We all love shopping from our favorite online marketplace or browsing several stores to find the best deal online to get the maximum discount and save more money. Saving money is a good habit, and everyone will appreciate it. These days, online retailers understand your psychology of buying goods, so they offer discounts and deals to attract customers and become the number one online retailer. But if you’re a smart buyer, you can understand their strategies and pick the maximum discount while shopping online.
Perhaps most shopaholics already know a few ways to save big money while shopping online. Most browse multiple stores to purchase a single item for the best price. Sometimes, you can wait for markdowns or vouchers if that is possible. After all, it’s shopping, not the puja path. You won’t believe it, but you can still save more money. If you are serious about this article, I will tell you what to do.
How to Find the Best Deals Online
Here’s how?
#1 Understand the Dynamic Pricing Trap
Online retailers know what you are browsing on their site, when, and how much you spend. Also, they look for product demand and other factors to show different prices to different customers. Their website uses sophisticated technology to track your surfing and collect the required data to determine how much you can spend buying a specific product. You may see a lower price, and your friend may see a higher price for the same product based on spending habits.
If you want to play safe and pay lower prices each time, remember to erase web browser cookies and log out from your account. Are you using the latest version of the browser? Then, you can use “private” or “incognito” mode to stay safe from a dynamic pricing trap.
Dynamic pricing is a strategy online retailers use to offer different prices to customers with different interests. The price fluctuations are based on market factors, demand, and the user’s spending habits and browsing patterns. Websites generally track your internet activity and gain knowledge about your online behavior. You might see a higher price for a product than someone with different spending habits. You can avoid it by clearing the cookies and logging out of your account. You can even sign up using the ‘Incognito’ Window.
#2 Clear Your Cookies
If you continually return to look at that holiday package or those homeware deals, you might notice that the price is starting to creep upwards. This is because the website has installed cookies on your browser that allow them to track your movements on their site. By slowly bumping up the price, they hope to influence you to purchase sooner rather than later. Clear your cache to eliminate the cookies, giving the retailer this information.
#3 Compare In-store and Online Prices/Deals
Prices are always different when you compare online and in-store. On your smart device, you can quickly check the online price when purchasing online and then call the local retailer to know the store price.
Sometimes, the sales price is higher, but a better deal from some stores may let you buy the product at a lower price.
It is another excellent way to save money online, as many websites provide different products. You can compare the prices of the products you wish to buy on various shopping websites. Go with the one offering the lowest price. In this way, you can save significant money on your purchase.
Not only this but once you have found the website where your product is available at the lowest price, you can also search for the coupons and check if a further discount is applicable using the promo codes. You can save extra money if any additional discount is available using the coupons.
#4 Claim Cashback Every Time You Shop
Whenever you shop online, you can check cashback offers on the internet. Most online stores, be it Amazon, Flipkart, Tata CLiQ, or any other portal, offer some percentage of the amount you have spent online as a cashback.
During festive seasons, many banks offer cashback to their customers if they are shopping from a particular website. Find out such websites that allow your bank to offer you cash back at the time of your purchase. This cashback might be instant as a deduction from the total or may come to your bank account directly after a few days of your purchase.
If you use some recharge websites, paying money through them might fetch you an extra discount in the form of cashback. But this is only possible if you shop from a website that allows such transactions.
#5 Search for Discount Coupons and Deals
It does not matter if you do not have a coupon code. You can find discount vouchers online through coupons. You can browse coupon codes in different ways, like the search bar, popular coupons, the latest coupons, and the most popular stores. The most popular store section is a page where I can browse discount coupons and offers for any online store to buy the product at the best price.
If your favorite store does not send you coupons or deals after you add items to the shopping cart, there is an alternative option. You can search for discount coupons and deals on the web. Many sites provide exclusive discount coupons and offer the best deals for their subscribers.
If you are considering how I can use these sites to avail yourself of discounts or deals, open the site and look for available coupons and deals. You may also browse through the store list. A list of available coupons and deals will be shown, and you may pick your favorite.
If you have decided to shop online, finding coupons online can be a great way to get discounts. Suppose you are shopping on Amazon, and you can search for an Amazon coupon that can fetch you a discount on buying a product or making a recharge. You need to apply the coupon code before paying for your product.
Many websites provide discount coupons. You can reach out to these websites and find the working coupons that can help you avail of the discounts. There are many renowned websites for finding promo codes and discount coupons online to save money on shopping.
#6 Subscribe to Newsletters and Alerts
It does not matter if you’re a new or loyal customer. Online retailers want to increase sales. They regularly send exclusive single-use coupons to your email or mobile number. You may sign up for these alerts via emails and mobile numbers to grab the best offer anytime.
It is best to sign up for all the stores where you can find your desired product. This way, you can compare deals that may help you negotiate.
Another great way to save money while shopping online is by signing up for alerts. You can sign up for email alerts on your favorite eCommerce websites. They will keep on sending you the best-discounted offers and coupons. If you find something cheaper in these email newsletters, you can buy it at discounted rates. Moreover, you can get alerts for fixed-time offers/sales and get discounts without applying the coupon codes. Signing up for the email newsletters will ensure you don’t miss out on festive and fixed-time sales.
