Every year, Evans on Marketing offers a list of holiday shopping tips intended to help shoppers avoid overspending their budgets. Below, we offer our 2018 smart holiday shopping tips in the form of an infographic.
As we noted last year (“2017 Smart Holiday Shopping Tips“), the holiday shopping season starts far in advance of Black Friday. Thus the date for this post keeps on moving up. In 2012, our holiday shopping tips were published on December 10. This year, the post appears on November 12. Why? Many retailers have already launched their holiday shopping campaigns. Big time! And virtually no large retailer actually waits for Thanksgiving or Black Friday to begin their annual holiday marketing campaigns.
Infographic on 2018 Smart Holiday Shopping Tips
So, here are our 2018 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. In general, act as smart as you can while shopping.
I completely agree that going into Christmas shopping with a budget beforehand can be the make or break between staying on budget and breaking the bank. Christmas sales are my weakness so over the years I have made a list of exactly what I am buying to find the best deal and prevent myself from being an impulse buyer at the first shoe sale I see. I also agree that taking shipping costs into consideration can be a big budget saver. I usually wait for free shipping deals to make it worth buying one or two items from one online store. It was crazy to walk into Roosevelt Field Mall this past weekend to see the red bow handing on their welcome sign. Christmas marketing and advertising has truly become a 2 month event. As the years pass, this become a bigger investment for stores and an even bigger competition for who has the best display, deals and events. Being aware of pressure from salespersons and sales on their own will help us all survive the season!
I will definitely be using these tips when shopping for Christmas this year. I have a big family and lots of people to buy gifts for so budgeting and finding the best sales are extremely important. I will also rethink going shopping on black friday unless I hear about a specific sale that is too good to pass up. i find black friday shopping stressful and crowded and I often wind up buying things for myself that are on sale rather than things I need to buy for other people. If there are deals just as good that can pop up after black friday I would rather go later and risk getting a little bit less of a discount than to have to deal with crazy crowds and hours of shopping. These tips are going to be super helpful for me and my budget this year!
This is a great info sheet on tips for holiday shopping. One of the most important is making a solid budget and sticking to it. Keep an eye out online for the constant deals that are happing on websites, since more people choose to shop online to avoid lines and chaos that comes with holiday shopping.
I love this info chart! I work for Victoria’s Secret and our sales currently are going on are actually better than the ones going on for Black Friday and we will have better ones after as well so we try to encourage customers to start their Holiday shopping now. It definitely isn’t easy to set a budget and stick to it but is what leads us to being smarter about the way we shop. I think every single tip on the chart is very useful and I will be referring back to it as I continue my shopping!
I also see the trend in that holiday shopping is happening earlier and earlier each year. Even this year I saw people buying things and putting up decor before it was even Halloween. Recently I started to look up items that I want to ask for for Christmas and they are all already at a reduced price. I like that one of the tips is that we do not have to wait until black Friday for the sales, because me and my family have never once gone shopping or attempted to try to go shopping on black Friday, we always just wait until after. I also think it is important to be patient because sometimes I will just impulsively buy what I need to get because I do not want to forget or I just settle and give up on looking.
These tips will definitely help me when doing my holiday shopping this year. Many of these things I didn’t even consider such as setting a budget before going shopping or spreading out when I go shopping as I usually try to get it done in one day as quick as possible. I also didn’t know that some stores offer student discounts which I will also try to take advantage of this holiday season.
I think taking some of these tips into consideration is extremely important. It is good to know information such as the return policy of an item. It’s also good to know that more stores are offering free shipping. The convenience of not having to go out and being able to just order online without worrying about the shipping cost is extremely nice.
I think this information sheet gives shoppers great tips when it comes to buying gifts for the holidays. Over the years, I have noticed some trends within sales that stores provide to their customers. Some stores provide better sale prices before Black Friday, while some have better sales after Black Friday. One interesting thing that I did not realize was that many stores put certain items on sale to attract customers and have them purchase regular price items. I think as a company that is a great marketing strategy, but as someone who only limits herself to buying items on sale I did not pick up on this trick.
These tips covered a multitude of areas in regards to shopping that many people may not even think of when going shopping this time of year. I was surprised to find out that some places do different sales at different times of the day. However, one of the largest takeaways I received from this is to definitely do some research and prepare in advance before buying anything.
The holiday season is the worst time for my bank account because I am always spending money on gifts and it gives me no way to save some money. The tips mentioned in this article is very helpful and I was most definitely use them in the shopping endeavors this season. Budgeting is so important and I need to stick to my budget. Also, the tip of not buying an item that is on full price is a good one because most stores have a huge discount or sales going on right now. Hopefully, I can shop effectively this year and buy good gifts by staying on budget.