Martin Lewis’s latest tip will be a welcome one for anyone powering through their last-minute Christmas shopping, snagging big discounts with hardly any effort.
In this week’s edition of his Money Saving Expert newsletter, he shared 21 hacks that can help make online purchases ‘easier, quicker and cheaper’ — and one in particular stood out as a need-to-know.
‘Abandon ye shopping basket all those who enter,’ advised the personal finance guru, adding that one MSE reader who tried the trick got £8 off an £80 spend as recently as this week.
It all hinges on the fact that if you fail to finish your order, ‘companies often send you codes to tempt you back’.
And while it can be hit or miss, when Martin asked his social media followers about their experiences using the technique, customers at more than 80 retailers said it had helped them bag money off.
According to MSE, ‘the most common firms doing it seemed to be Argos, Currys and Morrisons’ but big brands like Tesco, Asda, Just Eat, Asos, Boohoo, Dunelm, H&M and The Entertainer were also reported to offer ‘abandoned basket’ deals.
As for how much you could save, it ranges from free delivery and exclusive loyalty scheme promotions to discounts of up to 50% or between £10 and £150 off.
Either way, it’s worth a go, and here’s how:
How to get abandoned basket deals
Start off by signing in or signing up for an account with your chosen retailer. This is crucial, as otherwise, they have no way of tracking what you’ve been looking at.
Next, fill your virtual cart with whatever your heart desires (higher value items tend to work best), but before you hit checkout – don’t. Instead, leave the site.
If it works, you should receive an email within 48 hours looking to sweeten the deal and get you to go through with the sale — often with a subject line like ‘Forgotten something?’
Alongside the fact it’s not a guaranteed method, it’s worth being aware of final delivery dates if you need something before Christmas. The cut-off for free or standard shipping at some retailers has already passed, and last orders for next-day delivery are fast approaching.
Otherwise though, why not chance your arm? Here are the companies MSE fans have had luck with:
Up to 50% discount
- Asos
- Baker Ross
- Balsam Hill
- Beauty Bay
- Bloom & Wild
- Boohoo
- Book Depository
- Boohooman
- Boux Avenue
- BrandAlley
- Buyagift
- Currys
- Glasses Direct
- Graham & Green
- Dunelm
- Euro Car Parts
- Graze
- Hamleys
- H&M
- Harvey Nichols
- Homebase
- Hush
- Joseph Joseph
- Just Eat
- Lenovo
- Lookfantastic
- Monsoon
- Moonpig
- Mountain Warehouse
- New Look
- Ninja
- Not on the High Street
- Office
- Patisserie Valerie
- Peacocks
- Pretty Little Thing
- Radley
- Reebok
- River Island
- Shein
- Sports Direct
- The Entertainer
- The Perfume Shop
- The White Company
- Thorntons
- Threadbare
- Ugg
- Urban Outfitters
- Victoria’s Secret
- Warehouse
- Wayfair
- WHSmith
- Yankee Candle
- Zalando.
From £10 to £150 off
- Argos
- Asda
- Boden
- Cotton Traders
- Deliveroo
- Ebookers
- Evans
- Lloyds Pharmacy
- Morrisons
- Ocado
- Princess Cruises
- Sainsbury’s
- Shark
- Tesco Groceries
- Very
- Virgin Media
- Virgin Wines
- Waitrose
Free delivery
- Dorothy Perkins
- Emma Bridgewater
- Furniture Village
- JD Sports
- Next
Loyalty scheme member offers
- M&S
- Boots
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Offering an extra nugget of wisdom, the MSE site claims that its users have also ‘bagged Adidas discounts after “favouriting” products (in other words, clicking the heart icon)’ and: ‘eBay, Vinted and Etsy sellers often send offers to buyers watching specific items, such as 10% or 30% off.’
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