5 Pro tips of how to survive the jungle of online shopping

Considering the global challenges that we are experiencing recently one of the little things you can do for your own and your family’s safety is to shop online safely.

Online shopping is becoming incredibly popular and everyone is starting to see the benefits of it.

In a first place online shopping is where you got the comfort of buying at any time and receiving your shopping items on your doorstep.

All this without the hassle of leaving your home, staying in traffic or long queues at tills.

If you haven’t adapted to the global changes yet, now is the time to try but we suggest after reading the 5 tips bellow. 

They can help you if you are a newcomer to the online shopping or even if you are already part of the movement, but feel uncomfortable with the whole purchase process.

Online shopping can be a sweet and sexy experience if you make it yourself to be. It is evolving so fast that sometime you feel like you are running behind.

Researches show that by 2025 the online shopping will raise to about 85%.

If you want to make your online shopping a pleasant experience you need to keep a few things in mind while shopping online. 

We just want to help you with what to watch for, while you shop online. 

After you finish reading you will be able to go and find your pair of shoes, pay the price that suits you best and receive them in your doorstep. 

Have you ever asked yourself how many people are shopping online particularly in South Africa?

More than 10K people per month are searching for information about online shopping and the search of this term tell us that those are people (or at least majority) that researching but haven’t started yet online shopping. 

So, let’s take you through the 5 tips that we have improvise over yers of online shopping experience.

(Read the full article to find out how you can win a full year of FREE listing for your business on Locall – Digital Business Hub, South Africa)

#1 How to do securely online shopping?

When searching out the best price for clothing, sport apparel, kids clothing and sport equipment or any of your favourite items, be sure to check the store reviews to see if other customers had a good experience with them. 

Now, of course you might stumble upon a new online eCommerce store that is just starting and the followers base is still small. 

You need to give it a try before you mark such a store as a “scam”.

If you really like the products in this store though, you better test it yourself.

Just take the risk and purchase something small and cheap and monitor the post-buying process, like how the seller is engaging with their clients.

In other words if they keep you informed if the product is shipped, when is shipped, expected time to arrive etc. 

If you receive the product then you can buy more stuff.

If you want to buy a used product online, learn more about the seller first. 

You should visit their profile and look for reviews written by other shoppers who bought products from this seller.

Do not hesitate to contact the seller to ask a few questions about the product you are interested in as mentioned above.

#2 How to shop around before you pinpoint a store

Do not forget to compare shops when you are looking for things online. 

People usually do this when shopping in physical stores, but they don’t think about it on the Internet. 

If you go for the first sale you see, there is a chance you will miss out on a better deal somewhere else. 

Especially, if you are shopping for higher price-tag items like camping equipment, TVs, electronics, home appliances etc., shopping around first can save you some money.

Many things you can find cheaper but the overall experience is that the difference in prices is not that big, except for large or expensive in general items as we mentioned above.

End of the day for regular items like t-shirts, socks, vests etc., you pay more or less the same money. 

If you find really good deal they might charge you more for shipping or get something more expensive but with free shipping. I hope you get the point here. 

#3 How to save while shopping online

You can save a lot while shopping online if you order all the products you need at once. Most online stores will ship your items together and only charge you once for shipping. 

Some stores will even offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount. It is sometimes more interesting to purchase an additional item instead of paying for shipping.

Beware of phishing scams. No legit online retailer will send an email requesting you to send them any personal information in an email. 

In general – you never ever send sensitive information through email. Like passwords, bank accounts, logging details etc.

When shopping for anything, be sure to review manufacturer’s sites to find coupons or discount deals. 

Lots of retailers provide discounts upon a review from the client. 

A coupon for free shipping can save you a lot of money especially if you are purchasing multiple items.

#4 Check for return policy before you buy online

Are you aware of the return policy of the shop you are purchasing from? 

If what you buy doesn’t work out, you can ship it back to them easily. If you make a purchase with no returns, you will be stuck with it indefinitely.

Most of the online shops have return policies though.

Not to mention that you always must check before buying it all products detailed information such as size tables, material, warranty, etc.

#5 When is the best time for shopping online

One of the best times to buy online is near the holidays, so try to put off major purchases until this time of year. 

Black Friday is the beginning of the deals, but they tend to last online until into the new year. 

Therefore, don’t worry about staying awaken and shopping right at midnight on Friday.

A wish list is something that you can create for items that you want to purchase in the future. 

You can wait to have more items to buy, so you save on shipping, or you can watch the price in case it drops.

In this difficult time that our society is experiencing it is time for all of us to reconsider the process of our daily activities like entertainment, shopping, job, etc. 

This is now a matter of necessity and not just a creating of different comfort zone and we really need to face it. 

How you can help friends and family, without spending?

Online shopping is also an opportunity. According to Web Design Galore research is difficult to predict where is the e-commerce share of total retail sales ceiling.

They forecast it at approximately 25% by 2025, which will further blur national borders, demand infrastructure, logistic, workforce, etc.

However, retail online expenditure will vary significantly by digital channel, geography and category.

We, at Locall have the initiative to encourage everyone to support friends and family members, who are trying to start home production, no matter if is food, crafts etc. 

in other words to start an online shop for home-based business to wrestle the COVID-19 economic impact.

Simply by sharing their product or service on social media, as well as give a review, or recommend your friends cooking or product, or with simply assuring the broad public that is a safe buy, you can help both sides, friends/family and the consumer, without spending.  

Don’t forget “word of mouth” it’s not dead and is online famous.

We all need to adopt those activities because some time we can not help our friends financially, but we can help as a network. 

Apply online the tips and information that you’ve read so that you can have an enjoyable shopping experience. 

You will definitely be able to see the benefits of doing so.

Don’t go away, we have even more for you.

After all now it is the time for fun and chance to win. 

Every week end we are giving away one Locall business listings for whole year to those who:

   #1 have shared, like and comment on Facebook this article.

   #2 share, like and comment on Instagram this article.

Every week the 2 top engaging readers will be contacted by our marketing team to receive a 100% discount code. The last withdraw will be on 04 July 2020.