How To Find Out Whether An Ecommerce Fashion Website Is Legit Or Not?

Juliet D'cruz

Updated on:

Introduction

In recent years, there have been thousands of Ecommerce platforms that are generating billions of dollars in sales. In fact, the advent of Ecommerce platforms has changed consumer shopping behaviors forever. 

There is no doubt the growing attraction towards Ecommerce shopping platforms is not fading anytime soon. With more platforms coming every day, consumers are spoiled for choices. From stylish dresses to great discounts and offers, consumers have tons of options. 

However, amid all the shopping euphoria, there is an underlying that has started gaining attention during the pandemic. According to cybersecurity experts, Ecommerce platforms have become one of the preferred ways for hackers to run operations. 

In other words, cybercriminals have been preying on Ecommerce platforms and stealing sensitive consumer data like emails, phone numbers, addresses, and financial details. 

You can Shop Style Shark if you are looking for a genuine and credible Ecommerce fashion site. 

In this resource article, we look to help consumers determine the credibility of an Ecommerce website. We list down certain tips that can help make the understanding clearer. If you are someone that is worried about your online security on Ecommerce platforms, you might want to check out what we have to say. 

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Top 5 Things you should look for when buying from an Ecommerce Fashion Website

  1. SSL Certificate- 

One of the easiest ways to determine the credibility of any website is to look for the padlock on the address bar. If you see a padlock followed by an HTTPS, you know that the site is secured with an SSL certificate. 

Most phishing or malware-infected sites that are created by cybercriminals are not going to have the SSL padlock. This is one of the simplest ways that can help determine the credibility of an Ecommerce platform. 

  1. Social Media Pages and Links- 

Successful Ecommerce platforms invest heavily in maintaining their social media presence. They are oftentimes present on platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Snap, YouTube, and TikTok. 

Make sure to look at the social pages and identify the links on the Ecommerce platform home page. If you do not find any social media links, you can interpret the same as a sign that something’s fishy. It would probably be a good idea to close the tab of the website. 

  1. Domain Name, Age, and Details- 

Most of us are guilty of not paying attention to the exact URL, domain name spellings, and other details. Of late, hackers have been creating copy sites that mimic the real ones. They do this with sophisticated software. 

As consumers, you land on one when you end up making a spelling mistake while typing in the URL. Consumers can also double-check the domain by looking up its age. If the business has been around for a long time, you will see that in the age of the domain- 

  1. Contact Us and About Us Pages- 

If you think hackers and cybercriminals care about investing in the contents of their about us and contact us pages, think again. In fact, one way to spot a site that is not credible is to go to the contact us pages. 

As against traditional pages that have boxes where you enter your details, on bad sites, you are just going to return with a 404 error! Make sure that you pay attention to the grammar and spellings on the website. If you spot inconsistencies, you might want to escape. 

  1. Online Reviews and Ratings- 

One little tip to help determine the credibility of a site is to type in the site’s domain name and follow it up with the words- ‘scam’ or ‘fake’. If the site is not genuine, there might be some individuals who have already written about it on search engines. 

This will help you get a fair idea about the worthiness of a platform. You can also go to platforms like Quora and Reddit and read what others are saying on the same. Every time you come across a new Ecommerce platform, you should do this to be safe. 

What Are Some Signs that an Ecommerce Fashion Website is Genuine?

In the previous section, we listed down some tell-tale signs to help consumers stay away from fraudulent platforms. In this section, we are going to discuss some areas that genuine and credible Ecommerce platforms invest in. 

Please note- All the points mentioned in the last section can be inverted to determine what genuine platforms are. For example, good Ecommerce sites will have an SSL, social media pages, aged domains, and complete about us and contact us pages. The purpose of this section is to help point consumers towards the best Ecommerce fashion websites. 

  • Firstly, almost all the leading Ecommerce fashion brands invest in their blogs. They create highly informative and educative articles on everything related to fashion. This helps them establish their authority and allows them to execute proper SEO strategies. 
  • Secondly, successful Ecommerce fashion stores have multiple payment options for consumers. You can choose from everything like Debit and Credit Cards, Net Banking, Wallets, PayPal, Venmo, and other popular payment options. 
  • Thirdly, genuine Ecommerce fashion brands will have well-defined Privacy Policies, Terms and Conditions, and Shipping Pages. You will find a host of original literature on these pages that can help boost confidence when determining authenticity. 
  • Fourthly, you will find the presence of Newsletters, Discount Coupons, Shopping Offers, Gift Cards, and Loyalty Programs. All these are signs that the platform invests in building its customer base and uses these strategies to create a loyal following. 
  • Fifthly, almost all the leading platforms have a G-Suite email. For example, their email id will read info@brandname.com. This is a given. Google uses tons of details whenever it allows an individual or business access to a G-Suite account.  

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If you are someone that shops very often on Ecommerce sites, you will get a feel whenever you land on a platform that looks suspicious. The overall design of the site, the emphasis on content, the navigation speed, etc. will all be able to determine whether an Ecommerce platform is credible or not. 

The Bottom Line

In this resource article, we have tried to put forth certain points that can help online consumers pick the best and most credible Ecommerce fashion sites. Remember, if the deal looks too good to be true, it is probably false. 

If you have any other questions that you would like us to address on determining the credibility of Ecommerce sites, please let us know in the comments. We will try our best to solve as many of your doubts as possible.