Safe Online Shopping

  What is safe online shopping? The amount of money spent with online shops is increasing at an outstanding rate due to the convenience, choice and low prices that can be found. This is all great but how do you know that you are spending with a reputable website? It is important to understand what safe online shopping is, what to look for and what to avoid.

How is online shopping made safe? Safe online shops use technology that protects the personal information you provide when making a purchase online, your credit card details are 'scrambled' so that they cannot be captured by "identity thieves" who aim to capture credit card or bank account details in order buy goods or get loans in your name https://beddingnbath.com.au. Scrambling this personal information means that it cannot be read or captured by anyone else.

How can I tell if the online shop I am shopping on is safe? To ensure that the online shop where you are shopping is safe you should check for the following:

An unbroken key or closed lock in your browser window. Each of these icons show that the online shop is safe. If the key is broken or the lock open the online shop is not safe. Check that the online shop website address begins with "https" instead of "http" when you are providing personal information, such as credit card details. This shows that you are in a secure area of the online shop. If you see the words "Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)", sometimes in a pop-up window, you know you are shopping at a secure and safe online shop.

How well do I know the brand of the online shop? Another thing to consider is how well you know the brand that runs the online shop? The chances are you will be more confident of shopping at Amazon than many other online brands because they are well established and have a reputation for good customer service.

How quickly will I get my goods? It is well worth delving into the online shop's customer service section to find out when and how your goods will be delivered. Does the online shop allow you to specify delivery dates and times or an alternative delivery address.

Does the online shop offer me a contact number in case anything goes wrong? If anything does go wrong with your order it is good to have a direct customer service telephone number to call to express your concerns, if not, many online shops provide a customer service email with a guaranteed response time so you can air your queries about your order.

Does the online shop make all charges involved clear? During the sale the online shop should explicitly advise you of all charges involved in the purchase including delivery charges, taxation and minimum purchase limits. These charges will be outlined when you reach the shopping cart stage of the purchase where you can see the items you have purchased and all related charges. From the shopping cart (or basket) you will move to the checkout stage where you safely complete the transaction from a secure server. DO NOT enter you credit card details unless you are sure that the checkout is on a secure server – see How can I tell if the online shop I am shopping on is safe?

According to orangecollarmedia.com Americans spent 186 billion dollars on online shopping in 2011. In Australia in February of 2011, a study revealed that more Australians are shopping online than ever before. The trend began in 2009 when the global financial crisis forced Australian consumers to look for bargains on a wide variety of things. These shoppers discovered that the Internet was a superb place to get a good deal and even now the trend perpetuates itself. One of their largest online Internet companies, reports 1.7 million different people currently visit their site per month. Total transactions of China's Business to Consumer market reached 38.03 billion dollars in 2011, with an increase of over 13% compared to 2010. Staggering figures aren't they?

We live in an age of technological access. Shopping can even be done from the latest mobile phone - so you can shop wherever and whenever you want. Online shopping is a 24hour-a-day way to shop. Online shopping is becoming run of the mill. With today's hectic and pressurized schedules, people need a way to save time and shopping online is a way to do this. Shopping can be done once the kids are tucked into bed or once your spouse is asleep when you have those few precious moments to yourself. It is here in the privacy of your own space where you can, at your leisure, shop around, look for the best prices literally only to be gotten by the click of a button.

Shopping online does not only ooze the luxury of convenience but also has an impact on one's disposition too. Picture the end of the month. Picture getting your husband and the three kids into the car just to get to the mall in time before it gets too busy and you have to struggle for parking. Picture the traffic. Picture the din of people. The bickering when the little ones get fatigued. The endless drudging from one shop to another. And then, picture finally making it home and thanking the heavens that you'll only have to repeat this again at the end of next month.

Instead it is late on a Saturday afternoon, and you are in the middle of watching the rugby match final you've been anticipating for months. You're snuggled on your favourite couch. Then the wife reminds you that you have to go shopping. You know it's month-end and you are left with no choice but to do just that: shop. You switch on your laptop, visit several retailers online, shop for the best prices, and all this without missing even a single try. You crack open another beer and settle down to watch the rest of the game. Simple, isn't it.

Not only does online shopping hold benefits with regards to being stress free, convenient and being able to make your purchases in private, but shopping online is tailor-made by business so that consumers reap the benefits of doing so. For example the cost of retail rent per m² is almost quadruple the cost of industrial rent per m². When a business's overheads are lower, the consumer stands to gain in the long run. This is a savings to the business that actually impacts on the pocket of its consumers. Consumers stand to save and benefit from this very reality. Travelling back and forth to the shops, wear and tear on cars also quantify as savings over the long term for the consumer.

