Little online shopping hacks, tips and deals for big online shopping perks

From leaving items in your cart to including your birthday in your sign-up details, these online shopping hacks will change the way you shop online.

A friend of mine once said that she doesn’t buy anything unless it’s at a discount. You might think from the sounds of this that she never buys anything, but you’d be wrong. There are more discounts and deals available online than you might realise – you just have to know how to find and use them.

We signed up to newsletters, left items in our carts and stalked social media accounts to find these online shopping hacks and tips.

Note that all the discounts and deals provided below are ones that we’ve personally been offered. They may change at any time at each store’s discretion. Discounts may come with minimum spends and limited time periods.

1. Register or sign-up to stores and leave items in your cart without making a purchase.

Then, leave the site and watch your inbox. You might get a friendly email the next day or even next month with a discount code to convince you to complete your purchase.

2. Have a birthday or newsletter anniversary.

Include your birth date when signing up to sites and some might give you a nice birthday discount.

3. Take advantage of free trials.

Many services provide you with free one-month trials. Read the terms and conditions properly so you know when and how to cancel before you get charged.

4. Book it on a deal day.

Airlines like Virgin Australia and Jetstar have a dedicated happy hours. Scout prices and flights beforehand and jump on them when the hour of sale comes around.

5. Sign up to newsletters.

Shops tend to sweeten this deal by offering a sign-up or first-purchase discount. These one-time deals are for new customers only and tend to have time periods attached to them, so it’s best to sign up if there’s something you want to buy now. By signing up, it usually means that you’ve given permission to the merchant to send you newsletters and marketing material. You can always unsubscribe if this becomes too much for your inbox.

6. Look out for other site-specific deals.

These can be anything from return credits to free services.

Two more hot shopping tips, because you can never have too many

• Customer service not up to scratch? Say it on social media. If you’re unhappy with a merchant’s customer service, be vocal about it on social media. Stores tend to be extremely responsive via Twitter or Facebook. If you have a legitimate complaint, a discount could be in it for you.
• Enter competitions. As a reward for entering competitions (and to add you to their subscription list), some stores will email you a code as a thank you. Don’t unsubscribe yet if they don’t. When they announce the winners, they may offer you a consolation prize in the form of a discount code. (Then, you can unsubscribe if it’s not of interest to you).

Top online shopping deals

Coggles	Up to 60% off luxury clothes, footwear and accessories		Get up to 60% off luxury clothes, footwear and accessories at Coggles	Last verified 18 Nov 2016	Get deal
Coggles	15% off your first order		Get 15% off your first order when you use the code at checkout. T&Cs apply.	Last verified 18 Nov 2016	Show code NE**** After the store tab opens, come back to copy the code