Great Consumer Product Strategies
You will need to buy gifts for the holidays and you need to purchase them quickly. You may either brave the madness of shopping at your local mall or kick back at home and buy all of your gifts online. Doing your holiday shopping on-line can be a great way to save time while you find the correct gifts at the best price. You will skip the parking garage wars, avoid getting the flu from your fellow shoppers, and remain out of pick-pockets' crosshairs. But though it may be easy and convenient to shop in your pajamas, you still have to do precautions to make sure your electronic 'purse strings' are safe and sound. Here are a few simple tips for safe online shopping:
Secure your computer. Make sure your home computer has updated security software installed, and run regular system check to keep hackers' keylogging viruses away.
ONLY shop from home. Do not do your shopping on-line from the local café, the airport or other public places. These open networks are easier targets for identity thieves to hack into your computer. Only shop through your secured home network.
Click carefully. Your favorite store just sent you a great coupon! But wait! Before you click on e-mail links, be sure of where they lead. Scam emails can look just like the real ones through your favorite stores, with links that appear to take you to legitimate sites. But hover over the link and also you may see another web address - this could be a fake site, designed to gather your credit-card information for fraud. Your safest bet is to manually navigate to your favorite retailer's website.
Know thy merchant. One of best parts of shopping on-line is conveniently comparing prices to locate a great deal. You could find the gift you want for half the cost - but make sure the merchant is reputable and trustworthy. If you haven't done business with a merchant before, look for online reviews. Using aggregators like Amazon.com and Yahoo Shopping is the one other good way to ensure your merchant does not take you for a fraudulent sleigh ride.
Lock down your website. When you visit a retailer's website, look for "https" at the beginning of the URL. This "s" - together with a small gold lock in the lower-right corner of your browser - indicates an extra level of security for your online shopping.
Log out. Always logout securely when leaving a site.
Check if your payment details are stored. Some shopping online sites ask if you want to store your payment details for future purchases. It's always handy to have your information stored, particularly if you use that site often. Still, watch out because of this on lesser-known sites.
Compare 'real' prices. Make sure you know the amount you will be charged for shipping, and if you'll find any taxes or fees that may be added to your online purchase. These 'extras' can add up quickly, so be sure you include them when comparison shopping. Many retailers offer free shipping around the holidays, and others allow free in-store pick-up of your online purchases - easy ways to add extra savings to your holiday shopping.
Know the Return Policy. Read the merchant's return policy before you make your purchase. One of the downsides of shopping on-line will be the inability to 'try it on' or see the item before purchasing, so make certain your merchant offers you a simple way to return/refund your purchase if it is not what you expected.
Choose Credit - not Debit. If possible, use a bank card to pay for online purchases. Federal law limits your liability to $50 in the event of fraud. Better yet, many credit-card companies will waive this liability, and offer advanced fraud protection and detection programs to keep you safe.
Keep an eye out. If you are doing a whole lot of shopping on-line, excellent consumer electronics; Www.gothicpast.com`s statement on its official blog, make sure to check your account and credit-card statements regularly to verify all charges. If you have questions regarding a transaction or suspect fraud, call your financial institution immediately.
Save your Receipts! Just as with in-store shopping, you certainly will want to save all your receipts from online shopping. You might decide to save emailed receipts on your computer, or print them out and file with other receipts.
