How to save the most when shopping online
Search, click, buy, repeat.
That’s what a lot more of us will be doing this year as holiday shopping gets underway on Thanksgiving. For the first time in history, online purchases will overtake in-store buying, according to retail surveys.
This year, 51 percent of shoppers will be combing the internet for deals and buying online as opposed to 42 percent buying in stores (the other 7 percent will be making catalog and direct mail purchases), according to Deloitte’s 2017 holiday survey of more than 5,000 consumers. Last year, spending was evenly divided at 42 percent, not including other methods of purchase.
Another first: More than half of online visits will come from mobile devices, says Adobe Digital Insights. Online spending will top $107.4 billion, a nearly 14 percent increase from last year, too. We spent a record $94.4 billion last year.
More than half of online purchases will be made on Amazon.com.
Also, Cyber Monday is expected to be the largest online shopping day ever with $6.6 billion in sales. At the top of shopping lists: Apple Air Pods, Sony PlayStation VR and Amazon Echo and Google Home assistants.
Gone are the days when we lined up at 5 a.m. on Black Friday to snag hot deals. Now, there really is no reason to dine and dash for deals in stores on Thanksgiving.
But when exactly is the best day to get the biggest discount online? That depends on what you’re shopping for, says Adobe, which analyzed a trillion visits to 4,500 retail websites, 55 million stock keeping units (SKUs) and 12 million mentions on social media to make its annual predictions.
Thanksgiving is the best day to buy clothes, computers, video game consoles and sporting goods, including fitness trackers.
Black Friday is the best day to purchase televisions, tablets, appliances and jewelry.
Cyber Monday is when to buy toys.
Giving Tuesday will yield the best discounts on pet products, bedding and furniture.
Now that you know when to buy, use these sneaky tricks and tips to save more online.
Install free browser extensions. There is no need to Google coupon codes before making purchases. Get them automatically and ensure you’re getting the best prices by using plug-ins installed on Chrome, Safari and Firefox browsers, which run in the background while you surf for deals. They’re easy to install. Honey (JoinHoney.com) will find coupon codes automatically at checkout when you put items in your shopping cart. CouponFollow.com and InvisibleHand.com are also good choices.