In the past, Black Friday meant tying your shoelaces, running around a retail store with a huge cart, and trying to beat over a hundred other people doing the same. Today much hasn’t changed. Except if you’re shopping online, then you wouldn’t need the shoelaces.

So regardless of whether you’re shopping online or in-store this year, we’ve put together five helpful tips that’ll ensure you get the best deals on Black Friday. 

1. Start with Extensive Research 

When going into a battlefield, you have to go in prepared by understanding both the field and your opponent. Okay, maybe we’re being a little extreme. But the fact is, you cannot be over-prepared for a Black Friday shopping experience.

Here’s what to do;

Take time to signup for retail and eCommerce newsletters this season, bookmark the tabs of web stores with a Black Friday banner and visit the social media pages of your favorite vendors.

The goal here is to be on top of any deals, date changes, or surprise offers. You might even get great deals before or after the tagged Black Friday week. 

You should also price match. Find out the answers to questions like does Bestbuy charge more than Amazon for the same wallet? If yes, why? These answers will help you identify patterns and give you insights on what to shop on what store.

When researching deals, don’t forget to also check for the return policy on each store. What are the fees like? If there’s any warranty. You know, just in case you end up getting defective items or the wrong order. Think of it as insurance on your shopping this year.

2. Make a Budget and a Checklist

Now that you’ve identified stores and deals you’d be interested in this Black Friday, it’s time to make your checklist. Now because of how cheap and enticing some deals can be, you are very likely to buy that fancy grill you’ll never use. 

Make a list of items you need and create an accompanying budget with it. You can use the Formplus checklist template to get started or create your own budget form. You can also modify it by creating more sections to help keep track of what you’ve actually bought and what’s left.

This is highly efficient whether you’re shopping in small eCommerce stores or huge retail stores like Walmart. 

3. Use a Coupon Aggregator

While it might be overwhelming to compare pricing and gather information about your many available coupons, there are apps available to help you streamline this. 

What they do is that they aggregate flyers and coupons from hundreds of retailers. You can then customize alerts so you can receive notifications about deals that fit into your checklist. 

The Coupon App is one aggregator you can start with. Shopsavvy is also an aggregator that scans QR codes across online stores and helps you compare pricing.

4. Do a Website Swoop

Since everyone is ready to purchase during Black Fridays, sketchy websites use this as an opportunity to defraud people. So before shopping, look at the website’s SSL encryption and look out for a Verisign protection badge.

These two signs help protect your credit card information and protect you from hijacking attacks that can compromise your shopping details. Browsers like Chrome also have algorithms that flag sketchy websites and warn you off. But still, it’s important to look out for these signs. 

You might also need an ad blocker to help prevent unwanted pop-ups and redirects that can frustrate your shopping experience. However, before you install one, vet your ad blocker and as most ad blockers in the market can compound to the issues they are supposed to resolve.

5. Use Your Credit Card Rewards Portal to Use All Your Accumulated Points

Credit card companies usually have online portals that accumulate rewards and loyalty points based on your usage. These points range from a 2 to 10% discount and can be used on partnered shopping sites. A great example of this is American Express membership rewards.

Now while this might not seem like a very substantial discount, using them along with Black Friday discounted prices can really cut down shopping costs. Plus, you can start accruing points ahead of the next Black Friday sale.

Conclusion

Getting the best deals on Black Friday is generally just being a lot more intentional about what you hope to purchase without being vulnerable to scams or hackers.

Speaking of the best Black Friday Deals, Formplus is giving you a 50% discount off all annual plans between the 22nd to 29th of November 2021. This is your chance to create premium forms and surveys for half the price. So be on the lookout for your favorite plan.