0 6 min 1 yr

What do you know about online shopping? Have you explored all of your options? The percentage of sales attributed to online shopping keeps growing, and you need to stay up on what is going on with this niche. Keep in mind the following helpful advice so that you can enjoy your online shopping experience.

Sign up for the website’s newsletter if they have one. Many times stores will give you a discount or some type of deal when you sign up for their newsletter. Find out if there is a deal associated with signing up for the newsletter at any store you want to shop at.

Read customer testimonials before you buy anything. People are more than happy to complain about bad service online, so look for sites and testimonials that are terrible so that you know what you’re getting into. You should take bad reviews with a grain of salt, but if you see many, you know there is a problem.

Do a quick web search for promo keys and discounts prior to making any online purchases. Often, there are discount keys out there that you may not be aware of! This could save you 10% to 20%, or offer you things like free shipping or a discount on a secondary item.

Look for an address and phone number for any retailer before you pull out your credit card and make a purchase with them. There are many people that will take your information and use it fraudulently, so you have to be very careful. Even if everything else looks legitimate, avoid any sites that don’t have contact information.

If you are unsure whether or not you can trust an online vendor, look up their reviews online first. Many times, customers will post reviews about their shopping experience, both good and bad. One or two bad reviews should not put you off, but many bad reviews should set off warning signals.

Before committing to an online purchase, be sure to do some research on the product you wish to buy. There are thousands of sites out there that may carry what you are looking for at different prices. Do some comparison shopping, or even do a search on Ebay, or Froogle.com, to see if your item is available, and where you can get the best price.

Try online shopping before you buy something offline. This is a great idea, because you might be out somewhere and see something you want, when you can spend far less money online. If you check online first, you can save money and a trip, so always try that before going offline.

The stores that you shop at the most might have an app for your phone, so look into this. By having a retailers mobile app, you can shop wiser. If you are waiting at a doctor’s office or even commuting (as a passenger, of course) you can shop while the time away. You can also use shopping apps to compare online prices with what you find in stores.

Find a coupon blog you like and read it regularly. While these blogs will help you find a number of coupons, they’ll also point you in the direction of new retailers and special sales. With a good blog, you’ll be able to discover great deals the moment they become available to the public.

Before purchasing any item, it is important that you’re aware of the retailer’s return policy for it. Avoid buying products where you’ll have a rough time receiving a refund if you get the wrong item, or simply don’t like it.

In order to be sure you are shopping online safely, it is important that you have the most updated version of your browser. Old, out-of-date browsers leave you more vulnerable to identity theft. Most browsers update themselves, but to be sure you have the most updated version, check your settings.

When shopping online, make sure that the merchant is using a secured server to process your order. You can tell by the URL, which should begin with “https”. This ensures that your personal and financial information is encrypted during transmission. If the online site does not show that it is secure, go somewhere else.

You should be sure to check your bank account after making an online purchase. Verify that the amount removed from your account corresponds to the price you paid. If you spot unusual charges, let customer service know about it immediately. If you’re unable to resolve the issues with the online seller, speak to your bank about cancelling the transaction.

Think about the tips and information that you’ve read so that you can have an enjoyable online shopping experience. The tips and tricks are going to change from time to time, so you must keep moving with this changing field. You will definitely be able to see the benefits of doing so.