Having a cell phone, tablet or home computer is certainly an advantage when it comes to shopping, but most people do not realize that brick and mortar stores are still a big way to save money shopping. In today’s fast paced action packed world most still prefer in store shopping and according to 91 percent of people have went into a brick and mortar stores after seeing or hearing about something online. Here are some tips to save your money in store, by using online tools or other techniques.
- Shop With Gift Cards
- Price Matching Policies
- Using Multiple Levels
- And Getting to Know the Staff
Shopping with Gift Cards
Lets face it, gift cards are here to stay, and with the proliferation of websites selling them at deep discounts you should be taking advantage of them before you hit the bricks. According to giftcardgranny.com 81.1 percent of of consumers will buy at least one gift card per year, and that was in 2012. That figure is growing steadily and is be closer to 90 percent now.
When you couple these with text for savings initiatives that many stores have these days, you can save substantial money in store. You use your computer at home, get the deep discount cards, and then sign up for the text deals with your favorite merchants and couple the text deal with the discount gift card and you can save a considerable amount. Most merchants, once they have you in the store will not deny the extra discounts in fear that you will leave. They would rather move the merchandise at the deep discount than loose the sale altogether.
Price Matching Policies
Price matching policies are a great way to save more money shopping at the store because in today’s ultra competitive world retailers need to match prices on the spot and do so quickly and efficiently otherwise lose a sale. This is where you can take advantage of retailers online apps on your smart phone or mobile tablet, and you can compare as you shop, and bring those competitive prices right to the sales persons attention, to get instantaneous savings, therefore avoiding endless driving from store to store to find the best deal. Just do a Google search for price matching policies and every store imaginable will come up with a price guarantee, check them out and see how they work and when they apply.
Using Multiple Levels
Sites like mrrebates.com and other similar ones can save you money, and get you cash back in real money or savings on other items you will need down the road. These sites will help you save more money shopping at the store when you use them on their own, or coupled with any other online retail codes that you can take advantage of and you can save as much as 30 percent.
Getting to Know Your Local Staff
Sounds crazy in this online, non personal world that we live in to get to know our retailers by name or foster any relationships, retailers come and go and no one works anywhere that long, right? Wrong! By just asking your local merchant for discounts on certain items or getting advanced information on sales can lead to huge savings, just think if you know about a sale that is going to happen in a few days on a purchase you intend to make anyway, it could give you a head start on finding other online deals to couple with the upcoming sale and reap even larger discounts, you can use any number of the tips above with this advance knowledge and wham you are in. And if you know the sale person close enough they may even hold the item for you in advance and you will not even have to worry about it running out.
And don’t limit yourself to retail here, you can get to know anyone, for example if you travel frequently for work, get to know airline staff, car rental staff hotel staff etc., and reap the rewards there too.
[Read: Money: Are You Spending Too Much?]
In Sum, nothing really can beat the convenience and luxury of shopping at home on your couch computer in hand and pajamas on, but if you are like many just seeing an item online is a start, you would still like to see, feel, touch, and otherwise get you hands on that item in a store just to be sure, and some items although deeply discounted online you just cannot buy them outright without some real time with it, like shoes and other clothes, sometimes you have to try it on, and as of right now the online experience cannot yet do that. No matter how good the pictures are. So arm yourself with these techniques and save more money shopping at the store.