The world of online coupons and gift cards is a great way to save your hard earned money. This is a concept that has been around for a while, but has recently gained momentum in India. An Uber ride between point A and point B costs Rs 150. I had a coupon code that gave me a 40 per cent off and as such only ended up paying Rs 90, saving a cool Rs 60 by simply applying the promotion in the app before I booked the cab. While this is a small example of daily small savings, there’s so much more you can do using online coupons and gift cards. This is especially useful when you are making big ticket purchases where these kinds of coupons and discounts come in handy. Website aggregators are another good way that you can use to compare prices of the same item across several web sites as they list in descending order and the web page where the item is available at the lowest price is listed first. So how do you ensure your money works for you in the virtual world? Well, here is your guide on how you can use online coupons and allied options to save money.
Subscription: One of the most convenient ways to get promotional and discount codes is by registering on retail websites and subscribing to promotional updates. Go to a search engine and enter the website name along with the phrase “promotional code” or “coupon code”. This could get you codes of various deals and discounts on different products on that website. Subscribe to or like the social media pages of these websites to get regular information regarding discount codes, special sales and other promotions. Use these coupons strategically and smartly for maximum benefit and savings. This is vital when availing multiple coupons on the same order,” advises E R Ashok Kumar, CEO and co-founder, Scripbox.
Special Sales: Look out for flash sales, special offers that ecommerce portals offer regularly. This is when you can buy that gadget you have been meaning to for a while but putting away because it was too expensive. In fact also keep an eye out for special discounts offered during specific times in the day where you get an additional amount off.
Gift Cards: Leading brands and retailers have launched a slew of options for the festive season that enables consumers across India to save between 5 – 25 per cent across their purchases via gift cards.
“The top 150 brands in India have launched their festive gift card collection – that is very relevant for consumers. This extends across key festive season needs like department stores, travel and hospitality, entertainment, fashion apparel, books, toys, fine dining, supermarkets among others,” says Pratap T P, co-founder and CMO, Qwikcilver.
The initiative provides an array of value added features which include group gifting, and scheduled gifting amongst others. Consumers can also avail reward points for transactions on gift cards purchased online and through the Woohoo app.
Loyalty Points: Most large format stories offer a loyalty card that will give you a certain number of points for the money you spend. Once you accumulate a minimum number of points, you can encash them for cash discounts on your next purchases. Anshuman Mishra, co-founder and CEO, LoanAdda.com advises, “If possible, use your credit cards for making your purchases. Most credit cards are merchant linked or co-branded and give some exciting offers on shopping at the particular merchant outlets and websites. You also earn the regular credit card reward points, which again can be converted to coupons or vouchers and accumulated to fund your next shopping spree.”
Samant Sikka, founder, Sqrrl says, adding, “Always keep the vouchers, details of the deals in one place so you don’t forget to use them.”
Coupon codes: The biggest way to save money during online purchases is to look for a coupon code that you can apply to your shopping cart before making the payment. Moonmun Kanoi, CEO, The Bling Store advises, “There are several websites which show all the coupons and deals offered by different shopping websites. Always be careful while calculating the coupon discounts or deal on the products. Remember to check the offers from banks to fetch you additional discounts.”
