Our society values large purchases. A walk-through Yorkville, Toronto and you can see line ups of fancy cars and hordes of consumers shopping at high end luxury stores. Every year, billions of dollars are spent on everything from luxury clothes to glitzy cars. Even though we spend a lot of money, we still have an eye toward saving – the more you save, the more you can buy! Most individuals are only too eager to take advantage of discounts, but where do we find these deals?
Spending Patterns
People’s changing spending patterns are amusing. Moms and grandmas used coupons religiously in the past and hunted out sales. Women were skilled money managers. When using discount offers, men and women are inclined to search for them and take action, cutting coupons and bargaining for lower prices. To increase sales and foot traffic, many restaurants, and stores can have some great promotional bargains. Thanks to technology, cutting coupons and bargaining is no longer required.
How Do You Discover Local Deals?
Simple; we only need to employ a search engine. Search engines are fantastic for locating stuff, which is also true for finding coupons and offers. While finding excellent discounts, offers, and coupons in the past required scouring newspapers and garish circulars, times have significantly changed. Today, you can turn on your computer, launch your browser, visit your preferred search engine, and look for fantastic online discounts and coupons for everything from gadgets to chocolate.
Google, Yahoo, and Excite are now the three most used search engines online. Though several search engines and users typically have a favorite, don’t limit yourself to just one. Therefore, it makes no difference which one you use.
Apps such as Groupon and local deal finding websites such as Dealiem can also be a great asset in finding discounts on things to do and places to eat.. Websites and apps that specialize in specific deals can also be much more thorough than a general search on the web. Dealiem, for instance, specializes in Restaurant happy hours in Toronto, allowing users to discover discounted food, drinks and experiences in Toronto.
Here Are Four Qualities to Look for While Assessing a Local Business’s Offers:
- Ambience – Take a look around you. Do you belong here? Is it Clean? Is it adequately lit? Is the restaurant or business nicely decorated? Can you simply get to it? Do you think it’s too crowded? Is music being played and do you like the genre? Do you like the vibe or feeling you get from the place? This may also influence whether or not your friends will like it.
- Service – Are the patrons being attended to by the staff? Do they frequently check up on patrons? Are they knowledgeable in the food, service or items being offered? Most of all, are they honest in reviewing their own product quality? Don’t you hate it when the waiter recommends a dish that is just awful?!
- Quality – Nothing like getting a good deal only to find out the portions are too small, or the product doesn’t work as expected. Reviews are great at getting us ahead of the curve here. What are customers saying? The truth is, anything below 4 out of 5 stars is usually a glaring red flag. Although we should note that 5 stars with few reviews, fewer than 25 typically are just reviews from family and friends and should not be given much weight either.
- Ease of access – How much money are you really saving if the business is hard to locate, is far from where you are, requires a paid membership or you are paying money for parking?
Ready to start hunting for deals?
Go to your preferred search engine and type terms like ‘half-price wines near me’, ‘happy hour drinks’ or ‘local daily deals’ into the browser search box to start saving money. You’ll probably be given hundreds of offers and coupons. Make sure to specify the date or month and location to surface more relevant results. Spend some time browsing a few of the deals and coupon websites. Each website will employ a different setup. Some require upfront payment like Groupon, some will show you existing deals and discounts like Dealiem that do not require payment until you are at the business.
Final Thought
Online offers should have a place in your life regardless of your wealth. Even if you have a lot of money, you probably won’t like wasting it. Paying the full price for something, then realizing you could have saved a ton of money by hunting for a great deal, or waiting for a discount can be frustrating. What we also have found out, specifically with restaurant happy hour deals, is that the restaurant is often much more lively during this time. They use discounts to lure customers in during off peak hours, and entice them to stay with great food, drinks, and even live music.
