Be savvy when you shop online

These days a rising number of people are doing their shopping online, with many different people purchasing their groceries and household goods via the Internet. With so many shoppers trying to cope with various other commitments such as work and family getting the time to go to the supermarket and queue up can be very difficult. However, the Internet has given busy people an opportunity to get their shopping from the comfort of their own homes with the touch of a button and get it all conveniently delivered to the door.

There are a number of benefits available for those that do their grocery shop online. The first is that they can do their shop at any time of the day or night without even having to leave their home, providing total convenience. The second is that they can get their groceries delivered conveniently to the door at a time to suit. Finally, there is plenty of choice available online, so shoppers can quickly find what they want without having to wander around the supermarket scouring the shelves.

There are also some other very important benefit to doing grocery shopping online, and one of the most important is that potentially shoppers could make a fairly sizeable saving compared to going to the supermarket to make their purchases. There are a number of ways in which consumers may be able to save money when shopping online.

Firstly, those that shop online are less likely to be without a list or be shopping on an empty stomach, and both of these things can increase the likelihood of impulse shopping, which can really add to the final bill. Another thing to bear in mind is that there are often special offers for online customers, which can be taken advantage off to boost savings even further.

Whilst there is generally a delivery charge to have your shopping brought to the doorstep the time of day that delivery is arranged for can affect the price. Shoppers should therefore aim for off peak hours if possible so that the delivery charge is lower.

Finally, shoppers can use sites such as mysupermarket.com where it is possible to do your shopping online and then see which of the major supermarkets offers you the shop for the least amount of money, which means even greater savings for the shopper. The site also allows shoppers to switch branded items to cheaper one with the click of a button, making this a fast and easy way to make savings.

Tags: likelihood, Shoppers Drug Mart, saving, Retailing, supermarket

Save yourself some money this Christmas

Whilst Christmas is now only around the corner there are still plenty of people that simply haven’t had the time or spare cash to get their Christmas shopping done as early as they may have liked to have done it. Read more

Tags: christmas, Retailing, shopping, Gift economy, online shopping, New Year's Day, Pricing, Loyalty program, Credit card, Consumer behaviour

Smaller packets offer better value in shops

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Tags: IPhone, move, money saving, Retailing, discount stores, money, cheaper shopping, Tesco Value chocolate

Supermarket giants try to entice customers back

With food prices having soared out of control, in addition to the range of other hikes in bills and living costs, many people have been struggling to make ends meet when it comes to the household budget. Consumers have tried to make a range of cutbacks in order to try and make their money stretch further, and for many this has meant switching from the more expensive supermarket giants such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrison’s, and turning to discount grocery stores such as Aldi, Netto, and Lidl. Read more

Tags: Retailing, official, price, Asda, tesco, credit crunch

Consumers expected to spend £2.7b more this Christmas

An estimated £2.7 billion more is to be spent this Christmas by consumers compared with last year, according to a survey by Sainsbury’s Bank.

People intend to spend £11.85 billion more on shopping in the last week before Christmas than in 2006.

The findings also show that 18 per cent of this figure, approximately £2.1 billion, will be paid by credit card.

Donald MacLeod, head of cards, Sainsbury’s Bank, said: “I was surprised at…the fact that people were going to spend more this year than last year. All the press comment at the moment has been about there being a squeeze on [spending], but this doesn’t appear to be the case.”

He added that buying gifts during the build up to Christmas can benefit consumers as some retailers are already offering discounts. Unfortunately the risk is that some goods may already be out of stock.

Mr MacLeod also said that credit cards are “a very convenient way of doing your Christmas shopping”, as using them does not require consumers to carry cash.

Tags: Mr MacLeod, press, sainsburys, week before christmas, Retailing, buying gifts