The Process of Ensuring the Safety of Online Transactions

1.If you are shopping online, how do you determine whether the merchant is trustworthy? Do you use a different method to determine trustworthiness when you walk into a store and need to use a credit card for a purchase?
I use many factors to determine the legitimacy of a merchant when doing my online shopping. For instance, I look for sites with Secure Sockets Layer technology and those that start with HTTPS. The 'S' at the end implies that the site is securely encrypted. Furthermore, I also go through the ratings from other customers to get some insights into the buyers' experiences with the merchant. When it comes to shopping in stores, I prefer going to stores situated in populated areas.