Shopping Tips - How to Get More for Less

12/02/2015

Shopping Tips - How to Get More for Less

In a similar way to many other areas, the internet has opened up a whole new world of new options when it comes to online shopping. It is allowing what were once physical shops to expand their customer base from not just a small town in the British countryside, but now to the whole world.

Another area that we have seen massive growth is in e-commerce – businesses which are set up and carried out almost entirely online. Products and services are usually sold and dealt with exclusively online, through an online shop. One of the best things about running a business online is that your overheads are instantly reduced as you can save on rent, staffing, a lot of material costs, you name it, and of course, these savings can then be passed onto the customer when they are doing their shopping online.

Finding bargains however isn’t always so straightforward. As in the 'real' world, there are a few tricks to bagging yourself a bargain, and getting the lowest price possible for you or as a gift for someone.

So how can you get the best online deals for you, and the biggest online bargains?

Price matching
The internet makes it very easy to price match. You can have a look around on various websites for the best bargains online, or if you're lucky, you might even find a price match website. If there is one particular website that you are keen to use for your online buying, contact them and explain that you have found the same product at a lower price and they will more than likely match it or offer you a slightly lower price.

Online Coupons
Just as in the offline world, businesses like to give away online vouchers to lure customers to their shop.  Most online shops do this through blogs, email campaigns and social media, so it is just a case of searching when you are doing your buying online.

There are now also apps available which can automatically search for coupons online when you tell it what you are looking for, which makes the process of finding coupons or vouchers a whole lot easier.
Go for Refurbished

If you are looking for good shopping deals online, one good trick is to go for refurbished goods. These – usually electronic gear – are products which were initially bought and a defect discovered so they were returned for a refund or a replacement. The original product was then repaired and is available for sale again – but at a much lower price. This can mean that they are actually a better quality than the brand new version due to the rigorous tests that it now has to pass.

Abandon
With all of the technology which is available these days, online shop owners are almost able to know what is going on inside your head before you do! In many cases they are so desperate for your business that they will come running after you if it looks like you are going to give up on them. If you abandon your shopping cart before making your purchase, it is very possible that over the next few hours or days, you will receive some sort of message or voucher trying to tempt you back to them.

Make sure of course that they have your contact details or they won' be able to get in touch!

Be Anonymous
Another angle to the information that e-commerce owners now have, is that they often change details and prices according to your buying history who you are and where you are in the world. They might know that you were browsing on a different website – and the prices that you were looking at and then change their prices accordingly. You might live in a more affluent neighbourhood in which case they could charge you more than in a developing country, for example.

So if you think that this might mean that you are losing out, try using a different browser which means that you stay anonymous.

New and Small Shops
When someone opens a new shop, they are usually desperate to win new customers, and likewise, smaller shops are always looking for new customers. So keep your eyes open for small or new shops which will often be offering lower prices, or at least be more open to price negotiation.

To find the smaller shops, the best way is to type into Google the product that you are looking for, then skip through a couple of pages and look in the shops which appear here, further down the list.

Communication
A current trend in the e-commerce world is real-time chat. Many websites now give browsers the opportunity to chat directly to a sales rep online. You can use this function to ask any questions which you might have as well as negotiate a good price. Even just asking them for discount can work.

There are a number of different tricks to getting more for less when you are shopping online, and using a combination of them will give you the chance to get the most for your money. The mere fact that you are buying online means that you should be getting your product or service at a lower price than in the offline world, as there are a lot fewer overheads to take into account.

It is also useful for online shop owners to understand these buying tricks to enable them to provide the best service that is possible to their customers – along with the best prices. Buying online is becoming increasingly popular and the online marketplace becoming increasingly crowded, so it is important that businesses learn how to stand out from the rest. One way that they can do this is by offering the best prices – which is good news for everyone!

If you have any questions about e-commerce, buying and selling online, building effective websites and other online services, get in touch with Studioworx either via email ([email protected]), telephone (+44 (0)1603 274285) or the website (https://www.studioworx.co.uk).