Online shopping: 8 tips to maximise your savings

When it comes to online shopping, savvy shoppers are always in search of new ways to maximise their savings, due to the continuing cost of living crisis and inflation at 10.1%. Fortunately, there are many less-known strategic methods for securing the best deals. 

Together with Nick Drewe, retail expert at online discounts platform, Wethrift, we provide a list of tips for maximising your savings when shopping online, as well as analysis on which brands are offering the most discount codes to their mailing lists.  

1. Leave items in your basket

Leaving items in your basket will often trigger an abandoned basket email after a certain period of time. This is done by retailers to encourage you to go through to the next step of the purchase journey, and more often than not, they will attempt to incentivise the purchase by offering a discounted price. 

2. Use a price tracker to spot misleading ‘deals’ 

Savvy shoppers should be vigilant when it comes to deals and discounts, and not everything is always as it seems. Many brands and retailers will temporarily increase the price of their products, and then decrease them back to their original price, advertised as a price drop. 

Fortunately, there are price tracking sites such as PriceSpy which can be used to check the price history of an item to see whether you are really getting a deal or not. 

3. Go incognito to beat dynamic pricing strategies 

Many retailers will use dynamic pricing strategies, meaning that they will increase the price of a product if a shopper is regularly browsing the product. By browsing in incognito mode or clearing your cache, shoppers can avoid falling victim to dynamic pricing strategies and can bag the desired products at a lower price. 

4. Browse outlets 

Significant savings can often be made by online shopping at outlets rather than on the brand’s websites. Many outlet sites will offer products at a much cheaper price, and can even save shoppers anywhere up to 50% of the original RRP on big designer names. A quick Google search for the brand name and “outlet” will direct you to the outlet sites.  

5. Spend more to beat delivery costs 

Delivery costs can soon begin to mount up and is an additional unwanted charge on top of your online shopping bill. Many big name brands and retailers will incentivise larger cart values by offering free delivery when you spend over a certain amount. 

It is often worth adding an extra low-value item or two in order to get free delivery. Signing up for premium subscriptions such Asos, Amazon and more will save you money in the long run as you get a year’s free next day delivery. 

6. Search for discount codes

One of the most effective methods to save money when online shopping is by taking the time to search for brand discount codes. Platforms such as Wethrift offer easily accessible discount codes for thousands of brands in one easily accessible place. 

Remember to be savvy and strategic with your use of discount codes in order to maximise the amount of savings made. For example, if you can only apply one code to your purchase, work out whether a £10 off code or a 15% off code would generate a larger saving.

7. Follow brands and retailers on social media 

Following your favourite brands and retailers is another ideal way to access exclusive discount codes and early access to sales. 

8. Sign up to retailer’s mailing lists

Fortunately, if you don’t want to spend your time manually searching for discount codes, most brands are keen to send them directly to your inbox. By signing up to mailing lists, many brands will regularly include online discount codes within their promotional emails.

The team at online discounts platform, Wethrift, have analysed which UK brands hit your inbox with the most discount codes after signing up to their mailing lists.

Fashion giant Shein took the top spot, with analysis revealing that the fast fashion brand was dedicating 100% of its emails to promoting discount codes.

In second place was health and beauty retailer, Boots, with 86% of its emails containing discount codes. This is likely the impact of the ongoing cost of living crisis in the UK, as consumers look to make savings on more expensive items such as beauty products and toiletries. 

Interestingly, pet retailer Pets at Home took third place, dedicating 80% of its promotional emails to promoting discount codes. 

Brands offering most discount codes in marketing emails 

 

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