Ensuring protection and safety tips for online shoppers

Over the past five years, online shopping has become an increasingly popular option for Sri Lankan consumers.

Several factors, including the advent of digital payments, enhanced convenience, and the ability to browse through a vast range of products at just a glance, have played an integral role in the recent tide towards shopping on e-commerce sites.

However, this popular trend naturally brings with it unique security and privacy issues that the Sri Lankan consumer hasn’t truly tackled before.

So, make sure to protect your information as you shop for your favourite products online by keeping these questions in mind:
Is the website HTTPS-certified? When a website possesses a HTTPS-encryption, it means that any connection you make with the site cannot be viewed by any outside party. To find out whether a site is encrypted, you can easily check the address bar for the padlock symbol, as it appears on BuyAbans.com.

If the address bar mentions the term “not secure,” this indicates that whatever transaction you conduct on that specific e-commerce site will be at risk of being stolen by hackers or worse.
Is the company that owns the website a true expert in their respective field? Online shopping websites have mushroomed over the years. However, the companies behind these sites often do not have strong industry experience in their respective fields, and are therefore ill-equipped to deal with arising consumer demands. Aim to use sites hosted by companies that already possess substantial history and experience in retail. For example, BuyAbans.com is the digital retail channel of Abans, an organisation that boasts 50 years of experience in Sri Lanka’s home appliances and electronics industry.

Does the site provide legitimate products? The newest up and coming website may sound exciting because of its cool promotions and deals. The images of their products may look great. But can you be sure that these products are truly genuine? Knock-offs of reputed global brands including LG or other low-quality duplicates are rife across several e-commerce sites. So, it’s best to check if the company behind the site holds authorised distributorships for any of their brands.

One example would be BuyAbans.com, which is the digital authorised distributor for brands such as LG, Apple, Hoover, and so forth, as mentioned in their “About Us” section.

Does the website offer genuine discounts/prices? Sometimes the price for a product that you see on the web page and the one on your delivery receipt tends to differ. Why? Because several online sites do not regularly update the pricing for their products or post fake prices. Plus, while a website may offer an incredible discount, this can get nullified due to added hidden costs or fees. So, it’s always best to go with an online website, which boasts a strong reputation for incredible discounts and affordable prices. For instance, BuyAbans, ranked within the top 10 websites in Sri Lanka, provides stunning up to 70 percent discounts and competitive prices for their impressive range of products, which are truly legitimate.

Does the website offer delivery and aftersales service? It can’t be a true e-commerce site if it doesn’t offer proper delivery and post-sales customer support. Unfortunately, this is true for several e-commerce sites here in Sri Lanka, as deliveries sometimes come with hidden costs or offer inefficient handling that can damage your purchased units. Plus, many sites do not provide any aftersales services at all. Read up on customer reviews of the sites you want to buy from, and examine the site to see if it provides options for aftersales service and delivery as it appears on the BuyAbans.com homepage. BuyAbans also provides islandwide delivery free of charge.

So, make the decision to purchase from the online expert for electronics - BuyAbans.com. Being a local, secure, and high-quality alternative to global online shopping websites such as Amazon and eBay, BuyAbans.com is the one-stop shop for the most popular brands in the world for consumer electronics, and the only website to offer original branded products along with free island wide delivery, world-class aftersales service through Abans’ vast network of customer care centres, and genuine discounts.