Posted on: Friday, November 26, 2004
Savvy shopping brightens holidays
By Abigail Klingbeil and Julie Moran Alterio
(Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News
You're standing in line at the checkout counter with a shopping cart full of presents. The customer in front of you also has a full cart, but she has something that you don't — a discount coupon.
Ed Andrieski • Associated Press This is a common scenario, especially at this time of year when retailers are competing to get you in their doors with early bird specials, coupons mailed directly to your home, online discounts and other money-saving devices. But retailers don't target everyone equally. You have to be savvy to save.
Retailers and shopping experts offer tips about how customers can get the best deals this holiday shopping season.
Lindsay Fredricks, public relations director for the Bloomingdales store in New York, said savvy customers develop relationships with salespeople.
"The great thing about developing relationships with associates is they're the ones who see the merchandise every single day and they're the ones who know exactly what's coming before shipments arrive," she said.
Laura Washington, associate editor of the Consumer Reports newsletter MoneyAdviser, advises caution when signing up for store credit cards.
"Using a store card can be a good idea, but you really have to have a strategy. You can't just decide when you're at the counter that you'd like 15 percent off, so you'll sign up for a card then and there," Washington said. Signing up for too many store credit cards can hurt your credit score, she said.
Many people will look online for the best deals.
"There are promotions you can print right off the Web and bring to the store," said John Mott, manager of the Palisades Center in West Nyack, N.Y. "People used to think of the Internet as a direct competitor with bricks-and-mortar, but the most sophisticated retailers are integrating their marketing programs." Rob Solomon, vice president and general manager of Yahoo! Shopping, said online search engines, such as Yahoo!, aggregate offerings of many retailers.
"Probably the savviest thing people could do is comparison shop using the Internet," Solomon said. Yahoo! Shopping offers 50 million products from 200,000 retailers. In its bargain pages, Yahoo! Shopping (shopping.yahoo.com), lists free shipping offers and retail discount coupons. The Web site Dealcoupon (www.dealcoupon.com) normally lists 600 to 1,000 coupons. "If you're going to be shopping at an online store and you don't look for one of these coupons, you're missing out. If you're shopping at Gap.com, for example, there's free shipping" on $75 or more until the New Year, said Dan De Grandpre, CEO of Dealnews, which operates the site.
Scanning the newspapers for coupons is a good investment of time, said consumer guru Robyn Freedman Spizman, author of "The Giftionary: An A-Z Reference Guide for Solving Your Gift-Giving Dilemmas ... Forever!" and "Make It Memorable: An A-Z Guide to Making Any Event, Gift or Occasion ... Dazzling!"
"Buy more than one newspaper when you find a good deal. It's unbelievable how much money you can save when you find a good coupon," Spizman said. "You can save $12 to $15 or more in one newspaper."
She hands the coupon to the clerk, who swipes it, knocking off 20 percent from the total. In an instant, your holiday glee turns to frustration.
Shoppers make their way around Flatirons Mall, west of Denver. Retail experts suggest researching online to get the best deals, even if you're making purchases only at brick-and-mortar stores.
