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The Internet has redefined shopping behaviour across the globe. The digital space has emerged as the hotbed of advertising, shopping, and commercial activity wherein its impacting and influencing people's day to day lives at a rapid pace. Consumers are now more comfortable with a virtual experience than the physical one, as they are adapting to online purchases. A scholarly article by Lee and Zhang (2002) suggests that after e-mail usage, instant messaging and web browsing, online shopping is the third most popular internet activity.

However, when it comes to buying jewellery online, a few things should be kept in mind. Ashish Vijay, Co-Founder and CFO, Miorah.com lists some points:

Buy only certified or hallmarked jewellery

The benchmark to follow while buying gold online is to look for Hallmark certification. Customers need to make sure that the gold they buy is from a BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) Hallmarked jeweller. And the ornament/coin/bar carries BIS hallmark. They can also find a list of jewellers selling BIS-certified jewellery on BIS website. The BIS Hallmarking Scheme is aligned with international criteria on hallmarking. As per this scheme, registration is granted to the jewellers by BIS under Hallmarking Scheme. The BIS certified jewellers can get their jewellery hallmarked from any of the BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking centres.

Return and after sales service policy should be in favour of customer

The Covid-19 crisis has led to dramatic shifts in consumer behaviour. This has also added an extra responsibility on retailers as they must work hard to meet ever-evolving customer experience requirements to win and remain relevant. To remain relevant in this changed environment, retailers should ensure that the product return policies and after sales follow up is aligned with customer satisfaction and customers should always check the return and exchange policies on the shopping platform before placing orders.

Weight and colour according to the price in precious metal jewellery

Raw, un-worked gold pricing is based on the karat ratio and the gold weight. It is important to keep in mind the colour and weight of the jewellery before confirming to the online purchase. Jewellery pricing, is generally based on several factors, including weight, design and craftsmanship. The techniques used in jewellery construction are a key factor in ensuring its durability and flexibility for added comfort and the same factor may tend to increase the gold price for that piece. Gold jewellery is mainly produced by machine. Hand finishing and various customisations can potentially also increase the cost. Natural gold is always in deep yellow colour with metallic lustre, only when it is alloyed with certain metals it creates various colour hues like white, pink/ rose, green and other colours. Before buying online jewellery, one must educate themselves on how the pricing factor differs basis the number of factors, including karat ratio, gram weight, design, and craftsmanship.

Be sure to the design and it's details on company page and quality of product

Often, we tend to judge the quality of the products based only on the photographs but that is how we may get cheated. Many customers who bought jewellery online say that the finishing, metals used in the jewellery do not resonate with the pictures that were posted on the shopping website and hence, the product is not worth the money. This is because most sellers display photos of the original jewellery and deliver fake ones. Always read the product descriptions and reviews mentioned on the website before adding product into the cart. If product specifications are missing, or does not seem reliable, refrain from that purchase.

Check contact details and SSL certificates to know authentication of brand to believe

The acronym SSL stands for "Secure Sockets Layer". SSL is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. Building trust and transparent relationship with customers is of prime importance in this age of social media information overload. Brands can effectively do that by upholding a standard of professionalism, protecting consumer data, effective communication, and receiving prominent awards and accolades that adds to their credibility. An SSL certificate plays a role in how a consumer judges the trustworthiness of your online store.