With nearly 210 million online shoppers in the US, most are very familiar with the process of buying online. You compare products and prices, read reviews, add item(s) to your cart, and then proceed to the checkout. And within a few days the product is delivered to your doorstep.
While this is a very efficient and easy way to shop, the Petroleum Quality Institute of America advises consumers to take the time to look for the specifications the product meets when buying motor oil online. If not shown on the first screen, click or scroll for more details before adding motor oil to your cart.
Unlike shopping at a brick-and-mortar store where you can take a quart of oil off the shelf to read the details (i.e., specifications) on the back label, many of the products PQIA observes in online stores only include images of the front of the bottle. This means that unless all the specifications and marks are shown on the front label (which is generally not the case), consumers typically will need to know more to assure the motor oil they purchase is right for their car.
Clicking for “more details” or other similar links will usually bring consumers to a screen that displays the specifications the motor oil meets. When it does, make sure the specifications shown match those recommended in your vehicle owner’s manual.
But even here, PQIA finds that a consumer can come up short when they do take the time to click or scroll for more details. This is because a notable number of products PQIA observes in online stores do not display the back label or the motor oil specifications.
Without this information available for a motor oil sold online, consumers will either have dig deeper to get it or hope for the best when the package arrives at their front door.
