BBB Offers Holiday Shopping Tips

Today is Black Friday, the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.

While the tradition of Black Friday remains, the Better Business Bureau said the way in which consumers are researching and buying on Black Friday is changing.

The Better Business Bureau said 61 percent of shoppers begin researching purchases before Thanksgiving and 78 percent used the Internet to research holiday shopping.

BBB Spokesperson Dottie Callina said that trend has now moved into the store, where people now research on their phones while they are out shopping.

“82 percent of shoppers consult their phones while they are in the store,” said Callina. “If they are in your store, they are looking at reviews on products and they are comparing prices from other stores. They are using their phones for more than talking. They are comparing prices, which is a great thing and we recommend it.”

However as more people use phones in the store and take advantage of public Wi-Fi to do that research, Callina said people do need to be careful.

“While you are looking at reviews or comparing prices and you are using Public Wi-Fi, remember that it is likely not secure, so you should avoid looking on banking sites or checking your credit card account or anything that could have sensitive, personal information, especially during this time of year because Public Wi-Fi is vulnerable to thieves and con artists who are looking to steal your information,” said Callina.

The Better Business Bureau also urges people to be careful when looking at e-mails regarding shopping deals and promotions.

Callina said people should never send cash or credit card information directly in response to a promotional e-mail and never click on links in e-mails from senders people do not recognize.

As for once that gift is purchased, Callina said it is important to get gift receipts and warranty information and keep those or give those along with the gift.

“The gift receipt, you send to the recipient, especially if they are out of state so they can take the gift back if necessary and if you are getting a gift card, they usually give a separate receipt for that so you can put that in there so if you have any problems,” said Callina.

One final tip from the Better Business Bureau is to research all gift purchases before buying, especially large items.