shopping
It’s crunch time folks. If you are like me there are still a few gifts left buy. Here is a list of the top 10 ways to shop last minute:
1) Make a list of the people you need to buy gifts for and what you want to get them. This will help you stay focused and avoid impulse purchases.
2) Shop online. Many retailers offer fast shipping options for last-minute gifts, and you can often find deals and discounts online.
3) Use gift cards or e-gift cards. These can be purchased quickly and easily online and make for a convenient and hassle-free gift.
4) Consider a subscription service. Many companies offer subscriptions for services or products that can make for a thoughtful and unique gift.
5) Shop at stores that offer gift-wrapping services. This can save you time and hassle, and many stores also offer free gift-wrapping for certain items.
6) Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Sales associates at stores can often provide helpful suggestions and recommendations for gifts.
7) Consider giving a gift of experience, such as tickets to a concert or show, or a gift certificate for a spa day or restaurant.
8) Consider homemade gifts. These can be thoughtful and personal, and can save you time and money.
9) Shop at stores that offer same-day or in-store pickup. This can save you time and allow you to avoid long lines and crowds.
10) Don’t stress! The holidays are about spending time with loved ones, not about getting the perfect gift. Remember to enjoy the season and focus on what’s most important.
Good luck!
The first thing that you may notice about this Cyber Monday and Black Friday shopping guide is that Cyber Monday is mentioned before Black Friday. There is a reason for that. I will explain that later in this article.
Since the 1960s, the term Black Friday has been used to identify the day after Thanksgiving when the Christmas shopping season was officially launched by retailers. Prior to the 1960s, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the day after Thanksgiving was the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season, but had not yet received the title of Black Friday. Instead, it was the day when prominent department stores would begin advertising their holiday sales. It was traditionally linked to when Santa Claus would make his first appearance in a department store parade.
With the growth of the internet and modern technology, Cyber Monday became a way of extending the Thanksgiving weekend Christmas shopping. Cyber Monday, initially, benefited internet marketers the way Black Friday benefited brick and mortar retail marketers. This year, Cyber Monday will mark its tenth year of existence.
Differences between Cyber Monday and Black Friday
You might be wondering if you can basically get the same discounts and deals on Cyber Monday and Black Friday. According to Wikipedia, there is a difference; although more and more over the years the larger department stores are offering some great deals online.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say:
“The deals on Cyber Monday are online-only and generally offered by smaller retailers that cannot compete with the big retailers. Black Friday generally offers better deals on technology, with nearly 85% more data storage deals than Cyber Monday. The past Black Fridays saw far more deals for small appliances, cutlery, and kitchen gadgets on average than Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is larger for fashion retail. On the past two Cyber Mondays, there were an average of 45% more clothing deals than on Black Friday. There were also 50% more shoe deals on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday.”
As the years progress, we are now seeing some retailers expanding their “great buys” beyond the two special days and even to all of November and December.
Researching Online for the Best Cyber Monday and Black Friday Deals
In order to get the best discounts and deals, you will first want to make a list of everyone you need a holiday gift for. Don’t only put down names; add an amount you feel you can afford to spend on each gift. As you find the gifts, keep a list of what items you bought for each person on your list. You will want to keep that list in a file to reference for next year.
So much research and comparison shopping can be done online now. To make your shopping easier, there are mobile apps available for iOs, Android and Windows phones.
Now you are ready to comparison shop:
– Invisible Hand can show you if the item you are looking at is cheaper someplace else.
– Amazon may not be the least expensive, but it is a great place when comparison shopping.
– Google Shopping will show you the items you are searching for, the price and how many stores are listing the item.
E-mail Promotions:
You may want to sign up with your favorite stores to receive notification of their Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. If you do, you should consider setting up a special e-mail address for just that purpose.
These sites will also alert you of special promos that the different stores are featuring:
https://blackfriday.com/
www.bfads.net
www.theblackfriday.com (a cousin to the site mentioned above)
http://www.blackfriday.gottadeal.com/
If you really get into searching for the best deals, there are two sites that are super special for that. They are both deal forums:
Fat Wallet which is devoted to deals and helping you with great tips, tricks, price alerts and coupons.
SlickDeals which constantly updates a list of the best deals around the web.
If you follow our guide, you should be on your way to becoming a shopping pro this Cyber Monday and Black Friday. Happy shopping!
