How Much Do You Know About Online Shopping Today?

Doing It The buySAFE Way
In the last online meet-up that I had attended to I had been informed by my colleagues that, well, e-commerce is drastically taking the next big step when it comes to security and purchasing power for online shoppers. See, our concern here is not merely focused on low risk or high risk merchants, but for online customers who are the bread and butter of this business. The question is always, how do customers find merchants that they can trust and what else can the new breed of e-commerce vendors can offer them?

BuySAFE: The New Authority in Merchant Security?

The next big step that I'm talking about has something to do with security in which buySAFE plays a big role. What is buySAFE? It's essentially an emerging authority when it comes to making sure the online stores you are buying your goods from are legit, reliable, and safe. I'm sure all of us would rather buy in the safest places we could if we can help it. Checking out to see if a store has buySAFE seal is a good guarantee that a merchant isn't a mere scammer or a poser. Online merchants have to undergo rigorous buySAFE Certification Process to ensure that they are doing legit and trustworthy business. The test doesn't go from there, as buySAFE also monitors merchants' performance on a regular per transaction basis.

I wouldn't have to emphasize how much relief it would cause online shoppers to go through their favorite virtual shops knowing these shops are doing good business, as long as they have passed the buySAFE test. Low risk and high risk merchants, on the other hand, would be egged to strive in raising the quality of their service, products, and general business status to attract as many customers as they can.

buySAFE has reportedly teamed up with open source (online shopping cart) software application providers and a few more security programs to raise e-commerce standards. Nothing could be more beneficial. These open source shopping carts include osCommerce and CubeCart. All online merchants have to do is download the module that buySAFE provides for free and guarantee customers of safe transaction through buySAFE's bond.

Google: Peddling in 12 Tongues

Now who says doing web business overseas is a boon only to offshore merchants? From online shopping security we hop to Google's new translation marketing gimmick that goes like this: You as an American online shopper (for example) who's spending a week's vacation in Rio de Janeiro forgot to buy your snorkeling gear but couldn't quite figure out what store in Rio you could pick out your favorite snorkeling gear brand at. All you need to do is type your search in English and click "Portuguese" so Google will translate the search results for you. Good enough? Not yet. The program comes only in 12 languages and is still in the beta stage. But watch out! As I've mentioned earlier, doing business offshore isn't just something high risk merchants banking outside of the U.S. can take advantage of. It's also something online buyers from any part of the world can now participate in, thanks to Google's shrewd online marketing programmers' cutting edge ideas. Bravo!