We all know this time of the year can be H E C T I C

And while most of the festive season stresses [FSS?] comes from shopping for your relatives, colleagues and friends. We at Hostking thought we’d give you some tips to use during this festive season online shopping craze. Below is our online shopping tips for this festive season.

1.Scout, scout, and scout?

To buy the best you gotta look out for the best. Scout out those deals, check their promotion validity, don’t get carried away, and make sure it’s a legit product or service. Know what you’re looking for before you buy.

2. Shop at Websites you trust?

Expect a record for online holiday spending this year. But shopping IRL (in real life) offers one advantage: you can usually be sure of the business and the inventory exists. On the web, some “businesses” are fabricated by people who just want your credit card information and other personal details. To play it safe, consider doing online business only with retailers you trust and have shopped with before.

3. Go check that business out

What I do to put my sceptical radar at ease is by scanning through their Facebook page or social media platforms. Inspect if their promotions on social media match up to the ones displayed on their website. In addition, scrutinize their reviews on product quality, customer services, and delivery response. If there’s no email address, phone number, or address for a physical location, that could be a signal that it’s a fake company.

4. If the deal is too good to be true. IT PROBABLY IS!

Don’t fall for that lucrative email pop up scams and rock-bottom sale they’re trying to advertise. Fake sites and fake advertisement have one purpose in mind – to lure you in only to gain your personal information to misuse and perform identity theft.

5. Avoid public WiFi

If you find yourself browsing a catalogue with a public WiFi connection. This puts you at risk due to some WiFi networks using public airwaves. Online crooks intercept the data you send and receive while on open WiFi. Shopping online usually means giving out information that an identity thief would love to grab, including your name and card information.

6. You must stay safe! – create a strong password. ??

Make use of uppercase and lowercase. Use numbers and symbols. In other words, make sure your password length is strong, hard to mimic and confirm that it’s not the same for other usernames you have.

7. Now don’t forget to make sure that the little ‘s’ is included in the ‘http:/’ ?

With internet fraud on the high during festive season always check on the top left corner of your browser. Because without the ‘s’ it means the data you enter is not secured between you and the server. So always make certain the online store you intend to purchase from is protected by SSL to safeguard your information.

8. Save your confirmation order and tracking number.

Once you’ve checked out, stay on them and carry out a follow up if need be.

Above all, our main takeaway is to ensure that our festive season shopping lists are fulfilled by trustworthy online purchases making our loved ones smile with joy.

I hope these tips will keep you calm while you add-to-cart knowing that you have used these useful guidelines.

➡ Start you Festive Season Shopping at Hostking.

? Since all South Africans enjoy something for FREE. Hostking offers FREE 1GB Capped DSL Data, we even have a FREE Sitebuilder for you to take your business online in time for your New Year 2019 venture goals. ?