According to the National Retail Federation, retail sales should increase by 4.1% over the Christmas season this year. As all of us have been discovering over the past several years however, predictions and polls are no longer as reliable as they used to be. Some authorities are even now saying that we are entering, or already have entered, a post-consumerism era. If that is true, we may continue to see actual statistics that don’t match up with the predictions. Let’s look at some of the reasons that may be.
Post-Consumerism and the Actual Present Economy
Whether we like to admit it or not, a change in mind-set when it comes to consumerism has a lot to do with America’s present economy. Oh, yes, we are told that the economy is improving, but reality for many is just the opposite. Our national debt is now at 18 trillion and still rising. Carrying health insurance is mandatory or carries a financial penalty. Obamacare is proving to be a tremendous financial hardship for many, rather than the blessing it was supposed to be. Couple that with people often having to work 2 or 3 part-time jobs to even make ends meet, and you get a slight glimpse into the post-consumerism mind-set that is becoming so necessary and attractive to many.
Baby Boomers and Post-Consumerism
According to CNN, the Baby Boomer generation (those born from 1946 – 1964) is the largest generation of Americans born in U.S. history. As of 2011, there were 77 million Baby Boomers. Many of those Baby Boomers have either experienced layoffs or downsizing, or are in retirement now. Their life savings have also been hit hard by the downturn in the economy. Before the economy started south in 2008, it was the Baby Boomers that were heavy consumers.
Whenever someone suddenly has to learn to drastically cut back on spending, reality shows them that they can live on a lot less than they thought they could. At that point, killing yourself to live a life of luxury doesn’t make sense anymore. Freedom and a simple lifestyle, free from stress, become all important.
I’m a list maker. The other day I was in the grocery store when a woman, holding a list herself, started a conversation with me. The woman is a widow, and she mentioned how she never worried about going shopping and purchasing more than was on her list. Now, she never shops without a list, and she only gets what she has listed. Money is a concern for her now. Unfortunately, this widow’s story is not an isolated case.
Is There a Remedy for Post-Consumerism?
Due to the economic stresses of the last few years, and the projection of the uncertain financial future, people of all ages are finally waking up. They are changing the price tags on life. They are questioning if they really need, or want, all of the status symbol “stuff” that they thought they had to have. The result is that post-consumerism is not just a passing trend, but a new era that will over time need to be taken seriously by retailers. Great discounts slapped on non-essential items will no longer cut it! With the majority of Americans buying into the post-consumerism era, retail buying will have to change. Prices will have to be lowered to a more reasonable rate. The pendulum always swings. This time it is swinging toward a post-consumerism lifestyle.
The world of marketing and commerce has been going through some major transformations in the past decade, with online shopping slowly replacing brick and mortar stores for many people. With smartphones and other mobile options, the dream of many online marketers is to move to a completely digital world for shopping, but in reality, what we see is a mix of the two. People use their smartphones to find things out about real world stores, things like being able to compare prices on the fly, scanning bar codes, or even redeeming online coupons right there at the cashier. Now, Nielsen, the biggest stats company out there, has released some hard numbers on what customers have been doing with their smartphones while shopping in actual stores.
The numbers and trends are interesting, if not a bit obvious. For a start, most people use coupons at grocery stores. 41% of customers who used mobile coupons, meaning they had a smartphone app or some type of phone based coupon to show at the cashier, did so at a grocery store. 41% did this at a department store, 39% at clothing stores, and 29% at electronic stores. These numbers may be skewed however because they depend a lot on what coupons are available, and typically groceries have always had a biggest presence in coupons. But this is clearly changing, with other types of shops starting to become prime target for coupon using mobile customers.
When it comes to reading reviews, trends seem even more clear. 73% of those who use a smartphone while shopping have read reviews while inside such a store. For department stores, that figure goes to 43%, then 34% for mass merchandisers. But some people take things a bit further, and go scanning QR or bar codes. Any recent smartphone now has the ability to take phones, and apps are available to scan and identify these bar codes. From there, you can know not only the name of the product you just scanned, but also whether there’s better prices available online or at local competitors. 57% of smartphone owners did just that at electronic stores, 36% at department stores, and 31% at mass merchandisers. These apps are often so quick and easy to use that while you’re standing in front of a product, it takes just seconds to know right away if a store down the street has the same item, at half price.
So in the end, it’s not really surprising to see smartphone users use their devices for more than just keeping a shopping list. With all the apps available, it proves that technology isn’t only used online, but it can help a lot while shopping on your own two feet. By getting instant coupons, checking reviews, or scanning bar codes, you can be sure to only get the items you want, at a price that’s competitive.