Order Wine On-line – Do it Safely!

Introduction

E-commerce is taking over the world. Traditionally people are buying their wines in nearby shops, supermarkets and department or convenient stores. These stores have three unique selling points. You can take the product immediately, you can taste, smell, feel, fit and try and, in some cases, and you get personal attention. Especially for the last two points, retailers can still improve a lot.

What many people do not fully realize yet is that there is another great opportunity (and in the nearby future the only one!) to buy wines and that is from your home using your computer. Nowadays more and more people are buying on-line. Airline tickets, vacations and hotel stays: products and services that are bought frequently on-line. There are those who predict that in the foreseeable future everything will be bought on-line. Who would not want to design their own house or car? Read more and find out about some pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Firstly here are some of the reasons why you could order wine (or most products) on-line.

Reasons to order on-line

Where e-commerce excels is to remove any buying objections with the customer. For example, some offer the ability to post-pay and all will deliver the product to any desired location. Look at the following advantages:

• Most on-line services offer extra advantages, be it in price, quality or delivery.
• You will have an unlimited assortment of wines worldwide, which is a big advantage over your local store.
• Not satisfied with the product? Most on-line services offer you another product at minimum or have a money back guarantee.
• No more waiting in-line.
• You can buy whenever it suits you, at any time of the day.
• No pressure to buy anything, you can just look around and more importantly compare products, before making any purchasing decision.
• You can pay without having anyone looking over your shoulder.
• Paying on-line nowadays is completely secure and confidential.
• Many on-line services offer free delivery conditions.
• Deliveries within countries with a vast surface area are usually within 2-4 days, much quicker when distances are smaller.

What are the main reasons not to buy on-line?

Worldwide investigations on buying behaviour of people have shown that the three main reasons for not buying on the internet are the following:

Uncertainty over supply of the right product 58%

This is completely understandable and I am trying to take this away by inserting high definition pictures of the product, a video where possible and by giving you as much relevant product information possible in my reviews. See an example of my reviews here.

If you are still not sure, buy from reputable on-line stores and sellers. If you’ve never heard of the site you’re considering a purchase from, you have a number of ways to make sure it is legitimate. Third-party organizations such as the Better Business Bureau On-line and Trustee give seals of approval to sites that meet their security and privacy standards.

Also, comparing products on sites like Bizrate can give you confidence that you’re getting a fair price.

For example, searching for “iPad” on Bizrate provides a list of on-line retailers that sell the tablet, offering you an easy way to compare prices and read first-hand customer accounts of their experiences with specific retailers.

Insecurity with paying 29%

On-line payment and security technology have come a long way, yet if you don’t live under a rock, than you know the amount of credit card fraud that happens. Many consumers fear much of the identity theft comes from the internet, etc. This is also completely understandable and that is why this website directs you only to the most trusted companies like Amazon or Affiliate Network Programs such as Shareasale, Rakuten Linkshare, CJ Affiliates.

Please avoid buying anything on-line using your credit card from a site that doesn’t have SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption installed—at the very least. You’ll know if the site has SSL because the URL for the site will start with HTTPS:// (instead of just HTTP://). An icon of a locked padlock will appear, typically in the status bar at the bottom of your web browser, or right next to the URL in the address bar. It depends on your browser. All my affiliate companies use this SSL security.

If there is no visible SSL, then: Ensure that you know the identity, location and contact details of the on-line retailer. There are on-line companies whose brand name is recognizable, such as Amazon.com. Additionally, many real life stores now include an on-line retailing arm as part of their retail services and you already know their reputations. It is important, however, to establish the identity of lesser-known on-line companies who do not have instant recognition or external store status. In this case, it is important to look for the name, company registration details for your country, contact details that include an e-mail, postal address and telephone number and a clear indication of where the company’s headquarters is based.

Not clear how to order and track 13%

All of the aforementioned companies have easy to order modules in their system and will provide you with a date of shipment and tracking number. If you would ever encounter a website, where the buying process is not easy, not clear or too long, then skip it altogether.

Conclusion

You can see from the above that buying on-line is growing and ever more people are using this method. However, be aware of some of the pitfalls as listed above. In order to help you safely buying your wine on-line, I have carefully selected reputable and trustworthy companies that I as an affiliate promote their quality products for. All of them use SSL security with payment, have a money back guarantee or at least will change your faulty product for a new one. They offer free shipping where possible and have a return policy.

For those of you interested to buy wine and Chardonnay in particular:

Click the three images to the right (for mobile users just under this text) under the heading World best Chardonnays for delivery to and access the list of my reviews with links. Choose the one for delivery to your area: USA, UK or Australia.

I trust that with this article I have taken away some of the reserve you might have with buying on-line, however, if you still have questions, please leave them in the comment box and I will come back to you within 24 hours.