Online Shopping Tips

by Lee Hudspeth
(This article appears in The Naked PC #5.24, November 26, 2002)

** 04. Online Shopping Tips (by Lee Hudspeth)

If you decide to do a smidgen, some, or all of your holiday 
shopping online this year, here are some habits and tricks I 
use that will help you along the way.

-- Online shopping carts can sometimes be a bit convoluted, so 
if you're hesitant, check out the cart's Help material and/or 
FAQs *before* you start a transaction. If you're in the middle 
of a transaction and need help you can create a new browser 
window (in Microsoft Internet Explorer it's File, New, Window 
or the shortcut Ctrl+N) then move into the cart's Help system, 
get the information you need, and return to the original 
browser window to finish the purchase (press and hold Alt, then 
press Tab repeatedly to cycle through the list of currently 
open windows).

-- Keep discount coupon or gift certificate information/numbers 
at your fingertips so you will remember to enter them. If you 
don't enter them you won't get the discount!

-- Enter a legitimate email address when prompted by the 
shopping cart (this may already be in a customer profile if you 
do business frequently with a given company). This way you're 
sure to get the very important email notification of your 
order.

-- Print the shopping cart's page that displays your invoice, 
order, tracking, and/or confirmation number. Do *not* leave 
this page until you have successfully printed the page and are 
holding it in your hands. IE's "print the current page" 
shortcut is Ctrl+P. I like to file that piece of paper in my 
"receipts" folder and have it handy just in case there is a 
problem with my order. Most such confirmation Web pages include 
a phone number and an email address for contacting customer 
service, great, but if those contacts are missing, jot them 
down by hand.

-- Print the order confirmation email that the seller 
invariably sends you. (I keep the email in my email archives 
too, more on this in a minute). I put the printed email into my 
"receipts" folder along with the printed confirmation Web page, 
so all the transaction's paperwork is together in one place.

-- I keep the email in my Inbox at least until the order has 
arrived. That's because these emails typically include handy 
links to the retailer's order tracking system, and often 
include the package's tracking number for whatever carrier was 
used to ship your package.

-- As subscribers who've read my various Microsoft Office 
articles know, I like Outlook. I'm especially fond of this 
Personal Information Manager's ability to transform one type of 
data item into another with one simple drag-and-drop operation. 
For example, I can copy the incoming order email into a Task 
item, complete with the email data in it. Next I set a reminder 
for the Task to whatever day the order is expected to arrive, 
then forget about it until Outlook reminds me that the package 
is due. Later, when the Task is complete, I delete it, while 
the email itself remains safely in my archive.

(c) 2002, Lee Hudspeth
You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
leehudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

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