Published on January 22nd, 2016 | by Guest

Break The Rules; Feed Your Greed And Become The Ultimate Online Shopping Champion

Concept of online shopping is not new in India. But many of us still do not know how to shop online in a way to save the maximum money. Online shopping is not only convenient but rewarding too. It requires skills through which you can buy products at the best price ever. The key concept to get the best out of online shopping is research and wait. The more you wait, the better deal you get.

In the world of competition, buyers today have many places to shop. So, sellers are offering lowest price for the products to increase their sale and beat the competitors. Buyers obviously are benefited in this game of ‘tug of war’. Saving money while shopping online is not complex but it can be tricky. If you know your way out from the false guarantees of minimum price or know to catch the ‘genuine’ offer, you can become the king of online shopping. Learning anything takes time, but guess what you can learn the skill of wise online shopping by the time you end up reading this post. Hope it feeds the ‘shopping keeda’ inside you.

Now to grab the better understanding over the correct way of online shopping, let us divide it into three categories- before shopping, while shopping and after shopping.

Before shopping

You do not wake up in the morning and go to the school or college or office. You prepare yourself and take time to get ready. And when you are good to go, you, well you go. Shopping online in a smart way also needs strategies. These are not so ‘big’ one that needs whole day, you only have to be alert. But that is not possible all the time so you let others do your work and sit back and relax. And here’s how.

You know you should shop while some offers are going on or some coupons are available. But you always come across such offers when it is long expired or on the last day of its validity. It happens with most of us. But shopping on the last day of sale is impulsive and you may end up buying something you do not need. So what you can do is subscribe to the shopping sites where you generally shop via email. These websites will send you all the information of upcoming and ongoing offers. Sometimes, they also send you exclusive coupons. Being exclusive is exciting, isn’t it?
If you shop from many sites, then it is tiresome to check all the websites for the best offers. So you just find out legitimate e-commerce sites that showcase all the offers and coupons from most of the popular sites on the web under the heading like flipkart offers. Thus your half work is done. You just subscribe to the RSS feed from that site and all the ‘bestest’ offers will be in front of you. Moreover, you can download their App too.

While shopping

This is probably the most exciting part; Of course Shopping!! Duhh!!! But the most critical too. Shopping is fun and stress relieving (by the way, it has been proved by the research) but you are spending your money, so it would not hurt to put some effort to save some extra bucks too. Yes, we have build up much about it, but worry not relax. Follow these tips and you are TaDa! ‘The Online Shopping Champion’.

Browsing strategy. You should know the way to browse intelligently. While you can search for the product in the search bar of the site, but the correct and more efficient way is to go to the categories and then reach to the product. While zeroing on the one, firstly, put the price range and then sort from ‘low to high price’. Thus you will never go over on spending. You will also select such a product which is low in price. The next step is sort by ‘customer rating or reviews’. Thus you can know the popularity of the product you shortlisted, among customers who bought it. Read reviews to avoid buying a crappy product.
The more, the better. Do not trust the claims of one site being the lowest price provider. Put some effort and look for the product on different websites. See the shipping prices and shipping time. Choose the website which provide the best price, but keeping the reputation of website in mind. Some websites run scam and do not deliver the product at all or deliver broken or expired product. Beware of such sites.
So now you know what to buy and from where to buy. But have some patience. Do not show hurry in buying. Yes, you read right in the start, the more you wait, the better deal you get. Just put the product in the cart and sleep on the thought of buying. Sites when see you have put products in your cart but didn’t buy, send you some coupon codes to ‘inspire’ you to shop. And when you have inspired enough, then you shop.
So today is the day when you are finally shopping. But do you have the App of the site, from where you are shopping? No? Install it now. Many sites offer special discount when you shop via their App. And we have no problem in getting extra discount. Do we?
Now finally ready? What ? You see shipping charges. No we are strictly against paying for shipping. Do not ever pay for shipping. There is policy of some sites that they offer free shipping when your cart value exceeds a certain amount. So try reaching that limit(Put what you need, not only because we said so Huhh). Or you can search the e-commerce sites for free shipping coupon. Getting a free shipping is not tough. Usually the minimum cart value for free shipping is 499/- Or 999/- that too without discount, so you can manage that.
Now the coupons. Didn’t the word brought a big smile over your face? Yes, coupons have that effect on people. Just sort for coupons in your email or the sites you have already subscribed to. It is not hard nowadays to grab a coupon. Among the large heap of coupons, you can surely find the one for you. Just search of site specific for e.g. snapdeal offers. Thus you can get your desired coupon quickkerrr.
Cashback. When you pay by the third party sites and their ‘wallets’, you can get a certain percentage of cashback too. This you can use for future purchases. OMG! Thats like icing on cake. So cash! please come back to me.
And the last but not the least, pay by the debit/credit card. You see on sites- pay by SBI debit card and get 5% extra cashback. Don’t you? We know you have been always purchasing via COD, but its time you give some credit to the website youve been shopping for long and take a leap of faith. Pay in advance, pay by card. First coupon, then cashback and then card, we are going great.

So that is pretty much it about how you can shop and save. You have reached at the pinnacle of saving and no man! there is nothing you can do to save more. But Hey, that is pretty much good you did there.

After shopping

Are you thinking that you have shopped and your work is pretty much done. Well yeah in a way. But not if you want to prepare for future savings in advance.

Write reviews. Telling other people how the product fared for you is noble. After all it helped you too to select the product and buy it. But really, are we suggesting it for charity? Well, you caught us. There is a catch here too. You may not know, but some sites provide discount coupons or credit points for writing a review. Thus it would feel good to help others and it would definitely fill you pockets too.
Co-shopping. What is it?? You know it, its referral scheme. Invite your friend to join the website and get rewarded. So you made friends for this day only. A friend in need, is a friend indeed. So refer them the site and get rich. Oh and your friend also gets some introductory discount. Spread happiness, keep inviting.

So this is the end of the post. Well… not really. Don’t you want some additional tips. We all want that ‘sookhi puri from panipuri wala’. So bear us for one more minute.

Do not hesitate in returning the product you bought. Many sites provide full and easy refund on return. If possible drop a mail to them stating the problem. Thus you can interact with the people associated with the site and get a chance to know their working policy better. Who knows, they may favour you with some extra discount too when they find you a loyal customer.
Shop during sales and off season. Buy winter clothes in summer and summer clothes in winter. Yes, it may seem like an odd advice, but it fares. The cost of the product in the off season is always less. Some sites or rather all sites provide ‘End of season sale’. Always buy things during these sales.

Concluding, and finally concluding.. Internet has revolutionised the way we shop. Some marketing Gurus claim that in the coming years online shopping will lose its charm and people will literally go out of their houses and shop from the conventional brick and mortar store. That day may come, but it is certainly not around the corner. So till then keep shopping online, keep saving and be happy. Online shopping is simply Amaziinggg…!!

About the author:

The author of this article holds a niche in writing and knows exactly what to write. He keeps himself updated and provides the information to the readers. He is currently writing for Online Shopping to keep the readers updated.

Tags: become, break, champion, feed, greed, online, rules, shopping, ultimate