Every year, Evans on Marketing offers a list of holiday shopping tips intended to help shoppers avoid overspending their budgets. Below are our 2017 smart holiday shopping tips in the form of an infographic.
As we noted last month (“U.S. Consumers Start 2017 Holiday Shopping“), the holiday season starts earlier each year. Thus the date for this post has been moved up. In 2012, our shopping tips were published on December 10. This year, the post is on November 13. Why? Many retailers have already launched their holiday shopping campaigns. Virtually no large retailer is actually waiting for Thanksgiving or Black Friday to begin their marketing campaigns.
2017 Smart Holiday Shopping Tips
So, here are our 2017 shopping tips as a checklist. Click the infographic to see a larger version.
By applying ALL of the tips in the infographic, you will be a much better holiday shopper. Start shopping now. Do not wait until Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or just before Christmas. Do not shop for all gifts at one time. Buy them as prices drop for each big-ticket item. Do not be fooled into thinking that retailers offer discounts (“sales”) on all the products that they promote. Some products are at their regular selling prices. Be flexible and comparison shop for the best deals. And try not to rely on impulse shopping. Stick to a shopping list.
As a whole our society is very materialistic. This not only has to do with our capitalistic system but also due to the growing market place, both domestic and international. Even before November began, the Dunkin Donuts across Hofstra already had its Christmas lights and decorations up, as well as thad heir holiday specials up on the menu. If we stop to think about this, it is crazy. In attempting to outcompete one another, companies are starting to advertise and have promotions early in order to keep up in sales. Therefore, people don’t even have time to breath after one holiday before another promo or “holiday special” is being thrown their way.
These tips are super helpful! Most stores have already started their holiday marketing campaigns and have already started having holiday sales. I am in the process of deciding who I have to buy for, gift ideas for each person, and a budget. I plan to online shop for some unless better deals are advertised in store as many companies have begun offering black Friday and other holiday deals online as well. I will consider and implement these tips while shopping and planning for this holiday season. As I’ve gotten older, I have received fewer items as gifts and more gift card and cash gifts so, I will most likely use them in January when stores offer after-holiday sales to clear out. The link for comparison shopping in the info graphic above is also a super useful tool to ensure you get the best deal!
This post was very informative, especially for people on a budget. Theres so many different ways you can save money when holiday shopping. I did not realize that stores have 30 day price match policy. I always wait before buying something hoping it goes on sale but more of the times I wait to long and it gets out of stock. Now knowing this I can buy things and watch the product to see if the price goes goes down and get money back.
As a college student, these tips are very helpful. We all know most of us college students usually have a very small budget in general, let alone having much money to spend for the holidays. It can be difficult, however, to spend money over a period of time rather than all at once, as one of the tips suggests, because college students have a limited window of time to purchase gifts with being in school during the weeks leading up to the holiday season. I usually try to buy my holiday gifts on Black Friday because it is the only time I am home before Christmas. Black Friday also has the reputation of a day of amazing discounted items, making it seem like a great day to shop. But over the years, the amount and quality of the discounts have decreased, making waking up extremely early on this Friday less useful. I am definitely going to try some of these other tips to get better deals, such as using comparison sites to get the very best deals.
I found this post very helpful! I am a huge shopper myself, and during the holiday season I tend to not realize how much I could have saved if I had paid closer attention to where, when and how I am buying. Stores are starting earlier and earlier with advertising holiday sales, it is definitely the smartest option to not wait until the last minute because that is where they get you. As college students especially, we are always trying to look for the best deal and spend as little as possible so these tips are very good to keep in mind.
As the holidays are approaching so is the rapid up rise in buying. It is easy to get caught up in a frenzy of crazy shoppers but follow these tips and more importantly calm down! Most outlet stores, especially around black Friday, rely on consumers caught up in a spending frenzy because of the energy surrounding them. It is the reason they play face paced holiday songs like flight of the bumble bee while you came in looking for just a set of headphones but leave with a full computer.
