Posts filed under 'shopping'
The countdown to Christmas has begun and with that comes the rush to buy Christmas presents. However, going to a shopping mall at this time of year can be a rather stressful experience, and the excitement of buying gifts often fades as you see the crowds.
With long queues, and pushing and shoving it’s no surprise that more people are deciding to buy their Christmas gifts online. With no hassle and less fuss it often proves the easier option, and you can buy them wherever and whenever you want to.
According to Sky News, it was predicted that yesterday would be the busiest day of the year for internet shopping. It was the first Monday before the start of December and many online stores saw a rise in sales as people started their Christmas shopping. They also said that this year 69% of consumers will do some of their Christmas shopping online.
Buying online can save you a lot of time and money. From buying your Christmas gifts through to buying your essential, but not as exciting, household and car insurance policies. Nowadays it’s easy to compare prices and find the best deals, and it is almost a stress free experience.
December 1st, 2009
Many people use comparison sites to find the best deals, as they take the hassle out of shopping around, making the process much quicker and easier.
Research from Which? Money recently found that some consumers are disappointed with the standard of customer service they receive from these sites. They found that on average customers were 50% or less satisfied when it came to customer service.
However, in response to the survey moneysupermarket.com challenged the credibility of the research saying:
Our own customer satisfaction survey, which runs monthly, shows 83% of our customers are extremely satisfied or satisfied (sample size 20,488 since March 2009). What’s more we are making steady and continual improvements to our satisfaction score.
At the end of the day comparison sites save people a lot of time, and as comparison sites continue to improve and grow, they are becoming a more popular way of shopping around. If in doubt, in some cases it may be good to check the price directly before you buy.
So keep this in mind the next time your shopping for the best car insurance deals.
November 19th, 2009
According to an article in The Times online, the new car scrappage scheme appears to have had a positive effect on new car registrations.
The SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) said
“We are now beginning to see the positive impact of the scrappage scheme translate into new vehicle registrations.”
The registration of new cars continued to fall in June but not at the rate that was expected and by the smallest decline since July 2008. Apparently 35,000 new cars have been ordered since the scrappage scheme was introduced back in April, so 1 in 5 people who ordered a new car were taking advantage of the scrappage scheme. Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT said that the scheme has had a ‘very encouraging’ start but it was too early to evaluate the full impact.
However, some car dealers and motor manufacturers are still to be convinced by the scheme. A survey by Guardian Money showed that many new car buyers who use the car scrappage scheme could actually save more money if they were to simply look for the best cash deal and sell their car privately, pocketing the cash.
What are your views on this? Have you taken advantage of the scrappage scheme and did it save you money?
July 9th, 2009
I read an article on The BBC website the other day that stated that £102million was spent on Christmas day from people shopping online.
Now I, just as much as anyone else, like to pick up a bargain in the sales but the thought of shopping on Christmas day just seems wrong to me, so do shops being open on Boxing day. 2008 saw the January sales starting early so weren’t people able to pick up enough bargains before Christmas to actually put their feet up on Christmas day. Doesn’t anyone have anything better to do on Christmas and Boxing day then to do even more shopping. Personally I would rather be spending time with my family, watching some traditional Christmas rubbish on the TV or going for a nice walk to work off those extra pounds.
The three big supermarkets Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s opened an additional 200 stores in 2008 compared to the number of stores opened in 2007 - why? Surely we can go a couple of days without needing to do a food shop. We usually have enough food left over from Christmas day to last a week.
The end of 2008 was a hard year for retail and so I am sure that the additional Christmas day sales were very welcome. There were an endless supply of shop sales running too so I am sure that there are some very happy people out there who managed to snap up some bargains. I just hope that things will calm down by Christmas 2009 and maybe we can all enjoy a relaxing, shop free Christmas day.
January 14th, 2009
We know Christmas is approaching when a celebrity turns on the Christmas lights on London’s Oxford Street. This year the honour fell to the Sugababes who were faced with 50,000 screaming fans.
So are we excited about Christmas this year or are we all worried about the recession?
I for one am not going to let it ruin my Christmas. Of course I will be watching the pennies and probably not spending as much as I would normally do but I am not going to let that spoil things. Many newspapers and news sites are reporting that retailers are bracing themselves for the worst Christmas for a decade. Many will have no option but to reduce their prices in order to shift their stock. Sales have already started on the highstreet near me. So we could all snap up some bargains.
If you are buying through the internet make sure that you search for money off vouchers in order to maximise your savings and if possible buy through cash back sites so that you save even more money.
And for those looking for present ideas, The Daily Mail has an article on the top Techno toys this Christmas - but snap them up fast as they are expected to sell out.
November 13th, 2008
There is a new phone in development which can apparently make calls, send texts, has access to the internet, make coffee, act as a projector and act as a shaver. The Pomegranate Phone. “Wow!” you might be saying, or ‘Where can I get one?”. Well don’t get too excited as you can’t buy one, it isn’t real.
This is a viral marketing campaign by the Nova Scotia government to attract people to its website, and it appears to be working. They say that over 20,000 people have visited them since the viral went live.
As a viral campaign it is really good and the microsite looks impressive and very professional but when I visited the site I completely missed the fact that it was meant to be generating an interest in Nova Scotia. It was only when I clicked on ‘release date’ that this became evident. A great try and doing something completely different but not sure if it really fulfills it’s brief.
