5 Tips for Smart Online Shopping

Finding good products and great deals on the web is easy with help from customer reviews, iPod apps and social media sites. Follow these tips to sharpen your online shopping skills.

1. Read the reviews. Amazon and Epinions offer reviews of thousands of products. Try typing the name of your product and “review” in your regular search engine to get even more feedback before you buy.

2. Find a deal. After you’ve found what you want to buy, look for online promotions and coupons. Type the name of the product and "coupon" into a search engine like Google. Click through the results to see if any of them will work for your purchase. A 2-minute search can net you free shipping or a discount on your purchase.

3. Download an app for that. Groupon, Save Benjis, Coupon Sherpa, PriceGrabber and ShopKick are popular ways to find deals and earn reward points for the online stores you shop most.

4. Get social. Smart retailers are reaching out to their customers through social media. Follow your favorite brands on Twitter and be the first to find out about online sales. You can also get a discount from some stores when you “Like” them on Facebook.

5. Check out with a credit card or PayPal. These payment methods will protect your money, your identity and your purchase better than a debit card.

No matter where you shop, it’s important to protect your identity from online thieves. That’s why Nationwide Insurance offers identity theft coverage with credit monitoring services.