10. Complete your order
Once you’ve done these last few steps, you are nearly ready to complete your order. Always check the details on the final page to make sure it is all correct. Once you’re happy, you can click to check out. This is often a button you can click showing as ‘Pay now’ button or ‘Complete your order’.
Once you press this button, it will do one of three things:
- The first option is that your payment will go through straight away, and you will be sent an email receipt
- If you have paid by card, you may be asked to verify the payment either by entering your online banking details as requested or by pressing to confirm the payment on your mobile banking app
- The third option happens if you’ve chosen to pay via PayPal or another payment service. In this case, the webpage of your chosen payment service will open for you to complete your payment there
How deliveries work
There are lots of delivery options when you shop online. Most shops will give you a few choices of ways for your items can be collected or delivered. You can pay more for faster deliveries too. Some shops will offer free delivery or free delivery once you have spent above a set amount.
The seller will usually be the one choosing which delivery company to use to send your parcel. The seller may also have their own drivers. Once you have ordered, you will be sent details about your delivery. This will often include a tracking number or link to check where your parcel is.
Be careful though. Online criminals can make fake versions of these emails to trick you into clicking a link. This link can be used to get access to your device or to take you to a fake website. Once they have you on a fake website, their aim is to get you to enter your personal details.
One of the best ways to avoid this is to download the delivery company's app (application). You can also search for the delivery company's website through a search engine. This means you can make sure you are talking to the real company. Once you’re in their app or on their website, you can enter the tracking number provided in the email or message. If it brings up details about your items, you know the message you received was real. If it doesn’t, then the message you received was likely a fake designed to steal your money or details.
We will help you understand more about how to stay safe from messages like this in our lesson on 'Ten tips for staying safe online'.
Not going to be home?
Sometimes you can’t control when a parcel is due to arrive. You can tell the parcel company what you want them to do. There will often be a few options given to you by the company. For example, picking up from a local collection point, delivering the next day, leaving it with a neighbour of your choice or in a safe place of your choice.
Making returns
Just like when you shop in person, things aren't always right first time. When you get something home, they aren’t always as you expect. They can be the wrong size, the wrong product or just not what you wanted.
Online, all sellers should provide a ‘cooling off’ period. This is where you can return your items no questions asked. After this, you should still be able to return you items if they are faulty in any way.
Once you’ve decided to return, the best place to start is by looking at your email confirmation or the website of the seller. The returns details are usually found here. Every seller will have a different returns policy, so it’s best to check their website.
Generally, you can expect the seller to give you an address to send the parcel to at the post office. They will then usually refund either the item or the item and postage.
Shopping apps
So far, we’ve mainly talked about shopping online through a website. You can also shop through applications (apps) on your mobile or tablet. Many shops have apps you can use to either shop or to access discounts and loyalty programmes.
To find a shop's app, search your favourite shops on your device’s app store. Once downloaded you can find the app on your device and open to start shopping.
The steps to checkout are similar to those on a website. There’s nothing new to learn, but you might see some differences in layout. The benefit of using an app instead of a website is that there's less chance of fake apps than fake websites. On the other hand, your device can get quite filled up with apps and you can run out of space. So it’s best to choose the shops or apps that you use most regularly and review your applications often to make sure you still need them.
How to shop for groceries online
Shopping for groceries online also more or less follows our ten-step online shopping guidance.
There are some differences though. Firstly, you always need to have an account and can’t check out as a ‘guest’.
You also need to log-in to your account at the beginning of your shop. This allows you to choose an available and convenient delivery slot for your groceries to arrive. This is done because the seller needs to make sure the order comes when you are home first time. As it is food and can go off, you can't leave it in a safe place.
The price of delivery slots are different. This is because there is more demand at certain times. Given a lot of people will work 9-5pm Monday-Friday, sellers see demand for deliveries in the evenings and weekends. The price is higher at these times to encourage people to book during the weekdays where they can.