How to stay safe while using e-commerce sites?

With people preferring to stay indoors due to the coronavirus pandemic, many have tuned to e-commerce sites to shop for their needs.

E-commerce is short for electronic commerce. It is the activity of buying and selling goods online. Like you walk into a supermarket near your home, pay money and buy groceries, you can visit an online store, browse its contents, pay money and buy the product. The only major difference is that your product will be delivered to your doorstep in the case of an online store.

What can you buy online?

You can buy just about anything online. There are e-commerce sites such as Flipkart and Amazon that sell a variety of products from televisions and smartphones to books and stuffed toys. There are also specific grocery selling e-commerce sites and apps such as BigBasket. Grofers and Supr Daily, clothing and accessories apps such as Myntra and AJIO, and furniture e-stores such as Pepperfry and Urban Ladder.

Apart from dedicated e-commerce stores, a lot of physical stores have their own websites to reach and service more people.

Tips for shopping online

Here are a few handy tips that will help you make the best use of e commerce sites.

Compare prices: There are many e commerce sites online that sell the same product at different rates. So remember to compare prices. You can also make use of websites that do this comparison for you.

Check for shipping rates: While several products are delivered free of cost, there are some that have an additional shipping fee. Try to browse other e-commerce sites to see if they offer free shipping.

Return policy: Always check for the return policy of a product since you cannot physically assess the product you wish to buy.

Don’t fall for sale: Most e-commerce sites offer big sale discounts at certain times of the year. While this would be the best time to buy products, remember to check the original price of the product on its official site or other sites and make an informed decision.

Look for coupons: There are many coupon sites online that give away coupons for free. Browse these sites once before you purchase your product. Never know when you might get lucky with a discount!

Tips to stay safe

It might be convenient to shop online, but the digital world is not free of crimes. Keep these tips in mind when shopping online to stay safe.

Credibility matters: Always shop from credible websites. Ask your friends and family for suggestions and look for reviews of sites online before you decide to buy a product from a site.

Opt for cash on delivery: As much as possible, opt for cash on delivery to ensure you do not have to reveal your card details. Cash-on-delivery will also let you assess the product before you make the payment.

Exercise caution when feeding card details: When using a card or net banking facility online, refrain from calling out the details. Also, remember to never save your card on a website, otherwise it might be misused.

Do not fall for scams: There might be times when an executive from an e-commerce site calls you and says you have won a car, or some other gift. Immediately disconnect the call and inform the customer care as these are scams and ways for scammers to get your card details.

 

Picture Credit : Google

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