Holiday Shopping Safety Tips and Ideas Every Shopper Should Know About

Mounika
4 min readJul 30, 2019

--

Every shopper in the world becomes alive during the holiday season. The turnover of businesses across the globe reaches a peak during the holidays. It can start from millions, and by the end, it gets to billions and more.

From the past few years, the number of people choosing an online platform for shopping has increased. Many people prefer online shopping over physically going down to the shop to buy something. But there can be numerous security issues that we have to deal with when it comes to shopping, be it online or in-store shopping.

Following are some tips you should follow if you are a holiday shopper.

Take Care of the Little Delays

1. Segregate the money in your wallet into different parts like hard cash and plastic money. Segregate your cards according to their type as well, that is, debit cards and credit cards. This way, you can keep track of how and where your money is spent when you are on a shopping spree.

2. Do you plan on splurging a little more than usual? Always alert your card issuer as soon as possible after you spend the money. It will help them in the processing stage of the procedure.

3. Always ensure that your credit and debit cards are updated with your current email id, phone numbers, and other essential information. The purchases are sometimes denied over small issues like wrong postal code, or if it doesn’t match the details, you have provided.

Safety Should Be Your First Concern

1. Always keep your card safe. Make sure your cards are kept where they belong inside your wallet. Haste in purchasing can lead to losing your credit or debit cards. If you lose your card, it can result in delays of payment while you are waiting for a replacement.

2. Nearly all the retailers in the world accept payments through Google Pay, Apple pay, or PayPal. These are some of the best ways to securely transfer your money over a channel. By using this type of payment, your card number is replaced by a secure encrypted digital network with high-end security measures in place. The combination in the algorithm is changed automatically after every purchase.

3. Always avoid dealers who are not well known and offer untruthful advertising. There is a fair chance that the website is not even legal. You only need to provide your credit card details. Try sticking to regular and trustworthy retailers.

4. If you ever see any unusual transactions on your debit or credit cards, report the same to the issuer immediately.

5. You can also ask your consultant to keep a close eye on each transaction taking place in your account. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Check out the Business

Whenever you buy something from anywhere, you should always check out their customer testimonials and business perspective. It will help you get an idea about the brand reputation, the product, and the website. You can also take referrals from the feedback.

Be Aware of Low Prices

You must’ve come across advertisements like “ Headphones for a dollar” or something along those lines. These are clickbaits. The company is trying to get your information from you. If they get a hold of your credit card information, they can easily hack into your system. So, always think twice before you go and click on those ads that flash across your screens. Or your holiday shopping amount will be all gone within seconds!

Avoid Public Wifi

You should avoid sharing your private information, especially your credit card details, while you are on public wifi. The devices connected over a particular network can be easily attached to, and a person can get all your bank details within seconds.

Use VPN

VPN is a virtual private network. It helps keep the IP address of your server hidden. Always use a VPN whenever you are connected to public wifi.

Try to Create Strong Passwords

Your password must be reliable if you are using a public network. There are certain norms which you can follow while setting up a new password.

1. Ensure your password is at least eight characters long.

2. Try to use numeric and alphanumeric characters.

3. Don’t use some personal details like your name, birth date, etc.

Check out the Security of the Website Thoroughly

Whenever you visit a website, check their security norms beforehand. There can be loopholes in the systems of many sites which can be helpful for the hackers.

You don’t want the stress of payments and bills when you are enjoying your holidays. Ease of payment makes your holidays more peaceful. Whether you are going down to the shop or going into cyberspace, if your payment is safe and secured, you can enjoy every holiday shopping trend thoroughly.

Stay connected with here….

Linkedin and Twitter

--

--

Mounika

WNS Decision Point — Thought Leadership Platform