Winter Sales: a smart way to save money online

In the UK, the January Sales are one of the major times of the year when retailers implement massive drops in their prices. Coming right after the Christmas period, the January Sales represent one of the best times of the year to refresh a wardrobe. In fact, it's so popular that it's now the cultural norm to wait for post-holiday discounts to drop when investing in higher-value items such as designer shoes, coats, or premium accessories. As such, these sales focus firmly on higher value items rather than on small, impulse purchases.

In the past, these sales were only to be found in physical stores. But the rise of e-commerce sites has changed this, resulting in a shift from in-store to online shopping. This means that many shoppers prefer browsing online sales for both convenience and variety. Many popular online fashion platforms, such as Boohoo, ASOS, Secret Sales, BrandAlley and Amazon Fashion, all offer high-quality platforms for finding deals on clothing and accessories during this time. Each of these stores has something different to offer, which means that shoppers have a lot of choice.

Smart savings strategies

Seasonal sales are, of course, the first port of call when it comes to finding some solid savings. But there are other ways to get money off during this time too.

First, though, there are still benefits to using a voucher or coupon website. These sites, such as Discoup.com/uk, check for all the different vouchers and codes that are available. They check them to ensure they work, then list them on their site clearly so that shoppers can find exactly the code to meet their needs. Convenient categories by product, retailer or even seasonal sale make the process easier. Better still, using a site like this means saving time when it comes to looking for codes online and trawling through all the different retailers. For instance, ASOS discount codes can be found on sites like these, making it very easy to find them, and provides online shoppers a way to maximize their savings, without having to compromise on either style, or quality.

Another option for shoppers to consider is signing up to the newsletter of their favourite retailers. Many stores send out notifications of upcoming discounts and deals in this format, so it means shoppers can get early access to the latest discounts quickly and efficiently. Similarly, increasingly, sites are offering loyalty programmes which allow shoppers to collect points when they make a purchase. Points are accrued over time and when they reach a specific threshold, they can be used to claim money off the next order. This can really help make savings over time.

Finally, many retailers, especially those for clothing, have outlet sections on their sites. These outlet sections have off-season clothing, which means that there's less choice but often huge discounts to be had. Comparing all the prices across retailers, planning purchases in advance, and choosing only reputable sources for discounts are just some of the essential steps to saving during the January Sales. Using digital tools in this way allows shoppers to be smarter, and more value-conscious during sales.