With everything sort of digitalized these days, you will be surprised that there are a majority of us who do not fully utilize the convenience. And I am talking about online shopping. I realized this when I constantly received emails or comments left in my blog that they do not know how to shop online. That got me thinking. Online shopping is as easy as (1) pick the item you want, (2) add into ‘shopping cart’, (3) make payment, (4) wait for the parcel to arrive. Yes it may seems as simple as what I just mentioned for people who have done online shopping before but not to those who have yet to try it.

Today I am going to share with you my Top 5 Simple Online Shopping Tips. This basics will breeze anyone through online shopping easily and smartly. I did not want to do a step-by-step online shopping guide as each online shopping site has their own procedure or sequence so it does not make sense for me to refer to just one site. However fret not, as online shopping site nowadays has a pretty good step-by-step navigation which will guide you through payment 😉 . Just click ‘next’ all the way! lol

1. Do Your Research Before Settling With The Right Online Shopping Site

This is where Google is your best friend. Get the full use of Google to look for reviews. Go through and read at least 2-3 pages of all the Google search result. You will never know. I had the worse experience even with the biggest online shopping site i.e. MySale for countless of times. Through Google, you will be surprised to find stories on stolen parcels, counterfeit products and many more.

You may be interested to check this link for updated online shopping experience at iHerb.com.

2. Consolidate Your Shopping List

We all been through the phase where we feel the need to go for a quick online shop but only to find just one item to buy. Why risk paying for a full shipping fee if you could ask around or wait for your shopping list to grow longer before shopping?

Online shopping is so easy that even when I am working on my computer I feel the urge to click into one of my favourite site to check out what’s new, what’s on sale or what’s the on-going deal. The problem is when you are doing this on a daily basis, you may ran out of things to buy sooner or later. Some site do offer free shipping with any amount, however that is rare nowadays. Every site now has a minimum purchases requirement in order to be eligible for free shipping. What I like to do is to wait out for a few days. If you have a few friends or colleagues who are going to buy from the same site anyway, hitch hike onto their order! This way you save out on shipping fee. Or you could just consolidate your order and get everything at one shot. Having said that, please be reminded that any oversea order from RM500 and above INCLUSIVE shipping fee are taxable. Keep the total amount low if possible.

3. Read Product Reviews For Signs of Counterfeit Products

Most online shopping site now offers product reviews to help other shoppers in making the right choices. Now, these reviews are equally important as you get to read about the product efficacy, delivery issues (sometimes), and most importantly if the product is a fake product. What I like about this review section is everyone just rant on EVERYTHING! When I mention about fake products, I do not mean the site itself is selling fake products. Some site offers reseller program where anyone can register to the site and sell their products. This is where the quality control went downhill as there is no way these online site can filter everything out. Sites like Lazada, 11street or even Zalora are all sites with various resellers. Zalora is the most trustable of all as Zalora keep all the stocks and do the fulfillments. This is also where you need to do a little more background digging on who is doing the stock fulfillments.

4. Register For Online Banking / Paypal Account

Again, you will be surprised to find out that some people do not believe in doing any monetary related transaction online therefore they do not have online banking facility. I am not kidding! I have been told before by numerous readers that they are always stuck at payment page. When I ask why, the reply I get was “I do not have online banking, credit card or Paypal”. I have known people that do not carry credit card at all but because they needed to buy something online, they got a card just for the purpose.

Most local online shopping site offers a few payment method – online banking, credit / debit card charge, and Paypal. I personally prefer to use local bank online transfer for local shopping site and Paypal for international. It will be charge to my credit anyway. So before you even embark on this online shopping journey, you got to make sure you have online banking enabled for your bank account at least. All you need to do is one-time off authorization with your bank and that is it!

5. Look For The Best Deal and Discount in Town

I always, ALWAYS tell my readers and friends to Google for discount codes or deals first before clicking Place Order. I am a bargain hunter which means I do my best research before purchasing anything to get the best out of the money I paid. Sounds like kiasu but it is not. It is the matter of maximising 😉 . Before this I have recommended quite a few deals site I personally used for my online shopping. As you know I have been an active shopper at Zalora for their killer heels lately and so I found a new coupon site – CupoNation, my.collectoffers.com and www.couponkoz.my.

Sometimes when there are no discount deals available for the online shopping site you want, another way around it is to look for FREE SHIPPING 😀 . Why pay for shipping when you can find a code to slash it off? This is the most basic of all with coupon site.

There you have it! These are the simplest basic online shopping knowledge that everyone regardless long time shoppers or newbies should do before any online shopping. Once you have identified the right shopping site for you that you find reliable and you feel comfortable spending money at, stick to it.

Until the next tip post! <3