Are you a smart shopper? 8 ways to shop smart

Digital transformation and technological advancement have changed our lifestyle and the way we do shopping. Within the last few years, Internet had emerged as a strong platform and changed the complete style of communication and lifestyle.

Social Media Channels -Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all played a major role in the digital growth. On the other hand, Mobile technology and faster network reach have made internet access very much easier, which influenced online shoppers and sellers.

Before jumping into Online shopping, let us look at the traditional shopping.

Brick and Mortar Store’s

Before the digital explosion, customers used to go to stores and shop. In this model, customers have direct interaction with storekeepers and physical access to those purchasing materials. The traditional shopping is more time consuming and was less price transparent as the customer unaware about other store prices or competitor store prices.

In addition to that, customers have to bargain hard for discounts which are a pain point and it takes away a lot of your energy.

The advantages of traditional shopping are, physical(touch and feel) experience to products, access to goods immediately after payment, trial and sample opportunities, less chance for fake items, better service terms.

But the trend has changed slightly after the online business has got more attention.

E-commerce/online business

Online shopping websites took the advantage of internet and tried to solve the various pain points of customers. Online shopping reduced the time taken to shop, access to competitive products and their prices, less price compared to physical shops, fast delivery, easy return, customer feedbacks and more discounts etc.
The availability of information and the wide range of products has increased customers to turn to online shopping. Now doing shopping is at your fingertips through mobile apps because it is damn easier and purchasing is a click away.
But internet and shopping having an ugly face or dark side. Along with the advantages, the fraud activities also increasing day by day.

So, how smart do you shop online?

What is meant by smart shopping? It is nothing but understanding A to Z about the product that going to purchase. In a simple sentence,

"A smart shopper is always someone who is smarter than the marketer"

In many ways, you can be smarter than marketers/sellers present in the market. The top few are
1. Compare and Save Money
Money is the most important factor when it comes to shopping or anything; I meant saving the hard earned money is our first priority. Most of the internet shoppers are careless to check the price of products. The seller can change the price of a product at any time and also he can sell it across different sites with different price tags.

Many online resources/add-ons are available to solve this issue to a certain level. Few of them are

    a).buyHatke

Buyhatke is an online price comparison website and browser extension. After adding the extension to your browser, it gives you the complete analysis of historical price variation and its predictive algorithm tell you the percentage variation about the future price changes. Also, this adds on help you to find the discount coupons automatically by analysing many websites before processing the payment. Basically, it helps you to save some time from researching on google and money.

     b).My Smart Price

Mysmartprice is an another online tool which can help you to compare and get the best deal or price of a product by analysing many online e-commerce websites. Adding the extension to browser give you automatic suggestions of best deals of what you are searching for. It got its own loyalty plans for users.

     c).pricebaba

Pricebaba is an online website that compares mobile prices by analysing online websites and offline shops. This is one of the best mobile comparison websites and give you a good idea about best deals and prices. Now it has also expanded its product comparison list to laptops, watches and other electronic items.

      d).compareraja  

      e).pricedekho

2. Check Reviews and Rating

Reviews are the feedbacks of users on the product they purchased, it is a good way to get some idea about the product and what the existing users say. Even though paid review writers are more these days there are genuine reviews are written about the product by users. Reading these reviews give you an overall idea product and whether to purchase or not.
Writing reviews after purchase and using the product helps other customers to make their buying decisions and also to understand the product in depth.

3. Beware of Fake products

As the online shopping and users have grown rapidly, fraud sellers and fake products are also increased in the top e-commerce platforms in India like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm and etc.
Reading reviews and product guidelines along with validating the seller trustability are few options to avoid this issue up to a certain level. Also, verify the product immediately after receiving it by scanning barcodes or holograms present in the item cover/package.

There are higher chances of getting fake items when it is sold at a very low price compared to the original pricing.Differentiating the real products from the duplicate one's are a difficult process at the time of online purchase. 

4. Research your Retailer and Read Policy & Guidelines

Read and understand the manufacturer and seller guidelines before making any purchase. There
are some products/sellers aren’t part of e-commerce site policies,because they sell only with seller policy.So it drops all the pain on customers if anything goes wrong after purchase as websites are not part of their policy. For example, all the products that are listed on amazon website are not fulfilled and verified by amazon, in such cases, the risk lies on customers.

5. Do General Google search

Do a small google search on the product you are looking for or going to purchase. Which helps
you get some insightful information about the product or brand that you are looking for. Visit the official website of the brand and read the detailed product specifications.

6. Grab Discounts and Deals

Most of the e-commerce websites running at least a deal per day, it may be bank offers, discounts, cash backs, free recharge or it could be anything. Look for deals on offer websites and get the best deal for your purchase to save some hard earned cash.

7. Make Secure Transactions

The Internet can harm you like anything if you don’t handle it carefully. The dark side of the internet is so scary and can steal all your information and money. So whenever you are doing online transaction or money transfer, use secure browsers or never hand over your card details and make sure no other tabs are opened on your browser that can harm you.

8. Beware of Hackers and Virus

Viruses and Hackers can take anything from your mobile and laptop. Virus infected or Hacked mobile can send millions of your data and live activities to the creator of that program. Android and Windows operating system devices are more hacker friendly, so the level of harm can higher.

For example, Lots of web URL's and links are shared through Whats app and mobile messages and other similar mediums as part some unknown promotions. But whenever trying to open these links, it either give you a “page not found” error or some random page. The scary part is, the hidden virus programs are automatically downloaded to your device when you clicked on it and started sharing your information to the hacker. It can even transfer your ATM card pin number when you do any transaction by reading your typing patterns.

A smart shopper is someone who studies about the product in deep and gets the best deal out from all by doing transactions in a secure manner. The above listed are not the only 8 steps, but it can at least help you to be one of the best.

Read, for more about safe online transactions : How to shop online safely