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One of the fastest-growing industries in India is the e-commerce industry. Statistics show that India is expected to grow its eCommerce market by approximately 1200 percent by 2026.
Covid -19 pandemic has just accelerated the pace of this growing market. The tendency of shopping online has grown enough. Now, every market is present online, either it is a market of medicine or vegetables. All are just a click away.
So, if you search online you’ll get a lot of online shopping websites. But, how will you determine which is the most secure online website?
In this article, we are going to discuss how online shopping provides convenience and safety together.
Why shopping online?
Online shopping has been chosen by most of the citizens of India. During the covid-19 pandemic, it is a great help. Most of the retailers are now being connected with online shopping sites. It is very convenient and exciting buying and selling online.
There are a lot of advantages to online shopping.
- The most convenient reason to choose online shopping over offline is you don’t have to go outside for anything. You need something and it is just at your door. Then why choose offline?
- Another important reason is you have a variety of things to pick out. You will have time to choose everything you want to buy patiently.
- Sometimes you get discounts or coupon codes to reduce the cost. Referral codes and offers made online shopping more and more convenient.
- You can compare products with different other shopping websites and then decide to buy or not.
- You want to give a gift to anyone, you don’t have to carry it or be present to give, just order at the address you want to send. It will reach out there without delay.
Now, where there are advantages there are chances of having disadvantages too. This is applicable for this case of online shopping too.
Drawbacks of online shopping
- There are chances of being cheated in online shopping if you are not aware of what you are doing while making payments or during online shopping. Maybe you pay them earlier but not got the item you desired or got a defective item. Not every online shopping website has the same policy of return or exchange.
- The information you put while issuing an order can be used or sold to any third party, without your consent.
- Details information of your credit or debit cards or bank accounts can also be theft and used to abduct your money from the accounts.
We will discuss later in this article how you can save yourself from these consequences you may face.
Online shopping payment options
Maximum fraud cases happen using your online payment information. But how will you know which method is best for online payment?
That is why we are here.
The payment options available for online shopping are…
❏ Debit/Credit cards:
Cards are the most common and popular method for online money transactions. Debit cards are used when you have a limited amount of money present in your account and you are bound to spend only that much amount for your online shopping.
On credit cards, you can borrow some amount of money from the bank and then pay later through your bank account.
These cards are one of the secure online shopping methods.
❏ eWallets:
Using eWallets as an online payment method growing too fast in this digital world. You can keep some money in these wallets or connect your bank account to them and use it through UPI or QR code scanning. Some wallets are PayPal, Google Pay, etc.
❏ e-Checks:
E-checks are the most common method among Americans. But its growing uses will spread all over the world soon.
There are prepaid cards, bank transfers, and many other processes of payment online.
Online shopping safety tips
To make your online shopping safe, you need to act smartly and wisely. Wisely in the sense that, you should never place convenience over safety. Going in the flow is not a smart decision after all.
Here we are going to share with you some tips on how you can secure online shopping and its payments.
- ❖ Find the secure connection always in the sites. And protect your pc with a strong anti-virus.
- ❖ To buy anything online, you must know about the product first. To know properly research is the best option.
It is good if you already know about the product, but if you don’t you should definitely do research on the item you are wishing to buy like how to use them, compare that item in different shopping sites.
- ❖ Think every time before clicking on any (ok, cancel, accept, etc.) button.
- ❖ Always buy from a reputed site or merchant.
- ❖ Try to buy at the true price. Don’t fall for the items you see at a much lower price than they should be.
- ❖ Use secure wifi connection
- ❖ Beware of telling anyone your OTP. This type of fraud has been growing day by day. To be safe you should never share OTPs with anyone.
- ❖ Try to order things on COD, cash on delivery.
FAQs
1. What are the biggest privacy threats online?
There are several threats like phishing attacks, bad password selection, unsecured web browsing, malware, etc.
2. Which is the most secure online shopping website in India?
There are some reputed secure online shopping websites present in India such as Amazon, Flipkart, Vootmart, Myntra, Snapdeal, Ajio, etc.
3. How can I order something online?
Follow these steps:
- ★ Open a safer online shopping website.
- ★ Create an account there
- ★ Search for the items you want to buy
- ★ Click on add to cart or place an order option
- ★ Add your address, phone number, etc.
- ★ Pay online or as you wish to pay
- ★ Place the order
- ★ That’s it, you are done!
4. How can I get free delivery on any online shopping website?
There are different policies on different websites for free delivery or delivery charge options. Like if you buy things at a certain amount you can become eligible for free delivery etc. It depends on which online shopping website you are buying. Check that policy before placing an order.
