This eCommerce CEO lets us into the 7 secrets to being a smart shopper this festive season!

Online festive season sales seem like a great reason to shop, owing to the product range, customer convenience (depends on the site and other factors), exciting deals as well as discounts. As a shopper, it is easy to get carried away by all the noise and barrage of offers.

This festive season, be a smart shopper by following these simple tips to shop online. These steps would ensure that you make most of the discounts and don’t spend more than what is appropriate or necessary.

1) Quality and credibility: Shop from a website which has a good reputation in the market. Purchase products of reputed brands, instead of purchasing solely on the basis of offers, discounts and deals. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Get a detailed understanding of the deal to avoid loopholes in it.

2) Use cards rather than cash: For new shoppers, cash on delivery seems like a safe option as they have to dispense with cash only when they have the ordered product in their hands. However, shopping online during sale season using your credit card or debit card will reap you a number of benefits.

First and foremost, using cards while making purchases online helps accumulate points on your card, as well as on your registered account on the merchant website. These points can be redeemed for future purchases. A lot of websites also have a number of different cash back offers and tie ups with various banks. These benefits can be availed using your card. But at the same time, be cautious to not go overboard just because it is plastic money. Falling into the credit card debt trap could derail you from achieving your future financial goals.

3) Informed and comparative shopping: Before you buy a product, find information and look for product reviews. You can even do a price comparison on different websites to get the best possible deal.

If you are looking for a particular category of product, list down all the brands of that product with a positive feedback, and compare all the offers available on the listed brands, on various retail websites. This will help you get the best price and deal on that product without compromising on quality. This option is valid only if you have the time or the patience, as it is quite tedious to compare across websites.

4) Shop with patience: Don’t make impulsive purchases just because you get attractive offers and discounts. Always look to get value for your money, and refrain from buying products that you don’t need.

5) Shipping and other charges: When placing an order online, consider the shipping and other incidental costs being charged on that product. Most websites provide free shipping beyond a certain purchase value.

6) Promotional and coupon codes: One of the most convenient ways to get promotional and discount codes is by registering on retail websites and subscribing to promotional updates. Go to a search engine and enter the website name along with the phrase “promotional code” or “coupon code”. This could get you codes of various deals and discounts on different products available on that website.

All reputed retailers have a page on social media network. Subscribe to or like these pages to get regular information regarding discount codes, special sales and other promotions. However, having access to discount codes and coupons is not enough. Use these coupons strategically and smartly for maximum benefit and savings. This is vital when availing multiple coupons on the same order. When using more than one code, the target must be to get the maximum possible discount on that particular purchase.

7) Avoid the trap of dynamic pricing: Dynamic pricing is pricing of products done by the retailers based on your location, browsing habits, spending pattern, demand of the product and so on. To avoid falling prey to this pricing system, ensure you clear your browsing history as well as cookies and log out of your email and social media accounts, before you shop online.

The festive season is also the time for the annual bonuses. A smart move would be to plan expenditures in such a way that you do not compromise on your retirement savings or other financial goals. Therefore, spend only what you can afford to after you have saved sufficiently. (About the author: This article has been contributed by Sanjiv Singhal, CEO at Scripbox.)
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