Are you planning to make a purchase on an online retailer’s website? No matter what product you want to order, you probably want it delivered right to your doorstep. Unfortunately, not all online retailers are trustworthy. So how can you check whether an online retailer is reliable?
Check the reputation of the online store
To ensure that an online sales platform is reliable, you need to make sure it has a good reputation. Here's how to check its reputation.
Internet Search
If you have any doubts aboutthe reliability of an online store, you should immediately verify the identity of the company that operates it. To do so, the DGCCRF (General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control) recommends conducting an internet search. To do this, type the name of the company in question into your search engine and add the following terms: “scam,” “fraud,” or “reliability.” This is a simple and effective tip that will help you determine whether the online store is associated with any unethical practices.
The Online Reliability Tool
To conduct a more in-depth analysis of an e-commerce site’s reputation, you can use tools that assess its reliability. Online, there are solutions such as ScamDoc that will help you determine how much trust you can place in a website. This software is based on several relevance criteria, including:the age of the domain name, the reliability of the email addresses used on the site, traffic, the presence of the HTTPS protocol, search engine rankings, and more. Thanks to the advanced artificial intelligence used by ScamDoc, you’ll get relevant and reliable results.
Analyze the website's domain name
Before taking the next steps to ensure the reliability of an e-commerce website, you must make sure tochoose the right platform. Indeed, scams are rampant, and fake websites are very well designed these days. Therefore, you should not rely on a website’s appearance, as it can be easily replicated—just like a social media profile.
To make sure you’re on the righte-commerce site, you should pay attention to the domain name. This is actually the core part of a platform’s URL. For example, on the website https://www.sneakersworld.fr, the domain name is sneakersworld.fr. Other domain names, such as sneakersworld.ru, info.sneakersworld.eu, or sneakersworld.com, may belong to malicious individuals or other companies. Therefore, you should not make the mistake of visiting another provider’s site while thinking you are on the e-commerce platform whose reliability you wish to assess.
Toverify the authenticity of the website, you can use software such as Who.is. By entering the URL into this software, you’ll get a wealth of information, including the owner’s name, address, contact information, and IP address.
Review the legal notices and privacy policy
The legal notices and privacy policy are also factors that helpverify the reliabilityof an e-commerce website.
Legal Notice
Every e-commerce website must display several required disclosures regarding the platform owner, publisher, address, and company. These serve as the website’s “passport.” To ensure your service provider is reliable, the legal disclosures are factors you should consider.
Privacy Policy
A website’s privacy policy must be included inthe legal notices. If it isn’t, be aware that it is required by law. In fact, it outlines all the measures the website has put in place to protect personal data. Normally, a reliable website should have a comprehensive privacy policy that complies with the new standards set by the GDPR. Be sure to check for its presence to ensure the reliability of the e-commerce site you’ve chosen.
Please review the General Terms and Conditions of Sale (GVT)
All e-commerce sites must includeterms and conditions of sale. Whether the platform is used to sell tangible or intangible goods, it must make the terms and conditions available to customers. They must also be accessible before purchases are confirmed.
In fact, the Terms and Conditions serve as a contract for the purchases you make. Therefore, you should review them to learn about various aspects, such as:
- Delivery terms;
- Product warranties;
- Ancillary services;
- Refunds;
- Payment terms;
- Spare parts;
- Available products, etc.
Legal Principles and Technical Safety
According to the DGCCRF, consent is indicated by a double-click. So, when making your payment, you should pay attention to this detail. In fact, the seller is required to follow a two-step process. Your first click should be used to verify the order, the products, and the prices, as well asto accept the legal noticesand terms and conditions of sale. The second click should be used to confirm the order and complete the payment. These details generally indicate that you are dealing with a reliable online retailer.
In addition, you must make sure the website is secure. To do this, there are security protocols you absolutely must be familiar with. A website must, at a minimum, useHTTPS security. If you notice that an online shopping platform has a URL that starts with “HTTP” (without the “s”), you should avoid it. Don’t forget to check for the closed padlock icon to the left of the URL.
Features of the product you want to buy
Unlike in a physical store, you can’t touch or examine a product on anonline retail sitebefore buying it. That’s why you should review the product description and technical specifications before completing your purchase. The advantage of taking this precaution is that it allows you to ensure you’re buying the right product. In fact, it’s not uncommon to receive an item or accessory that doesn’t match the photos you saw on the site. Therefore, you shouldn’t rely solely on the images. To verify a platform’s reliability, take these details into account.
Customer Reviews
Did you know thatcustomer reviewsare very important to online marketplaces and to buyers? Unfortunately, a common mistake consumers make is relying on reviews posted by other customers. Currently, there are three types of customer reviews on the internet.
First, there are the comments posted on the platform. Their authenticity cannot be verified, since the company selects the content it publishes.
Next, there are reviews from internet users, which are fairly reliable. Finally, there are reviews posted on platforms such asGoogle My Business and Trustpilot. These sites use algorithms that can distinguish between fake and genuine reviews.
Generally speaking, you should be aware that there are a plethora of fake reviews online. Therefore, you should not rely on them to judge the reliability of a website.
The site's presence on social media platforms
The last tip is to check whether the platform has an online presence in general. To do this, see if the site is active on the major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). You should also check to see if it has a Google My Business listing. Finally, see if other platforms are mentioning the site in question.
Checking a Website's Reliability: A Summary
All in all,online scamswill never go away because of the staggering number of people with malicious intent. It’s therefore up to you to distinguish legitimate e-commerce sites from fraudulent platforms. By following the tips provided here, you’ll be able to assess the reliability of any online store.
