According to the BBC the pandemic is altering our shopping habbits and online shopping has seen it's highest growth since 2008.
"The increased popularity of click-and-collect and people buying more items from home led to a strong year for overall internet sales, with record highs for food and household goods sales online."
In a sign of the way the pandemic has changed shopping habits, the value of online retail sales jumped by 46.1% in 2020 when compared with 2019 - the highest annual growth reported since 2008.
Online trade now accounts for more than one-third of all retail sales.
So according to the figures 1 in 3 of us are shopping online, but are we doing it safely?
Top tips for staying safe whilst shopping online
- Ensure that any online retailer unfamiliar to you is reputable by researching them. Establish a physical address and telephone contact details. Remember that the best way to find a reputable retailer is via recommendation from a trusted source.
- Remember that paying by credit card offers greater protection than with other methods in terms of fraud, guarantees and non-delivery.
- Before entering payment card details on a website, ensure that the link is secure, in two ways:
- There should be a padlock symbol in the browser window frame, which appears when you attempt to log in or register. Be sure that the padlock is not on the page itself ... this will probably indicate a fraudulent site.
- The web address should begin with ‘https://’. The ‘s’ stands for ‘secure’.
- The above indicate only that the link between you and the website owner is secure, and not that the site itself is authentic. You need to do this by carefully checking the address for subtle misspellings, additional words and characters and other irregularities
- Some websites will redirect you to a third-party payment service (such as WorldPay). Ensure that these sites are secure before you make your payment.
- Do not pay for goods when using an unsecured Wi-Fi connection
- Safeguard and remember the password you have chosen for the extra verification services used on some websites, such as Verified by Visa.
Source via: https://www.getsafeonline.org/shopping-banking/shopping1/