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Online Shopping Day is an initiative promoted by the Association for the Digital Economy ( ACEPI ) . It offers 24 hours of discounts of up to 50% on more than two hundred brands.
As part of Online Shopping Day — celebrated on October 29, 2021 — Portal da Queixa belgium email list highlighted the importance of shopping safely and advocated the need to increase digital literacy.
Aware of the initiative, Portal da Queixa revealed that between January 1 and October 23, 2021, 13,099 complaints related to online purchases were registered on the platform.
Since the beginning of 2021, more than 13,000 complaints related to e-commerce have been received by Portugal 's largest consumer social network , an average of 35 complaints per day. And because it is essential to make safe purchases online, today we share with consumers some tips on good consumer practices.
According to the analysis conducted by the Portal da Queixa team , among the 20 subcategories studied, 66% of complaints are directed to the following sectors: Technology and Consumer Electronics; Travel Booking Websites; Sports Equipment – Retail; Men's and Women's Clothing and International Marketplaces. Brands in the Technology and Consumer Electronics category lead the negative experiences in e-commerce.
The main reasons for complaints presented by Portuguese consumers include: delays and/or problems with orders (33%), refunds for orders (9%) and exchanges/returns of items (7%).
Look for a specialized agency for your business
Given this scenario and responding to an ever-increasing demand in the market, Smartlinks – Digital Marketing & SEO Agency has just launched a new E-Commerce 360 service for companies interested in growing their business in a structured and complete way.
The choice for an integrated approach is the result of the experience accumulated with dozens of e-commerce clients , in such prominent brands as Vista Alegre, Bordallo Pinheiro, Dominós, Tulsicosmetics, iServices and many others.
“It is possible to see that the most effective e-commerce strategies with the highest ROI include the application of SEO strategies with the complete integration of marketing automation systems (CRM), connections to metasearch platforms such as Amazon or Ebay, Google Shopping and Facebook Dynamic Ads,” says Rui Martins, co-founder of SmartLinks.
The integration of physical and online points of sale and databases that communicate bidirectionally between the two environments greatly facilitate a multi-channel approach and the adoption of Phygital strategies (physical + digital).
According to Rui Martins, the selected technologies are “advanced and complete, prepared to scale businesses quickly and efficiently”.
Interested in taking your business to the next level? Contact the experts at Smartlinks and request a free audit of your business!
7 tips for safe online shopping
Internet access
To access online stores, whether via computer or mobile phone, it is essential to ensure that you are connected to a reliable network. Therefore, be extra careful with public internet access points, such as shopping centers, public transport or restaurants.
By connecting to the Internet via a network that is not yours, you may be providing access to your bank accounts and allowing the installation of small fragments of code known as Trojan Horses, which will then control your device in ghost mode without you noticing. Always choose to access via mobile data when you want to make an online purchase.
Distinguishing a legitimate website from a fake one
This is perhaps the biggest challenge for ordinary consumers. It is an analysis process that requires some experience, knowledge and expertise. The ideal is to always opt for online stores of recognized reliability, however, even if we opt for the best-known brand, we are not immune to deception.
It is essential to pay attention to variations in URL names (website addresses). Often, there are accidental changes of letters in store names to mislead visitors by misspelling the store names. For example, changing the nam
Always look for the website's security certificate, which is located next to the address (URL) in the form of a padlock, accompanied by the access protocol https://, where the letter "s" represents that the website is secure. It should be noted that certificates can be acquired with false data, however, it is always another barrier that criminals have to overcome.
Always research before purchasing
Research is today the greatest weapon at consumers' disposal to avoid being deceived. In addition to being free, it serves to eliminate potential scams by sharing other consumers' experiences and can be carried out both through search engines such as Google and through consumer sharing platforms such as Portal da Queixa , thus avoiding falling like a duck into online traps.
