Chaos reigns supreme as Christmas shopping officially begins

On your marks, get set....go!

The race to bag a bargain, grab a gift and panic buy parsnips has begun, will you be a winner?

With only a matter of weeks to go until Christmas, the nation’s high streets are fast becoming overcrowded with frantic shoppers.

Where did this rush come from? Where's the best places to bag a bargain? How can we help you reduce your expenditure?
 

Black Friday

One month exactly from Christmas Day, Black Friday, is the initial starting point for Christmas shoppers.

Black Friday marks one of the busiest days of the year for online shopping.  Retailer Amazon prepared for the day by offering mass discounts and sales.

Traditionally, it’s a discount day that follows Thanksgiving in the U.S and signals the start of the shopping period for the UK. Forbes reported that a record 226 million shoppers visited shopping websites over the Black Friday weekend, spending an estimated 52.4 billion!

Spending Spree Saturday

Research from M&S money found that a third of shoppers will start adding to their basket one month before the big day. Those polled said Saturday morning was their preferred shopping time.

Saturday was reported to be the nation’s favorite day to shop for clothes, luxury food, drinks and gifts. Whilst the morning is a popular time to go, 53% of 18 to 34 year olds prefer to shop later in the day.

Cyber Monday  

Mondays are often the busiest days for online shopping, however, on cyber Monday shopping becomes really manic. Millions of people spend millions of pounds online on Cyber Monday, more than any other day of the year.

Visa expected UK shoppers to rack up £303 million in credit and debit card in online sales on Monday 28th November. Some retailers believe that last Monday was the ‘Manic Monday’ expected, whereas others think that next week 5/01/11 will be the real one.

Unless you’re one of the savvy 20% of people who bought Christmas gifts online last year, here are some top tips for tackling the shops :

Buy second hand

Did you know the Apple store is the second largest online retailer in the UK? With expensive popular gadgets hitting almost £1000 or more, you might want to think about going to the refurbished part of the store. This is where you can find discounted goods and gadgets which have been Apple certified and come with a one year warranty.

Cut down!

One way you can reduce your Christmas spending is by cutting down. A recent report by Which? found that an estimated twenty million people are cutting back on Christmas spending this year, with some even abandoning the Christmas tree.

Use our voucher codes to help you bag a bargain in time for Christmas or anytime of the year.

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2011-11-29 15:56:35 © Moneyextra.com