Become a Shopping Pro With Our Online Shopping Tips
This year, a record number of consumers have relied on online shopping to buy directly online. The benefits of online shopping during a pandemic are obvious: avoiding crowds and gatherings contributes to the safety of essential workers and reduces pressure on the healthcare system.
But online shopping also has its pitfalls. The Internet can in fact turn out to be a black hole where the hours vanish into thin air.
It can happen that you find yourself aimlessly navigating from one website to another buying products you don’t really need, or spending too much money on essential items. Fortunately, a few simple tricks are all it takes to turn you into a shopping pro.
1. Clarify Your Ideas With an Online Shopping List
Getting organized not only reduces stress, it also saves you time and money. Making a list is always a great strategy to understand what you really need, don’t forget anything and avoid spending too much on unnecessary items.
The ideal is to rely on an app for the shopping list, especially in the case of shopping at the supermarket.
2. Safe Online Shopping: What to Watch Out For
Many of us are making far more online purchases than usual. It’s more important than ever to make sure our data and money are always safe. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps to ensure the safety of your operations and, if necessary, make a return or receive a refund.
Do not shop if you are connected to a public wireless network – there may be security holes and your payment details may be stolen. It is best to use your own mobile network or a private VPN network.
Make sure the website is secure: the URL must start with “https” with the classic padlock symbol next to it.
Check the return / refund policy and keep track of it. In the event that returns are required, it is always best to keep the order number, invoice and confirmation details.
Make sure your passwords are secure and change them regularly.
Pay by credit card whenever you can: it is the payment method that offers you the highest level of legal protection in the event of any disputes.
Check your bank statements regularly to make sure there are no unusual movements.
3. Take Advantage of the Seasonal Sales
Great deals can be found during the seasonal sales. Of course, this strategy is not suitable for urgent or last-minute purchases, but if you can plan ahead for items to buy and wait for the discounts you can save a lot.
The trick is to shop “out of season”, which is when demand for a certain product is low and retailers want to get rid of all leftovers before the new season starts. So there’s nothing better than buying a nice coat at the end of winter and an air conditioner in the fall, when temperatures start to drop.
Black Friday is also an excellent opportunity to find unbeatable offers.
4. “Local” Online Shopping: Support Your Community and Protect the Environment
Online shopping and zero-kilometer purchases are not necessarily mutually exclusive, on the contrary. By helping local shops survive, you are helping to ensure diversity of businesses and create job opportunities in your city, with positive repercussions on the local economy.
And don’t forget that by purchasing local products you are also helping to protect the environment: the shorter the distance traveled by goods, the lower the emissions caused by transport. But you can also avoid shipping altogether by picking up the goods at the point of sale.
5. All Crazy About Online Savings: Offers, Premium Discounts and Coupons
The first way to save on online shopping is to organize your purchases by making a list. This way you will understand which products you really need and you can buy the unnecessary ones at another time, perhaps when you have a little more budget.
Another great strategy is to get discount codes to enter at the time of purchase. Like? By subscribing to the store’s newsletter, by searching on coupon sites.
Join the loyalty programs and accumulate points that can turn into a discount at the cashier.