Shopping online is no longer the wild west it once was. Moving from curiosity to major force has enabled many shoppers to find deals which, in the old days, might have been impossible. What people can underestimate, however, is just how far some more niche options in this online realm have developed, and what that can mean for the current state of online shopping.
With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the newer and more intriguing options which even longtime online shoppers can overlook. The sales and savings have only just begun.
Check Your Online Stores
For readers who already belong to rewards programs, getting ahead is now as important as checking an online storefront. For this example, we’ll look at Whole Foods. Famous for a selection of healthy foods which other supermarkets miss, Whole Foods has grown far beyond their older simplistic image.
By making an account on their website you can now check ahead for what a local store has in stock, and reserve and prepurchase goods for easy pickup. You can even organize simple delivery for many items, including the option in some locations for 2-hour delivery.
Finding New Opportunities
If you’re after something new or haven’t locked down a favorite store, then there are also a wealth of online options open. Online price aggregators and reseller sites are fantastic for an enormous range of goods and services both within your area and nationwide.
Some of these, like video game selling website G2A, cover a wide range of goods within a specific market. In this, G2A deals mostly with electronics and games. Operating across the globe, this website finds the countries which sell goods at the lower prices. It then purchases these cheap copies which are resold to users in countries which have higher software or hardware costs.
At the time of writing, this means a copy of super hit GTA 5 could be bought for less than half the price on G2A than at a traditional retailer or online storefront.
Similar to this, we now have websites dedicated to services. These are not quite as widespread as their goods-based cousins, but the best here can still generate enormous time and financial savings.
A quick search on Best Pet Insurance, for example, brought us to Pet Assure, a locally available pet insurance service which covers everything a pet owner might need. That includes plan prices, comparison ratings, and the support and coverage offered. Simple, and much faster than doing things the old-fashioned way.
Keeping Updated
Online accessible stores, just like physical locations, often depend on sales to keep customers coming. While it is possible to spend a few minutes browsing each day to check for exactly what you want, there is another tech alternative.
RSS, also known as “Rich Site Summary” or “Really Simple Syndication” is a technology which helps centralize updates and news feeds into one personalized location. Free online programs like Feed Reader are a perfect fit for this exact use.
Many sales websites will come with RSS feed options which, when hooked into your program, will automatically scan for anything which fits your predetermined criteria. Efficiency on top of convenience, so to speak.
Of course, there are times when shopping in person is the preferable option, but whenever this is not the case, consider using online systems. These markets have come a long way, and your wallet will thank you.
