There are many advantages associated with shopping online. Ranging from the convenience of ordering things from the comfort of your homes to the ability to compare prices from different online stores.

In contrast to physical stores, its disadvantages outweigh the advantages it offers. Problems like standing in queues, payment difficulties, time consumption, and more are less associated with online shopping.

However, as the advantages and popularity increases, so are the risks and threats of shopping online upscaling.

Risks associated with shopping online

• Problems of full disclosure: extra fees like shipping, processing, and delivery fee may remain undisclosed to customers till payment is to be made or goods are to be delivered.

• Misleading reviews: A product having between 4.5 to a 5-star rating is expected to get more customers compared to a 2-star product. Fake reviews could help sellers push sales by misleading customers with false testimonies.

• Low product quality: since you only get to see the picture and features of a product rather than physically testing them, there is a tendency of getting goods that are below standard.

• Order arrival: some retail stores with little or no reputation tend to deliver goods late or never deliver at times.

• Other risks include identity theft, internet fraud, virus, and other malicious software issues due to unsecured sites.

Tips to stay safe while shopping online

• Never shop on an unsecured website or network: turn on your computer firewall to avoid the risk of getting exposed to potential internet malware. They can be used to steal your financial information and passwords.
• Shop from very reputable stores: shopping from stores with a good track record is very important to avoid delivery and fund scam issues. Do not get misled by fake reviews, shop from the safest store.
• Carefully read the terms and conditions: it is important to take cognizance of the terms and conditions attached to the sale of a product. To prevent problems of full disclosure, the conditions should be duly considered before purchase.
• Other safety measures include creating a unique password, using only sites with HTTPS:// not HTTP://, and checking the seller’s delivery and shipping conditions.

Shopping is one of the most exciting and productive moments for kids and adults. Nobody wants to go shopping and not get good value for their money. Smart shoppers consider several things before setting out to shop, whether conventional or online.

People tend to make some mistakes while shopping or setting out to shop. These mistakes often cost them one thing or the other in various ways. Some popular shopping mistakes include:

• Not having a list of things you want to buy
• No scale of preference
• Buying from unsecured and unregulated websites
• Buying from retailers with little or no reputation 
• No prior knowledge about the product

Things to consider when going shopping

• Have a detailed list of what you are going to buy: Since you do not want to buy just anything that you see, then you need to have a detailed list of what you want to get.

Without a list, you will only end up buying things you do not want, leaving out the items you need.

• Prepare a budget: This is similar to having a list of things to buy, just that a budget is a list of your expected inflows and your estimated outflows. With a budget, you can plan your expenses in a way that does not outshoot your financial tolerance bounds. A budget also helps you to scale your needs in order of importance.

• Shop online: shopping online saves you a lot of stress and time wastage. Online stores often give discounts and coupons that reduce how much you pay for a product.

However, when shopping online, you might want to take note of a few things. Shoppers should patronize reputable stores to avoid credit card fraud, identity theft, and financial details falling into the wrong hands.

• Research well on the product: people often make the mistake of buying low-quality products for high prices due to lack of information. Avoid going for quantity or lower prices over quality.

Similarly, for online shopping, read on the terms and conditions, shipping and delivery policy as well as their refund policy.