Many retailers offer price matching on items throughout the year. They’ll refund you the difference if you find the same item sold for less within a certain time frame.
However, some stores use this against loyal customers by using cookies to mark up prices based on their past purchases. One way to avoid this is by shopping online in an incognito window . This will mask your previous cookies.
Stay Up to Date
The deals are out there, but knowing what to look for can be overwhelming. Whether you want to save money on tech gadgets or stock up on home decor, the holidays can be your best chance of scoring an amazing bargain.
While Black Friday used to mean storming the doorbuster doors, it’s now a whole season of discounts. From Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, there are deals on everything.
Experts recommend jumping online at midnight to get a head start on the sales and keeping a tab on a deal you’re interested in. This is important because some items are only available for a limited time or may sell out quickly.
Using online tools can also help. These websites compare prices, offer specific product deals, and more. In addition, they’ll let you know if a deal is a good one.
Keep an Eye Out
Black Friday occurs the weekend after Thanksgiving (or the final week of November for non-Americans). It’s a full slate of discounts put on by retailers to help their customers get a jump on Christmas shopping.
Unless you’re lucky enough to be one of the first in-store shoppers to land the hot item of your choice, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for deals well before the big sale. Many products go on sale in the weeks leading, such as at Black Friday Sam’s Club, often at a discounted price compared to the official markdown.
Savvy shoppers who use online tools to track prices have found some of the best Black Friday deals. These include Google apps and extensions, which actively compare and provide previous sales prices on specific items to ensure you’re paying only what you should.
Be Prepared
It’s important to be prepared on Black Friday, particularly in person. Start with a clear idea of what you’re hoping to buy and what your hard-set budget will allow. Especially in-store, be sure to bring the Black Friday ads (as well as the regular ones from your preferred stores) and check their prices against the deals you find online.
Having gift receipts available for all returns is also a good idea. This will help prevent opportunistic theft of your credit card information. For this reason, keeping your wallet and phone in an interior clothing pocket rather than a back or hip pouch is a good idea.
Another way to be ready is to sign up for retailer newsletters a few weeks before Black Friday. These are the most reliable and efficient ways to stay up on in-store and online promotions. If you’re shopping online, you can set up store browser tabs beforehand to pounce on deals with a single click.
Be Early
The day after Thanksgiving is a perfect storm of crowds, traffic, long lines, early-morning start times, and limited inventory. This can make for a toxic brew, especially when sleep-deprived shoppers are focused on getting a deal at all costs.
If you arrive well before a store’s opening time, you can score the best deals on items that will sell out fast. Be sure to study the ads beforehand, and don’t limit yourself to just your local retailers. Some credit card issuers offer apps that let you instantly compare prices across top retailers while shopping aggregators and blogs are also great sources of information.
For online Black Friday shopping, bookmark product pages ahead of time so you can immediately head to the site as soon as a sale begins. This will help you beat out national (and sometimes international) competitors who may better understand the pricing ebb and flow for particular products.
Be Flexible
Undoubtedly, Black Friday is a great time to shop, but it’s important not to go overboard. It’s helpful to decide on a budget beforehand and stick to it, especially when buying bigger ticket items like TVs, laptops, or gaming consoles. A credit card can help you spread the cost and offer extra fraud protection.
Similarly, try to use gift cards as much as possible – sites buy legit, unwanted e-gift cards at a fraction of their face value. You can also save money by stacking sales with coupons, whether flat percentage-off or dollar-off offers. It’s also worth clearing your cookies and shopping incognito to avoid retailers punishing you for being a frequent customer.
Be Creative
People who shop on Black Friday are generally looking for the best deals. This means that it’s important to be creative in your marketing campaigns.
For example, gift guides are a popular Black Friday strategy. Gift guides feature a list of curated products perfect for different occasions and segments of your target audience. This improves the buying experience and reduces your customers’ anxiety about all available options.
Another way to be creative is by offering a flexible return policy. Consumers return an estimated $640 billion worth of goods every year, and a flexible return policy can help you attract more shoppers and boost customer satisfaction.
If you offer a flexible return policy, let your customers know about it. You can include it in your marketing emails and post it on social media.
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