About Time: Life Hacks for Online ShoppingBy Angelica Malin
Now firmly established, shopping online has become the popular way for many people to buy products. Ordering goods via a mobile device or a desktop computer is far easier than trudging around the shops looking for bargains. Because of the demand, popularity and convenience of online shopping some online retailers try to keep their prices as high as possible while still slightly undercutting the high street retailers. So, how do you find the most attractive online prices? You need to use some of the hacks available that will allow you to grab the lowest possible prices. We have put together a list of our favourites so that you can make real savings when you do your online shopping.
Dynamic pricing
Dynamic pricing is when online retailers use the data they have collected about customers to ensure that they charge the most they possibly can for an item. This is something that many consumers are unaware of. It is done through records of previous purchases, web browser cookies and any other way a retailer can collect your data. You can, however, limit how your data is used to impact on online prices. There are two ways to do so.
For both methods, you will need to log out of your account for whichever online store you are using. Once you have done that you have two options. The first is to completely delete all cookies and trackers from the browser that you use. If you do not want to do this then use the incognito mode of your browser. That will allow you to see the items without your shopping history impacting on how much you are charged.
Use coupons
Coupons are one of the best ways to get great deals with online shopping. You can make huge savings using coupons that will allow you to make a purchase at a discounted rate. Coupon sites such as KDeals have a wide range of deals and offers every day for users of the website. There are two different accounts on offer at KDeals, a free account, and also a Premium account where you can define your preferences to receive customised discounts. This allows you to get the discounts which are most useful to you, cutting down on your time spent searching online for the ideal discount. The £9.99 monthly charge can be set up and paid with a KDeals.co.uk direct debit which makes it an inexpensive and simple way to gain access to some of the best deals around.
By using coupons you can benefit from deals that will allow you to purchase higher ticket items that you might not normally be able to afford.
Leave products to stand
This is a hack that does not work everywhere. However, it is worth trying for items that you want to buy, but might not be able to afford. You must be logged into your account to carry this out. The first step you need to take is to find the product that you want. Then add it to your cart. Your next step is to just go to another website without going through the checkout but without removing the product from your cart.
After this, it is just a waiting game. Not all online stores will do this next step, but until you try it you will never know. After a few days of the product being in your cart but not purchased some stores will send you an email with a code to get money off the product. It does not always happen, but for the savings you can get it is worth trying.
Follow your favourite stores on social media
This is a really simple trick. By following your favourite stores on social media you can gain several benefits. It is an easy way to stay in touch with the company and making contact via social media can often produce better results than phoning customer support. If you reach out over social media you might receive special bonus codes to get money off a purchase or even a free spend if there has been a satisfaction issue.
Also providing customers with added benefits are the deals that companies post on social media. There will regularly be offers and coupons published on social media that are not available elsewhere. They present an opportunity to get a great deal that would otherwise have been out of reach.
There is also the bonus of being able to see new product announcements first via social media.
Sign up to mailing lists
Mailing lists might seem like an early 2000s thing, but signing up to them for your favourite stores does have benefits. One being that you can gain access to some special offers through email promotions. The reason the retailers do this is because mailing lists have fallen in popularity with customers over the last few years but they are an effective way to grab the attention of customers and they certainly drive sales.
Not only can you get fantastic offers on specific products when you sign up to a mailing list, some stores will also give you a discount on your next purchase whatever it happens to be. There are several benefits to signing up that can help you make significant savings.
Look around
This is one of the oldest tricks in the book. It has been around since the dawn of shopping. Do not buy from the first place you visit. Make sure that you look around to see if the same product can be bought elsewhere for a lower price. It took a lot longer in the days when you had to physically walk between shops, however, online it is very easy to compare prices. There are even online tools that will give you the ability to instantly compare prices at several different stores.
All of these methods will allow you to save on your online shopping. If you use them together you can grab deals that you never thought possible.