The internet has revolutionized the way we shop. Never before have so many products been instantly available to so many people. Virtually every retailer has an online store while dedicated shopping sites and apps have become the new malls. Search engines return results for products as often as they answer general queries. Everything is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round.
It should be a shopper’s dream but instead, we often find ourselves frustrated. Sometimes, it is from paying too much because our coupons have expired or cannot be applied. At other times, the ‘Out of stock’ or ‘Not deliverable’ tags leave us disappointed.
Here are five simple ways to turn online shopping into the convenient time and money-saving experience that it should always be.
Resist Impulse Buys
The most common reason that shoppers end up paying too much is that they don’t shop around. If a site is advertising a huge discount on a certain product, it can be tempting to snatch it up instantly. However, it may be that the item is on discount everywhere and other sites have even better offers. Always look at a few different online stores before you make a final decision.
Use Those Coupons!
We have all felt the disappointment of thinking we have scored a huge coupon discount only to discover it has expired. Avoid this by keeping track of your coupons – you can even add an alarm on your phone to remind you the day before each one expires. If you just miss the deal by a day or a few days, all is not lost. If you contact the store and ask customer service to extend it for you, many will oblige.
$0 Delivery Only
There is no point in saving a few dollars if you are going to end up losing it all in shipping fees. Most online stores have a limit beyond which delivery is free so compare sites and do as much shopping at the same one so you hit that limit. Some retailers let you purchase a subscription which gives you free shipping even with a single item. You will have to work out whether the savings work out in your favour. Again, compare before you commit.
Timing is Everything
Online shopping prices are a lot more volatile when compared to regular stores. Many websites have an inbuilt algorithm that raises prices of specific items that are seeing a lot of visitors. When the demand drops, the prices do as well. To avoid being caught up in a price surge, don’t shop online during peak hours. This includes lunchtime as well as evenings when most people are most likely to be shopping. Instead, choose the early hours of the morning or the middle of the night.
Use Your Plastic
Many debit and credit cards give you automatic rewards with rebates and e-bates. This is usually in the form of a percentage of the total purchases you make on the card within a certain period. Others have tie-ins with specific stores that not only give you additional discounts but also increase the rewards you earn. Make sure that you choose a card that has partnered with a store that has a good online site.
You could spend a lot of time searching for an online store that ticks all the above boxes. Discount sites like Seven.Deals let you get them all at once. They bring together thousands of products across virtually every category from many retailers with a single aim: getting you the best offer every time you buy through them.
Now, that is online shopping done right!
