which a list of all the products you have chosen to buy will appear. This is also your last chance to change – remove or add products, because once you click on the ‘buy’ button, everything becomes one-way.

Quality control

Source: gemius.com

Online shopping brings a lot of positive things, such as saving time, but it is also risky because you never know if something you ordered looks exactly like the picture. In order to get a better picture of a product, we advise you to read the description and reviews, if any, in detail.

Shipping

Many online platforms ship worldwide, but it’s best to check before you sign up and start your search. There are also those that do delivery, with the fact that shipping often exceeds the value of the purchased product itself.

Prices

In addition to the fact that it is important to buy quality products, it is very important to pay attention to the price and warranty conditions offered by an online retailer with competitors. Shopping online with many websites involves something called “dynamic pricing,” which automatically adjusts prices based on your browsing history and location. In other words, these companies charge you more for the same products and services depending on where you access their website or how many times you view the product.

Cart overview

By clicking on the basket in the upper right corner, you can view the contents of your basket. In the overview of the basket, you will see a list of all the items that you have selected when shopping in the online store. Here you can update the contents of the basket, i.e. change the quantities, remove certain items from the basket, or empty the entire basket.

Method of payment

Source: clio.com

On reliable sites, you will always be able to make payment in several ways – cash on delivery, payment card, bank account, PayPal, and so on. Using a card is a safe method of payment when shopping online as long as you take care when paying as in any other purchase. When shopping online, follow a few simple rules – buy from trusted sources, buy only from your own computer, use a credit card when shopping online, and so on.

Secure delivery

Safe and timely delivery is very important. When placing an order, check the guaranteed delivery time and the delivery methods offered by the online retailer.

Final thoughts

As we see, buying online is completely safe if we pay attention to major things. Still, the risk always exists – that’s why it’s important to always remember basic recommendations when shopping online, such as using verified sites, avoiding shopping if you’re connected to Wi-Fi shared by a large number of people (e.g. in a cafe), different passwords for user accounts on different sites, and of course; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

If the delivery does not arrive on time, you can contact the seller and even cancel the order. Many accept complaints and meet customers by exchanging or returning goods. However, be prepared to pay for shipping because it is still something that the buyer is responsible for.