Shopping Tips for the 25 Days of Christmas: Tip #16

Many retailers offer a variety of frequent shopper programs, and I am sure that many of us take advantage of them in one way or another. Retailers have to differentiate and in a retail environment in which so much looks and seems the same one true way they have to keep hold your attention is to offer you rewards for your hard-earned discretionary spending! But have you truly thought about how you could leverage that buying power all year long to pay off for you at the holidays? While this tip is offered in December, this is a tip that you can be thinking of all year long...

HOLIDAY SHOPPING TIP #16:

Leverage your year-long shopping with retailers that offer frequent shopper awards to get "free" holidays gifts and stocking stuffers!

This is a tip that all of us can truly follow all year to "cash" out for the holiday season! I shop a variety of retailers and always inquire about their frequent shopper/rewards programs to get free Spanx, free makeup and beauty products, free groceries, free clothing, free stocking stuffers and more! You are already giving them your business, you deserve to get something back for that is a great added bonus!

I simply have a small wallet in my purse that holds the rewards cards or frequent shopper cards to ensure that I have them on me at all times. Just make sure that you know if any of the rewards "expire" as some of them have to be used in a certain time frame. However, many, like my BeautyOne cards, had no expiration date and I was able to cash in over $120.00 for free makeup and beauty products!

P.S. Speaking of getting amazing beauty and skincare products, here is one of my favorite websites to find top-of-the-line beauty products: SpaLook.com! They have amazing offers to take advantage of, from free shipping to free product to much, much more! Click on the image below to experience what SpaLook.com has to offer any beauty product and skincare aficionado!

Shopping Tips for the 25 Days of Christmas: Tip #14

From an earlier post, I described how I truly love how technology truly allows retailers to maximize customer service and drive sales. When I first started in retail, I remember how excited we were to get an corporate-wide email/intranet system. In fact, for about a month or so I went from store to store in our district, and beyond, to help train the store staff on how to use the intranet system.

What a different a few years (okay, about 17 or so!) makes! Technology leads us to the next couple of retai insider tips!

HOLIDAY SHOPPING TIP #14:

Sign up for retailers' text/cell phone updates.

I have received text messages from a handful of retailers that have alerted me to products (finally) instock (a hot Wii game!) to a "text only" coupon to save 25% over a two day window. Not bad. I did get the Wii game, did not use the coupon (it was instore only, I have no desire to deal with the mall right now!!!). Remember, text messaging charges may apply, so know your carrier's text message charges and policies.

I am also sure that many of you have heard of other functions and applications, such as the Amazon application for iPhone users called "Amazon Remembers". This is pretty cool. You can take a picture of an item, upload it to Amazon and within minutes (althought anecdotally I have been told that it can take a day or even two, but that has not been my experience) you can have an Amazon match of that same item with what is typically a better price! I love to price shop, as you can see in previous shopping tips, so if you have an iPhone, this is a very slick way of trying to get the best price possible (especially when Amazon ships that item for free!).

One cautionary note: I also have been told that there are some retailers that will ask you to not take pictures in their store. I can tell you from my past retail experience that indeed we did ask customers to not take pictures in our store. Mostly to protect people, however, not our sales! So click with caution!

p.s. Here is a killer site for finding amazing prices on highend designer items for holiday gift giving (and free shipping!!!):

Shopping Tips for the 25 Days of Christmas: Tip #13

If you have been following these tips, you will already know that I have blah, blah, blah years in retail blah, blah, blah management. Well, one thing that I can share with you is that when it comes to retail management, you are looking to run your store as smoothly as possible. With that "smoothly as possible" comes many "not so smooth" customer challenges and concerns.

I have always trained my teams, and I believe this to be fairly universal in the retail world (at least those retailers with a shot at survival!) that if a customer asks for something reasonable, it is reasonable to grant that wish. Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder, or hurried retail manager, in this case. What I am going to advocate in this tip is very, very, VERY reasonable: When it comes to your online shopping, you have to ASK for something very easy for an online retailer to do to make you happy and click through to buy your shopping cart:

HOLIDAY SHOPPING TIP #13:

Ask for FREE SHIPPING!

Not a huge secret, really. Most retailers have an online code that they can offer you for free shipping. All you have to do is ask. The best place to go to is a live online customer service "chat" associate. Trust me, if you ask, they will give the free shipping code (along with other great shopping codes that they may be offering!).

Google your favorite online retailer for free shipping codes, and you can also find that there are many sites and blogs out there that will give you those very codes! Here is a fabulous site, MomsWhoSave.com. I found this site on Twitter, a great place to find such resources.

Speaking of Twitter, log on and send out a message to see if anyone can give you codes for a website that you are interested it. I have seen people helping each other out on Twitter, it is a great place to network and find such information. (BTW...you can follow me at http://twitter.com/KellyAlvarez!

You can also email or call the online retailer, but often at this time of the year, response times are longer than usual. If you are trying to lock into a great price, or have a short timeframe, that may not work.

p.s. Here is one online retailer that is offering free shipping: Benefit! For any of you that have beauty enthusiasts on your holiday list (or you need to get some special beauty products for yourself!) Click on these links for some of the best beauty products out there with fantastic savings!!!!



Enjoy FREE US Standard Shipping on any order for 4 days only. Enter promo code GIFTSDEC at checkout. Offer expires at 11:59pm PST 12.7.08. Not valid with other offers.

Shopping Tips for the 25 Days of Christmas: Tip #12

After over 15 years in the retail industry as a buyer, corporate trainer and store executive, I am ALLLLLLLL about the price and value equation. After spending years sourcing clothing, I know the ins and outs of the fashion industry. Later, with a stint with a major electronics retailer I learned a great deal about consumer electronics. With this knowledge, I am slightly dangerous when it comes to knowing what to pay for something!

Lately, I have been finding that while brick and mortar retailers are offering some fantastic prices (and prices will only get better the closer we get to the holidays!) but I have found online prices that beat the instore prices SIGNIFICANTLY! I recently made an "small" electronics purchase which was $55 cheaper than the best instore price...and I qualified for FREE SHIPPING! WHOO HOOOOO!!

HOLIDAY SHOPPING TIP #12:

Shop around online, don't waste your precious time AND gas finding the store with the best price!

I know that many more of us are letting our "fingers do the walking" if you will online to find exclusive items, hard-to-find items (like some of the wii and nintendo ds games that I cannot even find at some brick and mortar retailers!) and to simply save time and energy. But, seriously, this season more than ever, I am truly finding some of the best pricing online. Not a few bucks, and certainly not savings that are quickly eroded by exorbinant shipping and handling costs! I am finding significant savings that actually put money back in my pocket!

p.s. Here is one online retailer that is offering amazing savings as well: Benefit! For any of you that have beauty enthusiasts on your holiday list (or you need to get some special beauty products for yourself!) Click on these links for some of the best beauty products out there with fantastic savings!!!!



Enjoy FREE US Standard Shipping on any order for 4 days only. Enter promo code GIFTSDEC at checkout. Offer expires at 11:59pm PST 12.7.08. Not valid with other offers.