Of the utmost importance is the effect of online shopping on our environment. Natural News states that all products have to be shipped from the warehouse where they are stored after manufacture, and it can be seen as green to cut the retail store and all the building, lighting, cooling, heating, and so forth that the store requires. According to Center for Energy and Climate Solutions, shipping two 20 pound packages by overnight-air, the most energy-intensive delivery method, still uses 40% less fuel driving 20 round-trips to the mall or store. Ground shipping, which is more efficient than overnight air, checks in at just one-tenth the energy used to drive you. That taken into account and the fact that carbon emissions would be radically less, is reason enough to take under serious consideration to start to shop online. It is in the small, well planned matters of our lives that we can create a better tomorrow for those who will follow in our footsteps.

When you first make a purchase online there will be certain security questions you will need answers too. Is shopping online secure, is one question which gets asked over and over again by those considering making a purchase. In this article I hope to touch on a few of these security doubts, such as:

1. How Secure is Shopping Online?

2. Is your Online Retailer Reputable?

3. How can I tell if a web page is secure?

4. Determine the Returns Policy?

5. Product Authenticity when Shopping Online.

1. How Secure is shopping online?

This article will discuss some of these questions in an effort to help readers make informed decisions regarding online shopping. Online shopping is as safe as you make it. What I mean by that statement is that you must do some homework on who you purchase from. That doesn't mean you have to go through loads of good guy bad guy reports, it means that you have to tread carefully and be aware that there are some dodgy dealers online waiting to gain possession of your bank details, which will arm them with the information they need to rip you off. Be aware of dodgy dealers and unbelievable bargains. Most reputable online retailers will have security measures in place. You will find a couple of ways to check these measures further in this article.

2. Is your Online Retailer Reputable?

When new to online shopping, determining whether an online retailer is reputable should be your first consideration, before deciding whether to make a purchase. One easy method to check out the reputation of a retailer is to consult the Better Business Bureau or BBB for short. Here you can search a comprehensive database of BBB Reviews, using various methods of retailer id. Such as:

* Business or Charity Name

* Type of Business

* Type of Charity

* Website URL

* Phone Number

* Email Address

You can use a location to centre your search on a specific region by adding "City and State" or "Postal Code" when searching by type of business. You the shopper can find information regarding previous complaints against the online retailer; this information will help you to determine whether the retailer has a good or bad reputation and whether they deal fairly with customers.

Online retailers who have been in business for a few years and do not have many complaints against them can generally be trusted. This will usually be the larger online companies; you may pay a little more for your chosen item, but you will have the security of knowing your purchase will be delivered, and on time.

3. How can I tell if a web page is secure?

Identity theft can cause tremendous problems for online shoppers; the security of the server used to complete your purchase should be questioned. A very simple way in which an online shopper can determine whether or not the website is secure is to examine the web address in the top of screen address bar. Once you login to a website to actually make a purchase A secure website will have a prefix of https://, note the "s" at the end, an unsecured website will have a prefix of http.

You can test this by visiting a security site called (ssl.com. Prefix with www.). Note the URL in the address bar begins with the "http" meaning this page is not secure. Now click the link in the upper-right hand corner to "Log in". You will notice a change in the URL. It now begins with "https", meaning any sensitive information such as your user name and password, typed in, will be encrypted before being sent to the server.

Another standard among web browsers is to display a "lock" icon, somewhere in the window of the browser. For example, Microsoft Internet Explorer displays the lock icon in the lower-right of the browser window: If the website is not secure the online shopper should check out customer reviews on the chosen retailer website or consider making your purchase through the customer service department of the retailer.

4. Determine the Returns Policy?

By reviewing the returns policy of a retailer will also give the shopper a good indication of whether the seller is simpathetic to customer problems. Restrictive Return policies should be considered suspect by the shopper, this may indicate a need for the shopper to do some additional research before deciding whether to purchase from a particular internet retailer. Again check out previous customer reviews; where there are no reviews could be another indication for caution.

5. Product Authenticity when Shopping Online:

Authenticity of products purchased is another consideration for the online shopper. This is important because, it can help to prevent the shopper from purchasing replica items, or items that are very similar but with the same name and title of the item you are seeking. Verifying authenticity is not usually a problem when purchasing from a retailer who is licensed to sell the item. However, problems may arise when the shopper is buying an item through an auction website, an individual retailer, or the item is such an incredible bargain as not to be believed. This ability to spot authentic items usually comes from researching the items well and being aware of the key features, or by ensuring you use an extremely popular retailer.

Traditional Stores Offering Online Shopping:

Many of our every day traditional stores, can also have an online presence. This includes retailers of all types of products such as electronics and home appliances and general merchandise stores offering a wide range of consumer products. Another benefit of online stores is that they are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week; this gives the online shopper the flexibility to do their shopping from the convenience of their own home. This eliminates the necessity of travelling to the stores, parking close to the store, struggling with holiday shopping crowds and of course carrying your purchases around whilst looking for other items to buy. Another advantage of shopping in online stores over traditional stores is you can visit online retailers which do not have a traditional store located near your home.