Nowadays there are scores of new offers and tactics that online retailers are coming up with to attract new online customers.

Essential Tips to Saving Money While Shopping Online

So, in order to get a great discount and capitalize on all these deals, you need to be a smart shopper. So how can you pick the best deals in the market? Go through these clever tips to know just that.

Decide On What to Buy First

It’s a no-brainer that if you have picked out what you need to buy beforehand, you will save time and money. Deciding in advance allows you to focus on the best deals and offers for that particular product without having to scroll aimlessly through pages of categories and deals from different websites.

Pick the Right Day to Shop

Many of you leave all your shopping for the lazy Sunday afternoon but are wary about cashing out too fast. However, you should know that Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are when the majority of retailers roll out their special offers and deals.

There are specific days where you will find better deals for a specific product. For example, Sunday is usually the best day to get cheaper airline tickets, with Monday being the most expensive. And for some reason, many retailers in the computer industry offer special discounts and offers on Tuesday.

Compare Prices

After you have the item picked out, you need to browse through different websites and compare the prices of that same product. There are even some browser extensions that will help you to compare the prices across most of the shopping portals.

Most of them will also let you see offers on your desired product from different merchants or banks. This makes it easier for you to compare prices for the same product online by utilizing the offers from banks.

Check for Price-Drop Refunds

Wouldn’t you just hate it if the price of the product you bought dropped the very next day due to a discount or sale? The good news is, there are certain credit cards that will cover you with price protection, meaning they will refund you the difference within a few days no matter where you shopped in case the price dropped.

Some companies will also refund you the difference, provided you get in touch with them within a certain number of days. You need to monitor these price changes and get in touch with the concerned authorities directly in order to ask for a refund on your online shopping.

Check For Any Coupon Codes, Discounts, or Cashbacks

For online sales, many shopping sites have affiliations and partnerships with banks, brands, or retail companies such as sams club to offer different discounts, cashback, or EMIs. Other than the banks, you can also receive affiliate commissions from a dedicated coupons site when you make the purchase through their website or use a referral link provided by them.

While using these services you need to check:

• whether or not the discount offered is upfront or not.
• the difference of the cashback and or discount made from the shopping site vs the discount offered from their mobile app.
• the time frame under which the discount or cashback will be credited back to your account or card
• if you have the option to combine more than one offer, for instance, a cashback and a discount, at the same time.

Leave the Site With Items in the Cart

You’ve liked some products, added them to your cart, now just step out of the site. Leaving the site with products in your cart for a day or two will have multiple benefits.

For one, you are able to avoid making an impulsive purchase. Then there are those retailers who just hate deals that remain unclosed and will take many measures to retain you and finish the sale. For this, the stores may send you a coupon or offer you a better price for the products the next day.

You will need to have an account on the website of the merchant and you will need to be logged in to your account when you leave the items on your cart.

Check for Free Shipping

While buying a product online, you need to check for shipping costs. There are many sites that offer their premium customers free delivery. You can also check the offers from the seller by clicking on the ‘More Offers’ button on the products page.

Use Multiple Email Accounts to Get More Coupons

Many stores send out a lot of single-use coupons to a few select groups of their customers. You can sign up for their newsletters with multiple accounts, ensuring the chances of getting coupons sent to all those accounts.

So if you are buying an item and you have three 50% discount codes for it, imagine how much more money you will be saving as opposed to having just one discount code. Do note that most websites limit the number of discounts or offers per purchase.

Try to Extend Expired Coupons

If a store sends you an awesome coupon in your mail, for a nice gift for your mother on Mother’s Day, that expired two days ago, no need to get frustrated. You can call their customer service hotline and inquire if they can extend the validity of your coupon so that it can be applied to the product that you intend to buy.

As every sales rep has a target, they will either extend the validity of the promo code or offer you a new one. Either way, they would want to close the deal. This might not be possible every time, but it’s sure worth giving it a shot.

Many shopping sites now offer live chats where you can politely ask about a particular product if any offers or discounts are available on it. Many chat supports have the authority to offer special promo codes that may not be available elsewhere.

Final Words

These tips, and a few other tactics, will enable you to save a good amount of money on your purchase. See which method works best for you and enjoy saving money by shopping online every time. Happy shopping!