Maybe concentrating on the ‘reasons to visit’ Nova Scotia would have been a better tact. I found an article in The Times which lists 10 reasons to visit, and they all sound pretty good to me.
And naming a product after a fruit may work for Apple but I’m not sure if Pomegranate would have the same effect.
What this viral has done is successful is created an interest which is the main objective of viral campaigns.
October 14th, 2008
Today The BBC website are reporting that energy firms E.On and Scottish and Southern Energy are to raise gas and electricity prices by up to 29%. At a time when people are tightening their belts, any tips on reducing our costs are very welcome.
I found this fantastic article on The Times website 50 tips on thrift from the WI. Times Money spoke to members from the Women’s Institute to find out what their best tips were on ‘old-fashioned home economics’.
Some of their tips include - planning your shopping before you go, don’t buy buy-one-get-one-free items unless you use the extra, buy cheap - don’t shun the value ranges, use a three tier steamer instead of individual saucepans as this saves on electricity and also shop in the last hour of the day to get reduced items.
We can also cut costs outside of the home when motoring, and apparently that is exactly what more and more of us are planning to do. The Observer is reporting that the demand in the UK for hybrid cars is at an all time high with long waiting lists. Japan are experiencing declining car ownership due to the high oil prices. But they are being rather more pro-active then us Brits. A Japanese start up company and looking at ways in which they can modify existing cars and make them more efficient rather than people having to buy a new hybrid car. You can read the full article here, ‘Cars with a green conscience’.
August 21st, 2008
The BBC have reported this week that the average food bill has now increased by £15 a month for a family of four. Coming from a family of four I can completely agree with these statistics.
According to the report, a basket full of staple items costs 15% more now then it did 12 months ago, staple items would include bread, milk and tea bags. The increase in costs has not be put down to the rising food prices internationally. The price of wheat as an example has risen sharply in 2008 which has pushed up the price of wheat based products like bread. Corn prices have surged due to bad weather and flooding in the US and now farmers are having to pay more to feed their livestock which is compounding on the price of meat and dairy products.
A report by ASDA shows that although people are receiving reasonable pay rises they actually have less money each week to spend due to the increasing cost of bills. It is also evident that people are feeling the pinch as less people are paying their credit cards off in full each month. One of the problems with this is that people will be charged interest if they do not pay for purchases in full in the credit-free period. Paying part of the bill is not good enough.
A case study detailed in The Guardian found that someone had left 62p on their credit card by mistake, having paid off over £5,000 of the cost of some flights, but because there was this remaining balance he was charged £61.40 interest. Unbelievable. So make sure that you don’t over spend on your credit card so that you don’t have to worry about escalating interest charges.
One good piece of news today is that Gordon Brown may not go ahead with the 2p a litre increase in fuel duty this autumn. It isn’t confirmed yet but that would be one less thing to worry about, for now!
July 3rd, 2008
I love a bit of glitz and glamour and this time of year is a fantastic time for it. The warmer weather always seems to bring the more daring side of us out as we dare to bare a bit more flesh and wear bolder, brighter colours.
Ladies day at Ascot is one of those events that you can be as outlandish and daring as you possibly can - at least as far as hats and colours are concerned as you can see from the picture above. But I wonder just how much betting takes place at this event. Do people have much money to gamble away?
We all know about the growing cost of petrol and the decreasing value of property but now Malcom Wicks, Energy Minister, has warned that a significant increase in gas and electricity prices is ‘very likely’. He blames the increased cost of oil, gas and coal, and estimated that the increase could be as much as 40%.
The one area that seemed to buck the trend was that retail sales in May unexpectedly surged with sales up by 3.5%. According to The Times this is the fastest pace of growth since the 1986. However, this may prompt The Bank of England to raise the UK interest rate in an attempt to control inflation.
So it looks like we all need to continue to keep those belts well and truly tight, but it doesn’t mean we can’t try and enjoy ourselves at the same time. As long as we plan and budget how to spend our money carefully we should all be able to enjoy a little flutter on the horses.
June 19th, 2008
I, like many women I know have for many years struggled when trying to find a balance between shoes that look stylish and shoes that are comfortable. I love wearing high heels but if I know I am going to be walking some distance I always take a pair of comfortable shoes with me to change into.
Driving too can be a bit of a problem. Lots of women change their high heels for flatter shoes when they get into their cars so that they can drive with more control and limit the chance of accidents and having to claim on their car insurance.
I only realised a few days ago that a solution to this problem had been invented. I don’t know exactly who was the first to come up with the idea but back in 2004 a lady called Ella Kilgour, a 23 year old design graduate, was reported on the CNN website as having designed a shoe with a collapsible heel called the Declic, shown in the picture below. The Declic’s heel can be folded away into a recess under the shoe or can be extended to create a four inch heel.
Another student called Marte den Hollander designed a similar shoe naming her project ‘Footloose’ and there is an American company on the website called CAMiLEON Heels which offers customers the chance to buy heel adjustable shoes.
Wherever it originated, I think it is a great idea and one that I would definitely be interested in. As long as the shoes still look stylish then I can see these being a big hit and a wardrobe must for many women.
Is it something that you would wear? Do you think that there is a demand for ‘convertible shoes’? We would love to know your views.
March 20th, 2008
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