#7 Leave Products in Your Shopping Cart
Yes, this works. If you don’t have an account at the particular store, please create one first and then log in. Browse products you wish to purchase, add these to the shopping cart, and then sit and relax. Most retailers want to sell their products, so they will try to close the deal. For this reason, in a few coming days, you may receive an email with a discount coupon or an offer for a better price. This trick works for most online stores but not for all.
If you are not hurrying to buy your favorite products from your favorite shopping website, you can select the product(s), add them to your cart, and log out of your account. In a few days, you will get the luring emails from the website(s) asking you to buy the products left in your cart. They will try to attract you by offering discounts. It is when you can easily get your favorite product at much lower rates.
#8 Delay Your Purchase
Sometimes, if you go through the purchasing process by placing items in your virtual shopping cart and abandoning them, the company will contact you to find out what went wrong. This may also result in a discount to entice you to complete the transaction. Although not a sure thing, it doesn’t hurt to try. It will also allow you time to reflect on the purchase and determine if it’s necessary in the first place.
#9 Call Customer Support
Suppose you wish to buy an expensive thing, but no coupon or deal is available. If you ask customer support for a discount or deal, they’ll assist you in selling the product. Sometimes, customer support extends the expired coupon or deal. It is not a sure method, but you can try your luck.
#10 Use the Chat Function
Many online retailers employ a chat function to help answer questions about products or the purchasing process. Using the chat help to get more information on what you’re buying can sometimes result in getting a discount code to steer you towards a purchase. Send them a note if your favorite eCommerce deals site features a chat function.
#11 Be A Social Media Follower
Every online marketplace has a social media page for news, product promotion, and seasonal offers. It’s the best way to make a loyal customer. Today, online promotion through media is very easy because those who can shop online also have a social media account to keep connected with their friends. You only need to do something like or follow their social media page. Then you’ll be among those who can avail of the latest offers and discount coupons.
If you follow retailers’ Twitter or Facebook updates, they may reward you with early access to major sales and offer exclusive discounts and deals. This is because you’re loyal.
#12 Trench Home Delivery Charges
Almost every online shopping store has no home delivery charges when you spend a minimum amount. In the US, some stores offer free shipping, no matter how much you spend, but only for a certain location. We expect this to soon become a trend to attract more buyers. But until then, spend a minimum amount to cut down on shipping charges; for this, you can list products you want to buy and order them from your favorite store.
#13 Buy Items Directly from Craftsman/Artificer
We all love to decorate our home. For this, we buy different things like handcraft and vintage things. You can increase savings by shopping through a site like Fab Furnish or Etsy. Such sites showcase handcraft like handbags, vases, artificial jewelry, wooden work, wall lamps, etc., made by talented artists. These sites allow you to get items directly from an artificer; there is no middleman, so there are no commission fees. You save on delivery charges if you buy products from a local craftsman.
#14 Compare Prices Between Online Stores
Several sites on the internet offer product price comparisons between different online stores. You can take advantage of these to save the most.
#15 Use Multiple Coupons Strategically
Some stores offer coupons for the minimum purchase value. For example, if you spend more than $1900, you can apply a specific coupon to get a discount of $200. If you use this coupon on a purchase of $3999, you’ll get only $200 off. But you can place two wise orders to get a discount of $400.
#16 Use Smartphone Apps
Smartphone apps are now top-rated because you can buy any product anytime with these. Some online retailers provide exclusive coupons and offers only for smartphone app users. So you must check for such discount offers and deals too.
#17 Join the Loyalty Program
It seems every retailer in every industry has a loyalty program. If you know you’re going to purchase from a retailer that has one, and you’re not yet a member, sign up immediately, even if you never plan on buying from them again. Sometimes, you’ll receive a discount coupon just because you’ve signed up. Or they might inform you of an upcoming sale before you buy something at full price.
#18 Pay through Card Offers
Nowadays, credit card companies have different strategies for engaging customers to buy through their credit cards. When you pay by credit card, you get reward points. After getting a minimum number of reward points, you may spend these to buy any item available in a credit card mall or shopping site.
#19 Deal with Affiliates
Many people might deal with affiliate marketing. You just need to contact them and see what offer they give you if you purchase any product through their link.
#20 Look for Giveaways
The best way to get a product for free is by looking for giveaways. But it can only happen if you are too lucky to have the product in the giveaway.
#21 Use A Private Browser
Like clearing your cookies, you can use your favorite browser’s private or incognito version to hide your location and web surfing patterns. Most web browsers feature this option, so do some research on activating the private mode. This is an especially good idea when searching for products with fluctuating prices, such as flights or holiday packages.
#22 Use A Price Tracker
Many websites are designed to keep track of price changes on the products of your choice. Simply sign up, enter the product you’re thinking about buying, and wait for the pricing updates to roll into your inbox.
The Bottom Line
The craze for online shopping is booming, but you should be careful. Though many sites can be trusted, a few might be frauds and steal your hard-earned money. It is advisable to shop from a trusted website that has excellent reviews. You can find coupons online and get a discount on your products. Be alert for discount offers and coupons to save money on online shopping.