The world of trade and commerce has undergone a lot of transformation right from the days of barter trade to coins and currencies for various transactions. Although the fundamentals of trade have not changed since then, different innovative processes have been imbibed over time, especially concerning cross-border businesses and the medium of exchange.

Brief History of E-Commerce Trends

The pendulum of favor in terms of trade had once swung away from small businesses in the 1980s when large corporations like Walmart and Barnes & Noble started creating chain stores in several cities, forcing many small businesses to close their doors out of low sales.

Although the concept of e-commerce had been birthed in 1960 with the development of the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), it was actualized in the mid-1990s when EBay and Amazon have brought a new dimension to e-commerce in the US.

The guarantee that the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) gave concerning online financial transactions' security restored the confidence that was once lost after the dot-com bubble in the year 2000. After that, the rest, they say, is history.

E-Commerce Statistics – 2020 and Beyond

As of now, e-commerce is doing terrific numbers in terms of trading volume and customer-base. According to Statistica, retail e-commerce sales for the year 2020 were estimated to be 4.21 trillion US Dollars – a number that is expected to rise by 35% within the next three years.

E-commerce has benefited sellers in many ways and most especially provided them an avenue to increase their income. The fact that they do not have to queue or spend long times searching for a product might seem enough for the average shopper.

Tips to Enhance Online Shopping Experience



There are, however, several tips that can be used by online shoppers to enhance their shopping experience. They are explained as follows:

1. Use a VPN

Contrary to what the average person might think a VPN is used for – which is to only access geo-restricted content or change IP addresses; a VPN also provides security offerings for its users. The significant security benefit it offers is the encryption of network data as it travels from one point to another.

A simple VPN download and use when making online payments help check the danger of financial data getting stolen, especially on public networks. Usually, public Wi-Fi networks get hacked and stuff like credit card details or account login credentials are stolen. With a VPN’s encryption, you’ll be able to shop online safely.

2. Shop on Secure Websites

Cybercrime is on the rise these days, and the worst thing anyone could experience is having their financial details stolen by malicious website administrators. One rule of thumb is to ensure that the online store has an SSL certificate installed when making payment online.

You can check this by clicking on the padlock sign just before the website name in the URL bar. Another way to make sure you're safe is to read their privacy policy on securing online payments.

3. Select Specific Days to Shop

The general price of items or specific items can drop on special days of the year. It practically depends on the level of demand or celebration on that day.

For instance, a lot of products get discounted on Black Friday, and computers cost less on Cyber Monday. If you’re in no hurry to get a product and these shopping days are drawing nearer, you can decide to pause your purchase.

You can also track prices through the days of the week to observe when a certain item or service costs less. For instance, flight prices are highly influenced by demand. The bigger the demand, the steeper the price. Statistically, Saturdays and Sundays are the best days of the week to purchase flight tickets.

4. Get Deals on Gift Cards

Not everyone likes to shop for deals in different online stores. To some individuals, this behavior is considered tasking. If you’re going to buy everything from one online shop, you might as well purchase gift cards with discounts.

Some websites facilitate the sale and purchase of gift cards at reduced prices. With these cards, you can take off as much as 10% to 35% from your shopping budget.

5. Shop through Cash-back Websites

Cash-back websites are avenues for buyers to improve the online shopping experience. They allow you to earn money on your purchases, depending on a cash-back percentage.

If you want to earn with cash-back websites, you can head over to any of them to sign up for a membership. The most popular cash-back websites are Ibotta, Rakuten, and BeFrugal. Once you have an account with any of them, you can access your usual shopping websites through the cash-back website.

No need to worry, there are very high chances that the online shop you use will show up on the cash-back website. Immediately you checkout your cart, your cash-back gets processed. Different cash-back websites offer varying discounts.

6. Abandon your Cart

This has been observed to be one of the best ways to get deals from an online shop. For the online retailer, getting you to check out an abandoned cart is one of its goals. For you, intentionally abandoning your cart is a smart strategy and a way to avoid impulse purchases.

To do this, you’ll need to first have an account with the online shop. You must be logged in when adding the items to your cart. Leave the cart and in a few days, the online store will automatically send you a coupon code or discount. You can try this on multiple websites to select the shopping website offering you the biggest discount.

Conclusion

The inclusion of technology in anything is to provide ease with which its operations are conducted. For consumers in e-commerce, taking away the hassles that come with going to the store to fetch items isn’t the only benefit available. Increased competition in the online shopping space has led to lowered prices for items.

Taking advantage of options such as cash-back websites, discounted gift cards - or measures like shopping on the right days or abandoning your cart, can lead to a big reduction in the purchase price. Combining these with security tips like using a VPN and shopping on trusted websites is bound to enhance your online shopping experience.