Martin Lewis has urged online shoppers to hold off on completing certain purchases, including at big-name retailers such as Morrisons, Asda and JD Sports. The savings expert shared a simple trick to save money while shopping online, saying now is a great time to try it, especially for those starting their Christmas shopping early—though it requires patience.
The 'basket bluff' trick
Speaking on his BBC podcast, Martin Lewis highlighted the "nice sneaky trick," which he calls the 'basket bluff'. "I've talked about it before, but it does work really well, especially at this time of year," he said. He explained: "Go and put your shopping in the basket online. And then don't do anything. Do not complete."
Leaving an order unfinished often prompts the store to send a discount code to encourage the purchase. "You'd be staggered at the amount of times that within a couple of days, they send you a discount for that shopping basket," Mr Lewis told fans.
Retailers where the trick works
He listed many major online retailers where shoppers have successfully landed discounts using this method, including Lloyds Pharmacy, Waitrose, Furniture Village, Argos, Asda, Virgin Wines, Dorothy Perkins, Sainsbury's, Princess Cruises, Next, M&S, ASOS, eBooks, Morrisons, Avenue, Virgin Media, Boohoo, Evans, Biogena, Emma Bridgewater, Cotton Traders, JD Sports, Ocado, Boden, Tesco, Very, Deliveroo and Brandalley.
Success stories
The consumer champion also shared some success stories. A shopper named Kate bagged a 20 per cent discount on a vacuum cleaner. Another buyer, Charlie, held off on ordering a wedding dress from ASOS and received an email offering 20 percent off—saving them £37.
