Is there a better way to save in 2022?

We’ve always been a nation of bargain hunters here in the UK. There’s something deeply satisfying about securing a great saving, whether for a staple item we buy every day or something special we really want.

With energy prices rising, petrol costs getting steeper, and general living costs slowly climbing, it’s never been more important to save what we can, where we can.

There are several ways a savvy shopper can save in 2022, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a look at them now.

Vouchers

Vouchers are the most common way of saving and have been around long before shopping moved online. Many businesses use vouchers at launch to attract new customers and for promotional purposes during quieter times in the year.

You can find coupon codes from companies such as Honey and Groupon and apply them at checkout to save. The problem with traditional vouchers is that they limit the freedom of browsing naturally as you would in a brick-and-mortar store.

If you want to save with a voucher, you must follow the instructions for redeeming your voucher, which can make for a rigid and uninspiring shopping experience. It can also be time-consuming to find vouchers or coupons for the products you are looking to buy.

Pros:

Save on your purchase

Familiar to most shoppers

Many voucher sites available

Cons:

Time-consuming to find

Rigid shopping experience

Only usable on specific products at specific times

Cashback

Another method of saving that has grown in popularity in recent years is cashback. Cashback allows you to receive a certain percentage of every qualifying purchase back.

If a credit card offers 1.5% cash back on every purchase, you'll earn 1.5 pence in cashback rewards for every pound you spend. While this might not sound like much, it can add up quickly, resulting in some impressive savings over a year.

There are significant drawbacks to cashback, however. Most cashback providers require you to use a credit card. Many people don’t want to use credit cards for their purchases, ruling out cashback as an option. Failure to settle your credit balance can also result in charges that far exceed the saving made through cashback, leaving you in a worse position, not a better one.

Cashback can also take months to get back to you and relies on a third-party cashback provider. Many of these providers lack transparency leaving your money in the hands of an unknown facilitator.

Pros

More options for saving

Easy to use

Readily available

Cons

Requires a credit card to use

Lengthy waiting times for money back

No saving at the time of purchase

Discounts

In general, the discount market has been pretty weak until now. The concept of frequent and varied discounts has not translated to the online marketplace like the other methods of saving.

The most common online discounts are for ‘bulk buy’ items or clearance stock. ‘Bulk buys’ may appear like a good deal on the surface but often leave shoppers with multiple items they don’t need. Clearance stock is often written off by a company and is only discounted to reduce the deficit between stock bought and stock sold.

Pros

Savings on items as you shop

Bulk buy savings

No need to look for vouchers

Cons

Limited availability

Poor selection

Only selected goods

The simple fact is that people want their online shopping experience to be as natural, rewarding, and fulfilling as a real shopping experience on the high street. To do that, there must be a better, more creative way to shop and save.

Slash Extension

Slash has created a better way to save. With the Slash browser extension, you can save instantly with any of their partner brands at the click of a button. Slash combines the savings of a voucher, with the freedom of cashback, without any of the drawbacks, providing instant savings at checkout.

Slash is making shopping fun again by bridging the gap between online and the high street to create a more gratifying shopping experience for all the bargain hunters looking for savings online.

They have already partnered with some of the biggest UK brands, including New Look, B&Q, Simply Be, RainbowLife, Converse, Groupon, Avon, JD-Williams, and more.

Boots are set to join soon, and they are adding new partners all the time. Best of all, it only takes a few minutes to sign up and start saving and it’s 100% free.

Visit Slash and sign up

Enter some basic details, including email, phone, and card details

Download the browser extension

Start saving with Slash

Slash also provides a £10.00 bonus for anyone you refer that makes a purchase using Slash, giving you even more savings.

If you are looking for ways to save there are options available to you and as they say, if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves