Basic Online Shoppig Ethics You Must Always Observe
Selling products online is a breakthrough for retail, and has been touted as one of the most groundbreaking technologies of this era. Likewise, online shopping gives a huge convenience to consumers and is fast becoming their preferred way to shop. It also affords sellers the opportunity to expand their reach and audience. Furthermore, virtual retailing is a cheap way to scale, relative to opening physical stores in several locations.
As a shopper, you have a responsibility to yourself and the stores you are shopping from. There are basic ethics to observe when purchasing products online. These ethics predominantly serve for protection and security. Observing them won't only guarantee you safe shopping, but also prevents unintentional inconvenience you may cause for other shoppers and the shopping store.
Some of these fundamental ethics are:
Protect your personal information:
While shopping online, we tend to supply sensitive information to complete the transactions. Ensure any information you provide is very necessary and not overly sensitive in a way that makes you susceptible to hacks, data thefts, and security breaches.
Use secure payment systems
It's very important you use only secure payment systems, for your online financial transactions. A way to go about it is to conduct some research on what payment systems are certified and verified. Sometimes, checking out user reviews of a payment platform can also guide you to choose which has an excellent security system.
Provide only necessary details
Remember that providing details like your personal information address, credit card number, email address, a password can grant hackers access to your identity and finances.
If possible, once you are done transacting, clear your information - like passwords - from the platform you used. You can do this by clearing cookies from your browser. You are safer that way.
It is recommended that you shop with verified, popular stores that can be trusted with client information and possess tamper-proof databases. However, shopping with famous brands can be safer. Since they need to ensure their integrity and brand name is protected, they would often do everything possible - including employing latest technologies - to prevent any form of a scandal relating to tampering with customers' information. Although there are customer protection laws and customer online rights that guard against such activities, you can never be too careful.
Don't fall for the cheap promises!
Do not fall for super cheap prices, or online stores promising tempting deals especially during notable holidays or festive periods. Do your best to avoid stores or websites that appear shady, direct you to suspicious pages or demand overly sensitive information. Bear in mind that anything that sounds too good to be true, usually is (90% of the time anyways).
As backed by rules and provisions of the law, online store owners bear the responsibility to run their stores in accordance with the following four tenets:
Security
As an e-store owner, you have an obligation to provide your customers with a secure platform for transacting with you. You must also ensure that your clients' orders are safe from the point of leaving your "store" to the point of delivery.
You can go about this by employing efficient technology for your payment, tracking and delivery systems - that are notably secure, efficient and reasonably resistant to cyber attacks.
Privacy
In order to access your offers, make purchases from you or subscribe to your services, clients may have to provide some personal and sensitive information. Storing this data can be useful in helping you deliver personalized services to your clientele, engage your audience and further drive sales. However, ethics require that you keep only the customer data that is necessary for your business - but not detrimental to your clientele of course. In doing so, you must ensure you these data are kept private. Good virtual store owners employ effective tech options to guarantee their clientele privacy - there are also regulations that demand this.
Non-deception
In a normal store setting, a shopper often checks out a product to see whether or not it meets his / her taste before purchase. The highest form of deception a seller can make in this case would be altering a product's quality and its price. But in most cases, the buyer "gets" what he sees and picks. It is a totally different "story" when it comes to online retailing. The buyer largely relies on what the seller states about the product, and the pictures of the item (if there are any) and then makes a decision. In this case, even without laws, morals and courtesy demand that sellers be honest about their goods and services.
Sadly, nowadays there's a thin line between advertising (or product promotion) and blatant misrepresentation - which largely influences e-retailing. A seller can be tempted to exaggerate the "qualities " of his listed items for the sake of quick profit, only for the buyer to get the suckerpunch - surprise!!
To guard against this mischief, ethical regulations demand that e-sellers uphold the tenet of non-deception. Although this may not bring fast results, listing and showing your customers and prospective buyers exactly what they will get helps to build customer loyalty. "Honesty" does sustain brand integrity and has also been proven to increase SEO - which can all culminate into an increased Return On Investment (ROI) in the long run.
Reliability
This quality ties with the previous tenet. A brand that delivers products that matches customer orders has fulfilled its customers' needs and will thus be viewed as reliable. Trusted brands aim to provide quality and customer-friendly services. They put customer satisfaction before and above any other thing. You should, as well.
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