The internet has provided us all with an unprecedented amount of shopping opportunities. With a vast range of products, prices and special offers at our fingertips, it can be sometimes a little overwhelming.
But with some careful planning, you can make some fantastic money saving opportunities online, and here are some of the best methods.
Vouchers
Many online shops use limited voucher codes to promote a particular product at a cheaper price in order to maximise exposure and offer the consumer some great discounts.
It’s relatively easy to use the codes with many shopping baskets allowing you to simply input the code when making your purchase. Hunting down those voucher codes is fairly simple too as the Honey extension can be added to your browser and will automatically search for, and apply any voucher codes that may be in existence in relation to your desired product.
There are also a range of sites such as Groupon and Wowcher that deal specifically in voucher codes and provide a good selection of thought provoking offers if you’re looking to try something new.
Sign up deals
With increased competition in the global marketplace, many online retailers will realise the value of ensuring customers keep coming back through membership schemes that invariably offer some form of welcome gift.
For example, Bookies.com offer a free £200 bet upon signing up whereby the user can use the bonus for a range of sports opportunities. And such membership schemes often feature loyalty bonuses that keep the customer coming back for more.
Many of the online media streaming sites are fans of this kind of promotion. Netflix in particular is famous for offering viewers one free trial month in order to check out the service and see whether it’s right for them.
Social media
Simply ‘liking’ a company or following a brand via a social media network such as Facebook or Twitter is another good way to receive some great one-off offers.
In a bid to retain and reward their most loyal customers, companies often like to use such social media sites as the first place to announce special offers and limited sales. And by receiving notifications of tempting promotions before they get officially announced in high street shops and online retailers, you’ll quickly be able to pounce on any desirable bargain.
The importance of time
Another more subtle, yet powerful way to achieve some big savings online is to simply wait for the prices to fall. This is because many retailers use a kind of dynamic pricing to maximise revenues at certain times.
And as Sundays are the days on which most people do some online shopping, this can be when prices are maximised.
Whereas most offers and sales tend to begin at the start of the week, so in order to shop frugally, try and use a little bit of patience and wait to grab that bargain!