How to buy online

How do I find a product quickly?

At PCWorld.co.uk we have tried to make finding your products as simple as possible. There are three ways to quickly locate products on our site from wherever you are.

Keyword searching
At the top of your screen you will always have a search bar there to help you search our range of products for matches. This is called searching by keyword. Simply enter a keyword in the search box at the top of each page, for example "laptop" and you will be taken to a search results page with our most applicable matches. Please remember to be as accurate as you can when searching.

Model Number
Enter a model number in the search box. If you only have part of a model number, we will display all items with that model number in it, so you can be sure to find the one you want!

Searching by section
If you know what kind of product you are after, hover over the section it falls under in our top navigation i.e. for an iPad, hover over ‘Computing’, for an answering machine, hover over ‘Communications’ etc. This will drop out a larger menu with all the areas within this section. You can then select the most relevant area for your product search.

Our Product A-Z
On the top right hand side of your screen, just below your mini basket we have a Product A-Z area – this is filed alphabetically and contains every kind of product we currently have on the site and the number of products within that category.

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How do I refine my product list?

When shopping on the PC World site you’ll notice that our product areas are presented in a list format, so when you click on, let’s say all-in-one printers, you will see a list of all our all-in-one printers available in a list, displayed as default from the lowest in price to the highest. On these product lists you can change the view to a grid format or filter the products by different criteria if you so wish.

In addition it is from these pages that you can compare multiple products in terms of product details and also grab a ‘Quick look’ overview of a product which will give you more details on the product.

To refine this listing, you can use our search filters on the left hand side of your screen, titled ‘Narrow your selection’. These filters allow you to find the most desirable product for you – from choosing the megapixels on your camera to the number of HDMI sockets on your TV, our search filters help make sure you choose the right product every time.

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How do I know if a product is in stock?

Here at PC World we always try to have as much of our catalogue as possible available to buy online, so we work very hard on our stock levels, but of course sometimes sadly we run out of stock. In order to help you determine whether you can buy a product, we display stock availability on the product details page.

We use ticks or crosses to show whether a product is available for Collect@Store and/or home delivery. A product may be available to Collect@Store or for home delivery or both although while an item may show as available for Collect@Store, it may not necessarily be in stock in a store near you.

If you’re shopping for a large product, you may need to add the item to your basket to check whether we have delivery availability in your area – you can remove the item from your shopping basket at any time by clicking on your mini-basket area in the top right of the site.

Very occasionally, we may run out of stock of a popular product and there is a short time lapse before we can update the site. In the unlikely event that you are able to place an order for an out-of-stock item, we will contact you via email or phone and of course we are sorry for the disappointment it may cause you.

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‘Arriving soon’ products

As part of our efforts for ensuring our stock is available to you as much as possible, we do give you the ability to buy selected large products when they are out of stock if we know more stock is expected at our distribution centres soon.

These products will show a "delivery available from" date on the product page, letting you know when we anticipate getting our next stock allocation in.

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Viewing, comparing and buying products

Our site now lets you interact with products in a number of different ways. Firstly we have ‘Buy now’ buttons throughout the site – these buttons allow you to quickly add a product to your mini basket without navigating away from the page you are on.

You can also click on the title of the product or the product image to visit the detailed product page or alternatively click on the ‘Quick look’ option to get a more complete overview of the product you’re interested in without having to leave the page.

You can also compare our products to find the one that best suits you. Can’t decide between that 40 inch plasma TV or the 40 inch LCD TV? Compare them quickly by ticking the compare box below each one and then choosing our ‘Compare items’ option.

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Does your online store have the same products and pricing as your stores?

Online products vs. in-store products

We offer many online deals that may not be available in-store. A ‘Web exclusive’ product refers to a product that is either only available online or available online at a better price than offered in-store.

A web exclusive product that is only available online will not be available for Collect@Store in-store.

A web exclusive product that is available online at a better price than in-store will be available for Collect@Store in-store and if you choose this option the price of the item will be charged at the web exclusive price, not the in-store price.

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