Three smart ways to reduce your shopping bills this Diwali
PremiumA penny saved is a penny earned—an old saying that holds relevance when you are making purchases big or small
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A penny saved is a penny earned—an old saying that holds relevance when you are making purchases big or small. With the festive season shopping at its peak, it will pay to have a few hacks at the ready to save big money on shopping bills.
Apart from the attractive discounts being doled out by e-commerce websites, Mint tells you three shopping strategies that can help maximize saving on shopping not only this festive season but throughout the year.
Big savings on credit cards: Credit cards are a good starting point to save on shopping. Raj Khosla, founder and MD, Mymoneymantra.com, said purchasing through a credit card could unlock additional savings of 5-15% over and above the regular brand offers available online as well as offline. For instance, payments made with Axis Bank, Citibank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank credit and debit cards will get you 10% instant discount on Flipkart, whereas Amazon is offering a flat 10% discount to Prime shoppers who use HDFC Bank credit and debit cards.
Even outside of the festive period, e-commerce companies offer discounts on purchases through credit cards, albeit lower at around 5%.
Credit cards come in various categories and hence not every card may offer rewards or discounts on each spend, so alternating card usage basis the type of spends will enhance your overall saving.
“You can broadly categorize credit cards as travel cards, lifestyle and entertainment cards, online spends and shopping cards," said Khosla.
Also, savings may not always be as flat discounts, instead may be offered as no-cost EMI, cashback, etc. “The best practice for maximum savings is to check the available offers at the respective brand store, e-commerce website, department store, restaurant before swiping your card. A few minutes invested in research can snag you a free gift or big savings," said Khosla.
Gaurav Chopra, founder and CEO, IndiaLends, concurred and said cardholders should keep a watch out for discount days especially tailored for them. “Credit cards, especially retail credit cards, are offered with special discounts on certain days of the month. Sometimes, you may also be receiving offers specially curated for you in your mailbox. Go through the rewards programme and make plans to shop on these days to maximize your savings."
Another simple hack that can help maximize credit card benefits is by keeping a tab on the bill date of your credit card, said Khosla. “After your card statement is generated, your due date is set approximately at a gap of 15 days. So, you get up to 45 days to settle the monthly dues. Consequently, if you have multiple plastic with varying payment cycles, you can alternate cards usage and maximize free credit limits, particularly for high-ticket purchases."
Explore offline, buy online: Shopping online is clearly becoming a preferred choice for shoppers. However, it is not for those who still prefer to touch and try out the products before buying. Of course, most e-commerce sites allow easy returns if you don’t like the product, but the added task nulls the convenience part of shopping online.
A clever hack here is that you make a trip to the nearby mall at your convenience, try out the items you want to buy and check the availability of those products online. Mostly, you will get 20-50% discount on the MRP of the product available in the store.
Shop through third-party sites: Instead of visiting the e-commerce site you want to shop from directly, you should go through a third-party coupon site to bag additional 5-30% discounts.
Websites such as CashKaro and GoPaisa have tie-ups with e-commerce companies and they charge a commission to the latter for the traffic they redirect from their platforms. A part of this commission is given to customers.
“We give over 65% of the commission in the form of cashback to our users. The amount of commission depends on the brand and their individual offers. On branded products, cashbacks that we offer can reduce the overall purchase price of the product by 40%," said Ankita Jain, co-founder and chief marketing officer, GoPaisa.
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