It’s almost Christmas! The most awaited season of all-time in nearly every country. Here in the Philippines, with its advent, our streets are filled with the melancholic to frenzied children’s’ carols, the scent of the cool Christmas breeze that kisses your cheeks on a cold morning after the traditional Misa de Gallo. Friends and families are together piling up in street corners for their turn with the famous take home hot “bibingka” and “puto bumbong”. (I can almost taste that right now).
And of course, one which will always fill our childhood memories: the “aguinaldo” from our Ninongs and Ninangs, from our parents, titos and titas, friends, partners, loved ones, neighbors, and even strangers.
Our malls are decorated with a 4-letter word, so prevalent in these times, SALE. This is much awaited, bringing out our shopping instincts. With all these being said, we can say that we are a mobile people when our calendars turn to this month, and it is evidenced by the massive jam in busy streets and roads. I wonder, though, if that could still be the same this year.
Now that we are facing an entirely different situation than what we usually used to, there are many changes in our lives in the way we move.
One of them is going out to shop.
This is where the huge help from online shopping apps steps in. It is a big help now that we are trying to avoid going outside as much as possible.
Cashless, hassle-free shopping is a big hit. It will just take about an hour (well, usually that’s what you would spend to cover the distance from your house to the shopping malls on a Friday rush hour), with a decent internet connection, then voila!
You are shopping conveniently right at your fingertips!
Shopee is one of the online shopping giants in the Philippines.
Almost half of the household things we have were from Shopee, especially the kitchen stuff.
I can save both time and money with the low prices of various goods you can buy from thousands of suppliers. And they ship for free right at your doorsteps.
You heard that right. FREE shipping! (More on that below).
As a stay at home mom and wife, I look for something I can have more savings.
So, what do we usually look for when we shop?
Free shipping?
Freebies?
Huge Discounts?
You came to the right place as I am about to share my tips to get all these and more using Shopee.
Shopee Pay
Right off the bat, I use Shopee Pay. It is a digital wallet that you can top up for payments.
–Vouchers. Most vouchers that you can get apply to Shopee Pay.
–Cashbacks. You can get cashback up to 20% of the total amount converted to Shopee coins that you can use for later transactions.
-Free Shipping. When using Shopee Pay, you can get free shipping offers and discounts from most of your transactions
–Discounts. Yes. There is no way they can forget discount coupons.
-“Just Now, Super Voucher Bundles.” Shop for a voucher at a low-price bundle (5 item minimum) for more freebies (i.e., discounts, free shipping, and cashback.)
Let us dive in deeper.
How to increase your money or coins without shopping?
-Coin rewards. Visit the app, check-in, then visit again the next day to claim more coins. It is that simple.
-Games. Play a piso game (Shopee Claw Game, Throw Game, and more) or a chance to win featured pricey items with just a peso out from your Shopee Pay wallet. They will draw it electronically; then, they will refund your peso if you are not selected.
-Shopee Shake. Scheduled time to play to earn more coins. It is more fun to have your kids play it with you.
-Wowowin Tutok To Win sponsorship. Watching and playing shopee shake during the airtime schedule, you can win 50,000 cash, and during the monthly specials like 10.10 or 11.11 any month that the date and month are the same numbers, they give away huge cash prizes and special rewards.
For moms like me, you can also join Mom clubs to get the best deals with anything to do with being a mother, from a diaper to clothes and milk and handpicked moms for skincare.
TIP: It would help if you were keen, and there will be fabulous finds for you. With proper timing and patience, especially if you are nocturnal, free shipping, discount, and cashback vouchers usually become available by midnight.
Let us now go to the dark shadows of online shopping.
Well, I can hear your thoughts about not every experience is good with online shopping. I couldn’t agree more.
I encountered some terrible incidents like:
Shipping problems and delays.
Fraud risk and false advertising.
My most recent heartbreak is a missing quantity.
I filed a complaint from the transaction I had with this specific seller. I thought they would not acknowledge that they have mistaken (mostly happens in bulk order). Surprisingly, the seller promptly responded and, on the same day, refunded the amount for the missing items.
Good thing, there is a Shopee Guarantee.
What is Shopee Guarantee?
It is Shopee’s initiative for buyers’ protection against sellers’ fraudulent and “bogus” transactions. This ensures that every transaction is safe, guaranteed, and secured by Shopee. They put a hold on the payment to sellers until the buyers click “order received” upon reviewing the items received are correct and complete. If buyers received wrong, damaged, or defective items or missing quantity, we could request a refund or return, and Shopee Guarantee will have your backs on that. If these happen, I advise you to contact the seller first, inquire about the irregularities, and you can come to an agreement on how to proceed further. Otherwise, Shopee Guarantee will step in and decide for both the customer and the seller, in which, in my experience, I was favored.
Just how safe it is to switch from direct shopping to online shopping?
As we venture into a deeper online world, it dawns on us as the new normal we transact online. And it can be scary and risky if we don’t take safety and security measures while shopping and paying online. To give all of us a sense of reprieve, yes, there are ways we can be secured and safe when transacting online.
In general, if you use a personal computer to make orders, make sure you use updated browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, etc.) because they have the latest encryption technology. Look for a reputable website. One indication is when you see “HTTPS” in the URL and a symbol like a closed lock or an unbroken key.
If you use smartphones, shop through verified and official apps only. We are secure that our information is within the safety standards inside that app as it includes several added layers of protection when making transactions like OTPs and PINs.
Considerably, Shopee has created an enormous name in the online marketing world, endorsed by big names in the showbiz industry like Sarah Geronimo, Anne Curtis, Jose Mari Chan, and Kris Aquino. Besides, we can also see big reputable brands partnered with Shopee, from food companies to non-food essential items to apparel, and the list goes on, and they almost got it all for you.
For freight and shipping and safe handling of the products, Shopee is working together with reputable couriers like Ninjavan, J&T Express, and JRS. They are augmented by another Shopee feature called Shopee Express. This is for faster and safer delivery, surprising more and more customers.
My overall online shopping experience using Shopee is excellent and worthwhile, while my overall safety and security online. So yes, we can embrace this new usual way of shopping while staying safe in the comfort of our homes.
I hope that this little sharing I did will help everyone, especially those stay-at-home moms working on a budget and time.
Shopping online can sometimes be a great outlet to relieve our stress. It could lift our mood and improve mental acuity. But be careful of overspending. That could be a greater risk than the ones mentioned above.
So, to all shoppers, happy online shopping! Till my next sharing!
