If you are new at online shopping, here is the guidance!!!                                               

Everything is getting digitized today. From small to big, each and every need is just in our hands. Today electronic gadgets (mobile, laptops, tabs, PC, etc.) are playing a vital role in our life, we can buy anything online, from a household tool, groceries, medicines to furniture, TV, Fridge, etc.

 Now the point comes what is online shopping? Online shopping is electronic commerce or digital market, where consumers can buy products and services directly from the sellers over the internet using different web browsers, without any mediator services. This platform is best for entrepreneurs to start their business as they can directly contact the customers and consumers also get original and quality products. Online shopping has evolved a lot, but still, consumers faced many problems, such as fake products, hidden costs, fraudulent sellers over different websites selling low quality and fake products in the name of original and branded companies.

Everything has its pros and cons. If online shopping provides benefits to the consumer, it also causes some problems.

Advantages of Online Shopping

1. Online shopping is time saving , suppose if you are working person, or if you don’t like going to markets , or you don’t want to suffer the dust of streets or hot and cold weather, but still want to do shopping , then online shopping is the best option for you.
2. It saves the travel expenses, you can just sit at your home, relaxed and can-do shopping. You don’t need to pay for the auto or bus to reach the store, here products will be delivered at your homes directly.
3. One more advantage is that, you can discuss about the product with your family or relatives, you will get all the details at a scratch. You don’t have to wait for the shopkeeper to brief you about the product and also don’t need to wait for the turn if there is crowd in the shop.

Disadvantages of Online shopping

1. Sometimes you may get delivered with damaged, low –quality and faulty products.
2. You have to keep tracking of your order whether it has been dispatched or not. While delivery also, you have to maintain contact with the delivery boy for shipping address.
3. Sometimes you may face difficulty in understanding the details provided on the website about the product, and if you are worried about the quality , you do have options to clear your doubts but it’s not handy, it’s like you can see other customer’s reviews but again it won’t be very effective, as all the products are different and everyone is handling it in different manner, so you may not get the proper feedback about the product.
4. You have to wait for the product you order, online shopping is not useful for urgently needed products and items.

After analyzing the pros and cons of online shopping, now the question arises, how can you do online shopping effectively?

Irrespective of disadvantages, online shopping is increasing day by day. In this article, we will see how to do online shopping focusing more on how to buy the clothing online, you can relate the steps with other products too.

Let’s begin online shopping!

So the first step is selecting your favorite online shopping platform, make sure you are shopping with reliable companies that have good reviews and feedbacks (Just don’t get attracted by the costs or attractive products). Some of the famous and reliable companies are Amazon, Flipkart, eBay, Etsy, Snapdeal, and many more. These companies (or apps) provide you various sections to help you in your shopping. There is a separate section for men, women, kids, beauty, home, essentials, jewelry, gadgets, and for every other item to make your work easy. Recommended companies for online clothing shopping are Amazon, ASOS, threadU, Zara, Myntra, etc. For clothing these companies are best, it provides you a better search option, they will show you the products according to your need.

Once you have selected your platform, you need to enter the clothes or accessories you want, in most of the apps or sites you may find different sections for different types of cloths and if you click on that you will find thousands of results. Suppose you are buying a dress, you will find thousands of dress designs there, but if you have a specific color in your mind you can make your search easy by just mentioning the color in the search box ( Try to search with appropriate cloth name ).

There are several ways in which you can sort and filter your products-

So, let’s first focus on Sorting, there are mostly five options according to which you can sort your product, they are –

1. Popularity – This will show you the trending products which are popular, and currently in demand.
2.  Latest – This will show you the latest dress designs.
3.  Discount – This will show you the products which are available at a discount.
4.  Price: High to low – It sort the searched item in decreasing order of their price.
5.  Price: Low to high – It sort the searched item in increasing order of their price.

  After selecting the option you will get the results accordingly.

Then comes your Filter, this is a very helping part of your online shopping as it covers most of the details matching your need.

1. First is Categories, it will tell you the types , for example if you are searching for a girl’s top you can categorize it in swim tops, half sleeves or full sleeves, party wear, casuals, etc., suppose you are searching for tuxedo, you can categorize it into blazers or suits.
2. Next comes your Size, this is little bit tough to decide the exact size, but to be sure enough  size chart is provided which tells you all the measurements, you just need to know your body measurements (waist, shoulder, arm length, back , etc.) according to the outfit you are searching for.
3. Then Price, this depend on the brand you have selected, you can just select the range which is suitable for you. 
4. Next is Brand , the listed brands are available here, you can select it according to your choice. Brand selection tells you the quality of the product. It’s not easy to spot the fake product while shopping online, but to have an idea you can check the ratings and reviews of the product and vendor.
5. Then Color, this is totally of your choice, you can select color of your choice.
6. Discount Range, this shows you the list of available discount on particular product.
7. Fabric, this tells the material of the cloth, which is again an important part of shopping, some cloth materials are not comfortable, so you can select it according to your need, mostly cotton blend cloths are comfortable.
8. Then some more options you may find on different sites like Fit (regular fit, slim fit, tailored fit), Occasion (casual, formal, party), Pattern (printed, self-design, solid, striped).

After sorting and filtering all the details, press apply, you will find the result which exactly matches your need.

There are some tricks which can be useful for you during online shopping. On some sites you may find Assured written on some products, this means it’s guaranteed that high-quality products will be delivered to you, in the fastest possible time. And be careful, some products are out of stock, so don’t go for that product.

The next step is if you wish to buy some more products you can add the selected products to cart, and after completing your list you can proceed for shop now. Next, it will ask you for some details such as your mobile number and address.

Then it will ask you the Payment method. You can pay through credit card, debit card, Net banking, etc. or you can choose an option for cash on delivery. For new online customers, cash on delivery option is better, because if something goes wrong at least you have your money safe with you. Cash on delivery is always better, but if you are not available at the time of delivery, or if your watchmen or child is receiving it, then it’s better using other options, and sometimes you may run out of cash, then also other options are useful.

Sometimes consumers face payment failures due to web site’s server error, payment gateway error, or issues with OTP (One Time Password). Due to some technical glitches, payments often deducted from the consumers’ account but websites don’t receive the payment. Then it will be a long process to get your money back. So, Cash on delivery is the best way to get rid of all these problems.

What if you are delivered with some defective products?

Sometimes it might happen that your product gets broken while in transit, or if you are delivered with some defective piece or the product is not up to the mark, then online shopping companies do provide you the option of returning or replacing the product. Let’s consider you ordered a ‘kurta’, and you find it tight or are not satisfied with the product anyway, then you can request an order to replace it or return it by mentioning the true reason for the replacement. Then as per your order, one person from the company will come to your house and check the product and receives it and confirms the company about it, once the confirmation reaches the company, you will get your money back to your registered account within 24 hours (or depends on the company) if you are returning the product, or else you will receive the replaced product via delivery men.

So, these are some tips, or you can say the steps for making your online shopping effective.

Hope you will keep all the above-mentioned points while shopping online!!!