Troubles With Online Ordering

I work at an Internet retail company so I am very familiar with all the problems that most people have when ordering online. Lets review the top 5 things that should be done and or looked for when deciding to place an order online.

1. Credibility
2. Feedback/Ratings
3. Policies
4. Stock check
5. Security

1.Credibility
Many people have a hard time figuring out if a company is credible or not. The first things I would look at is the logos for the verification, authorization, and or security companies that they use. In most cases you should see something like McAfee Security, the card authorization company, BBB verification etc. These all should show credibility. If you don't see anything like this check the BBB to verify that the company is accredited. Now -a-days it is easy to make a bulls**t website company to get money from people.

2. Feedback/Ratings

A LOT of times people do one of two things, one they overlook feedback and or site ratings, and two they look too much into feedback and or site ratings. Both may not be so good. When you look too much into feedback you are depending on what a few upset people have said as opposed to the wide variety of people who say good things. If you don't look at feedback and ratings you are chancing a shady company. Feedback and ratings should only be taken into consideration. They shouldn't be overlooked and they shouldn't be the sole basis of a possible purchase.

As an example I randomly chose the website faucetdirect.com to show feedback examples. ***None of these feedback examples are altered or changed, they are as is on the wed***

3. Policies

Site policies are the biggest part that gets overlooked, mainly because no one wants to read. Policies go over things like shipping policies and or rates, security information, terms of use for the site etc. The biggest policy that gets overlooked and need to be read is the returns policy. I can't stress enough how many people don't read that policy and regret it later. At least skim over the policies or read the titles those usually give you the gist of the information. With Internet sites, a lot of return will include some fees. It is definitely in your best interest to review the returns. Bottom line READ ALL SITE POLICIES!!!

4. Stock Check

The worst thing is when you order something and then come to find it it is not in stock. The biggest misconception that people have is that if the item is listed online then it is in stock. That would be a negative! Many sites list non stock items because some, not most, people will wait for them. If you need an item right away make sure that it is in stock! If you need an item quickly and you are planning on expediting the item verify stock AND check when they will be shipping out the item. Many companies have a processing time frame that has no effect on your order if you expedite the shipping. Also check if their policy includes weekends. 

Classic example:

Customer places order Friday afternoon for an item and choosed to ship it next day air. The company has a 1 business day processing time on top of the weekend the item wouldn't even ship out until Monday, Tuesday at the latest IF the item is in stock.

5. Security

What's worse than making an online purchase and then all of a sudden people you dont know have your credit card information and before you know it there are mass charges on your account that you didn't do. Security on a site is HUGE!!! Couple of things to look for:

1. When you go to check out there may be a closed lock on the bottom right corner, or on the top next to the web address. If you do not see the lock look at the web address if it says https instead of http then it is secure. The 's' on the http means secure.

2. Check authorization companies and for BBB

If you dont see any of these I would not recommend purchasing from that site.

Hopefully this will help aid in better online purchase experiences! Ordering things online is not a bad as a lot of people think. It is just about spending that extra five minutes to verify the company that you are purchasing form.