Online Wine Stores - A Secured Website and How To Know One.
Over the past 15 years, the Internet has exploded and pretty much become a necessity in our everyday lives. We used to call people from our only phone in the house to catch up on recent events and news. “Snail Mail” as its called now, was the primary source to send cards and well wishes to people for birthdays and Christmas. The library was an important public resource as we used to go there to reference a subject we were interested in.
Shopping was all done on foot by physically walking into stores and browsing products, trying clothes on to see if they fit, taking the goods to the register to purchase and generally paying with cash. While some of these things still remain part of our lives, the Internet has changed how we do day to day things dramatically. Could you go without Facebook, Twitter or dare I say it, email, for more than a couple of weeks?
One of the main things the Internet has bought us in online shopping, which allows us to purchase products while sitting in the comfort of our own homes. The wine industry is not immune from this sudden change in shopping habits, although it has been slower to catch on.
The main difference between the wine industry and most other industries is the sheer volume of product choice. Walk in to a bottle shop and about 50% or more of the floor space is taken up by wine, such is the product range. This also brings a level of complexity to the online wine world.
With this in mind, there is a large world out there when it comes to online wine stores. There are literally hundreds of stores offering an almost exclusive range of wine, and some at a very exclusive price. So how do you know which stores are better than others?
Therein lies the ultimate question and one which could be asked of any industry on the internet. As with any online store, security is the most important thing. The first thing an online stores has to have is what’s referred to as a digital certificate. This certificate encrypts (or digitally jumbles up) any information that is sent between the person buying and the store so that hackers cannot read the important information as its being sent across the internet.
How can you tell if a store has a digital certificate? Generally at the time of purchase (especially when you are entering credit card details), the web site address should change from http:// to https://. If you enter a screen which asks for your credit card details, check if the address starts with https://, if it doesn’t, don’t continue. Refuse to buy from that store as they are putting your private information at risk. It’s not the store that can’t be trusted, its people on the net that target stores like this to “listen in on” and steal your information.
If you stick to that one golden rule in relation to security on the internet, you will be well on your way to enjoying your shopping experience with online wine stores without the worry of somebody “looking over your shoulder”.