Pic: Unsplash
Let's be honest, everyday the cost of living in South Africa is increasing and we at GLAMOUR HQ know that just like us, this affects you.
Saving is no longer an option, but rather a necessity.
"Coupled with budgeting, is the importance of becoming a savvy shopper," said Bakuena Ntshasa, CEO of Brandbook. He defines savvy shopping as an important consideration for consumers to invest time and effort in seeking and utilising promotion-related information to achieve price savings.
Brandbook gives the following helpful shopping tips to help consumers save money:
Keep an eye on the sales
Certain products are cheaper at certain times of the year. Follow your favourite shops' sales cycles and use this to your advantage and build a shopping calendar. Looking for a new TV? Keep in mind annual sale days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are specifically great for hardware shopping and stocking up on cleaning products and nappies.
Planning your shopping list
Planning meals and consumables for the month before rushing the monthly grocery shopping will help buyers to reconcile their plan vs their actual spending and prevent them from going above budget. Going through your home and identifying items that; must be replenished, can wait and should wait is the first step. Start by only purchasing items under your must replenish or necessity list. It is probably also a good idea to eat something before walking through the aisles, your hunger levels can contribute to buying additional snacks that may you not have planned for.
Be selective about your brand purchases
Opting for the cheapest brand is not always necessarily wise, however if you are looking to reduce your monthly spend, consider other alternatives that provide better bang for buck. Carefully comparing prices vs quantity is key to making an actual saving.
Follow shopping bloggers
Shopping bloggers provide great insights and up to date tips for scoring deals and shopping wisely. From budget and shopping templates to last minute sales, it is worth keeping your eyes open to shop with a cost effective mindset.
Keep your receipts and download Brandbook
Instead of your purchase receipts gathering dust inside your wallet or car, you can now upload them onto a new rewards app that has no limitations or bias to specific retailers or stores. By downloading Brandbook and uploading your receipts, consumers can accumulate points that are redeemable for gift cards at retailers such as Takealot, Uber, KFC and Mr Price to name a few. A great way for users to reward themselves for shopping.
With Mzansi’s consumer marketing becoming truly concerned with ‘the price of eggs’, the time to adopt a ‘savings’ mindset is now.
When shopping and expenses are planned correctly and consistently, consumers will enjoy seeing the reward in their bank balances, which will in turn help them to plan for their future and desired luxuries responsibly.