Like previous commenters, I agree that this post is super helpful. Some of these tips I already knew beforehand just because I’ve learned from my mistakes, like waiting for big holidays or not paying attention to discounts. However, some tips struck me as so simple yet intelligent, like finding the site that compares 10 sites for a product or paying attention to gift card policies. I plan to share this with my mother as well as my sisters because they could definitely use these tips to their advantage.
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I think these shopping tips are useful. I already found there are few stores started their holiday big sales. For example, Sephora (make up store) are having 20% off big discounts these days. Many customers are starting buying the holiday gifts to their friends and family members. It is the season for spending money and we need to think about buying products carefully and remember these shopping tips.
I never new these guidelines existed. Evidently these tips are useful for the upcoming weeks to come. Especially after Thanksgiving. It is the simplest things that you would never think to do that really surprise you with how helpful this could be for your bank account.
This post is definitely perfect advice for young college students. I think many students fall for the impulse buying/black friday trap and assume sales aren’t as prevalent from December 10-December 24. Sometimes people leave shopping for last minute and don’t try to compare discounts which puts customers at a disadvantage. I personally try to be organized and make sure that I find the best possible discount among different stores.
I think the post is super relevant, considering the timing, but also because we are college students and it’s assumed that most of us are on a budget. Having a small budget definitely makes holiday shopping difficult, especially when the prices fluctuate so much during the holiday times. I know I am always waiting until I get the best deal. I thought the point about price match policies was a good reminder, because most sales representatives within the store don’t explain the price match policies unless you ask. So that could be super beneficial if they have a bigger sale at a later date. I also think its important to realize how early stores have sales, and also the specific store’s sale tendencies. Some stores don’t have as big black friday sales as they do at other points in the year. So it’s always good to know which stores have the best sales and when, before assuming that the best sales will always take place on black Friday.
I didn’t know about most of these tips and therefore is very helpful. One tip that I was completely unaware with was that most stores have a 30-day price matching policy after purchasing. I think this is great for us consumers, but unfortunately most of us don’t know about it because stores don’t advertise it of course. I think setting a budget is extremely important before going out and shopping. Planning out what you intend to spend is helpful and makes shopping easier and quicker.(I hate shopping in stores). Also, I didn’t know the best sales days are December 10 to 24th, usually people focus on Black Friday deals instead.
This post is very helpful, especially since the holidays are coming up. I wasn’t aware of the store matching policy after purchases. Brick and mortar stores should try to advertise that more to gain some customers back from their online competitors, such as Amazon.
I really enjoyed this post and found it very helpful, especially since the holiday gift giving season is rapidly approaching. I was unaware that stores had a 30-day price matching policy, which I will definitely be taking advantage of this holiday season. As some others stated above, I found that the Black Friday deals have drastically changed and are not as good as they once were. I always seem to get caught up in buying Black Friday deals, only to find much better deals weeks later for the same products. I am definitely going to share these shopping tips with my friends to help everyone shop smart this season.
The time is very close to the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Shopping Session. This post is really helpful for us before our shopping. There are lots of good advises and recommendations for us to use the smart way to shop. After reading this post, I realized that when we want to buy something, we should to prepare and compare those prices in the different ways to do the best choices. Before our shopping, we really need to calm down and have a deep think to consider that what we really need to buy. Because under the Sale Session, sometimes people might buy something is for sale but is not necessary.
It is a really useful tip! Especially for girls! Every time when I saw discount, I would have the uncontrollable shopping impulse. As a result, I bought so many things that maybe I don’t use now or I still have, especially the cosmetic and skin care products. In every shopping season, over-purchasing is a common phenomenon in every family.
Many of these tips I have found to be very helpful. I almost always never buy anything at full price. Mostly everything will go on sale at some point or another. I also like to the my time when I shop to make totally sure that I am getting exactly what I want at the price that I want. It doesn’t matter how long that process takes as long as I am happy with the outcome. I will most definitely be using these tips in purchases to come.
As someone who’s mom is constantly on me for getting her my Christmas list to her as early as possible so that she can scour the internet and all kinds of sites in search for the best sale either online or in store, this post was a no brainer send to her. Additionally, she found many of these tips to be useful even though she reads consumer reports religiously and follows several blog not unlike this one.