Online shopping: 3 tips to avoid over-consuming
Year after year, online commerce continues to grow across Canada. According to Statistics Canada, electronic retail trade represented 2.9% of total retail sales in 2018, up from 2.6% in 2017.
Why is it so popular?
Quite simply because you can find what you are looking for quickly and easily with a few clicks! Cyber consumption is actually based on a few very attractive key elements:
Access to information, which allows you to compare before buying
Accessibility at all times
Almost endless choice of products
Targeted and relevant promotion as needed
The increasingly rapid evolution of technology is arguably one of the determining factors for many of the growth of online commerce. Efficient search engines, tablets and smartphones, and the advent of applications that facilitate transactions have democratized e-commerce.
Here are some tips for smart shopping that truly reflect your needs:
Avoid keeping your bank information in memory
Saving your credit card information on all the sites you've purchased before might seem convenient, but it also makes impulse buying a lot easier. Your best bet is to remove them from all of those sites, including your instant login details, which will often be linked to merchant sites.
Unsubscribe from in-store mailing lists
Perhaps one of the biggest incentives to buy online is a limited-time offer, sent to you through newsletters from your favorite retailers. By unsubscribing from these mailings, you will be less tempted to take advantage of a deal on a product you would not have purchased otherwise.
Save, reflect, revisit
An even more effective way is to never buy immediately and bookmark the item or service that interests you. That way you can come back to it in a week or a month if you still think about it. You may no longer be interested in it.
Self-control is the key to avoiding accumulating debt from online shopping. Remember, if it is not too late, you can always return what you have purchased. Returning items purchased online is now easier than ever.
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