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. Paper mail was used to send cards to wish people Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas. The library was an important public resource as we used to go there to reference a subject we were interested in.
We used to walk through shopping centers and malls to find things that we like, go to the register and pay cash for items that we’d like to buy. Some of things still remain part of our lives, but the internet has overwhelmed the ways we once used to do many day to day things. Could you go without Facebook, Twitter or dare I say it, email, for more than a couple of weeks?
The shopping side of our lives is slowly changing, such is the world of “comfort from our own homes” online shopping. 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. If you walk into your local liquor store, it’s not uncommon to see 50% or more of the floor space taken up by wine products. This also brings a level of complexity to the online wine world.
With this in mind, there are many choices of different 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. The most important thing with any online store is security. The most important part of any online store is what’s referred to as the 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 I be sure 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”.