Shop Online For Your Business Like a Pro

One of the fastest lessons I learned as an entrepreneur is the importance of saving money. Of course, the obvious goal in business is to make money – and to continue growing the amount of money you make. But also important is keeping expenses down and making full use of what you already have.

Thankfully, I am somewhat of a master at shopping online. I’m incredibly frugal in my personal life and saving money shopping online has become something of a game for me.

Below I’m going to outline some of the ways I save on purchases from big brands for both my business expenses as well as my personal indulgences this business allows me to purchase.

Ebates/Honey

I am going to come right out and say it. I. Love. Ebates! Like I really love them. In fact, getting my latest Ebates check, inspired this post. Companies like Ebates (and their competitor, Honey) are a little counterintuitive so it’s easy to see why the skeptical among us can dismiss them as a scam – but I promise you that is NOT the case.

What is Ebates? Ebates is a site that pays you to shop – no seriously! All you have to do is log in to Ebates, search for the store you are looking to shop with, and click the orange Shop Now button. You will be directed to the store’s website via Ebates and then you just shop as normal. You can use promo codes, gift cards, etc. as you normally would while shopping online. Depending on the percent commission offered by Ebates on that day for that particular brand, a percent of your purchase will be added to your free Ebates account which will send you a check.

Pro Tip: Install the Ebates Chrome extension. This way, you don’t even have to remember to log in to Ebates! The Chrome extension sits in your Chrome browser and any time you move to a checkout page, it pops up with any offers for that store. Because I promise you, once you get hooked on Ebates, there is nothing worse than making a purchase and realizing you forgot to get your cash back!

How it works, is stores affiliated with Ebates (almost every major brand) pay Ebates a commission for sending customers to them. Ebates forwards part of that commission onto you, the customer! Checks are sent out every 3 months as long as your balance is over $5. If your balance is lower than $5 it will be carried over to the next month.

I have personally received $254.80 in checks from Ebates since I started using the service, usually in increments between $15-$25. If you would like to try Ebates (and show me a little support) please use my referral link – I think you get $10 to spend too!*

 

SIGN UP FOR EBATES

 

RetailMeNot

RetailMeNot is another can’t-live-without web app I use pretty much every time I shop. It offers cash back options just like Ebates but I tend to use it for tracking promo codes.

I’ll tell you a secret. There is almost nothing I hate more than paying shipping. My brain just can’t accept it. RetailMeNot does a really good (not perfect) job of separating the current versus expired promo codes – much better than other sites I’ve found – and lots of them are for free shipping.

If you download the app, it breaks down offers between in-store and online purchases too so It’s useful to have on your phone if you’re in a mall. I’ve pretty much gotten into the habit of always checking this site before I hit the purchase button because little else feels better than a surprise percent off a purchase you were going to make anyway!

Coupons

I’m giving you all my frugal secrets. Another you should know – I clip coupons like an old lady. Ok, not really, but I do save coupons that are sent to me by brands I’ve purchased from in the past.

I’ve never really been able to figure out couponing for grocery shopping etc. but I do keep a little drawer for the coupons that I will most likely use because they’ve been sent from places I’ve purchased from before. Most of these are retail clothes places but I also get coupons for Bed, Bath and Beyond, Bath and Vistaprint, which may have things I need for my business or home office.

Email Offers

This is the more common way to get promotional offers and although new legislation has come into place, these can still feel overwhelming. My best advice is to set up a separate email account to give out to stores for promotions. That way you have one central place you can check for promotions when you plan on making a purchase and you should do this because many companies reward members of their emails lists with exclusive offers.

PRO TIP: I don’t recommend simply setting up a Promotions tab in your Gmail inbox. I’ve found that folder can erroneously pull in important emails from your regular inbox and cause confusion.

Venture Card

I don’t have a credit card for my business. Whether this is a good or bad decision is neither here nor there. For now, I can fund everything I need in my business through profits from my business.

I do however, have a personal credit card, the Capital One Venture Card, and I LOVE it (almost as much as I love Ebates). When I signed up, I got a great intro offer (10,000 miles after spending my first $1,000 or something like that and I already knew I was making a big purchase before I got the card). I love to travel and had done a lot of research and chose the paid version of this card (there is also a no fee version). My favorite part is that after accumulating points, I can use the travel eraser and retroactively apply points to ‘erase’ purchases I’ve made like plane tickets and taxi rides. I love wiping out charges on my card!

There are a lot of credit cards out there and different rewards cards fit different lifestyles. If you don’t receive rewards through your credit card I would HIGHLY suggest doing some research. Put the money you spend to work for you! Many people take this much more seriously than I do so luckily there is a lot of advice out there. Determine which rewards are most important to you and look for a card that addresses them – just beware of fees and be realistic about how much debt you’ll carry on your card and how many points you need to make the fees worth it.

Loyalty Programs

Some people have a loyalty card to every store they shop at. I’m not like that because I don’t like to carry a fat wallet. I do however, belong to store loyalty programs from stores with which I make regular, repeat purchases. The two stores that immediately come to mind are Sally Beauty Supply and Sephora.

Yes, these are both beauty-related stores but I’m really not that vain. I do however, buy the same products regularly from them so I know purchases will be recurring.

Sally has the best loyalty program I think I’ve ever seen. They have a ‘Beauty Club’ which, for $5/year, you get access to reduced prices on every product in the store. For me, this is a no-brainer and I usually save more than the $5 in my first purchase. This is such a smart strategy that I think more businesses of a variety of types should research.

Second is Sephora. Sephora’s loyalty program isn’t nearly as good but it does give me access to decent sales 1-2 times a year. The key here is that the loyalty program is mutually beneficial – I know I will get exclusive sale access and they know they will retain me as a customer.

Social Media

Finally, because much of my business is about social media marketing, I would be remiss to miss the opportunity to mention how companies can use social media to extend exclusive perks to followers/visitors.

Flash sales are a fun perk that some businesses use on social and work particularly well on disappearing stories. They definitely make the followers feel like insiders getting a special treat for being in the know so check the pages and profiles of your favorite brands before you buy.

 

I hope you found this post useful and if you did, please share any purchases you’ve saved money on with me on Instagram @thebritlawrence! If you haven’t already, you’ll definitely want to sign up for Ebates and start making money from money you were going to spend anyway!

*By signing up for services using links in this post, I may receive a small commission. I appreciate your support, which allows me to continue creating great, free content! Thank you!