by Gisele Mulverhill

Created on: November 21, 2010

Over the past few years, there has been an increasing trend in consumers shunning the malls and shopping centers in favor of online shopping. Shoppers used to love to hit the malls and wander around, but today's gas prices have put a damper on that. Fortunately most of our favorite stores have websites with an inventory that often rivals what you can find in their traditional walk-in stores. Savvy merchants recognize this tendency, and they now promote online shopping on their sites with coupon codes.

Coupon codes are a short series of letters or numbers that you can enter in when you reach the checkout page on the website. The codes usually give you either free shipping or a percentage off your total purchase. And they often are free!

Coupon codes are very easy to get. After you finish your online shopping, and BEFORE you checkout, open up a new browser window. Then go to a search page and type in the name of the online merchant you just visited along with the phrase "coupon code". For example, if you were shopping online at Victoria's Secret, you type in: "Victoria's Secret coupon code". You will then get numerous results back for special websites that compile these codes. Pick one of the websites, and then you can browse through the coupon codes that are offered. Sometimes you will luck out, and there will be some awesome codes, and sometimes you won't find anything. It really just depends on the season. Obviously, coupon codes are in abundance during the major holidays.

A few popular coupon code websites are www.couponcabin.com, www.RetailMeNot.com/ and www.couponmountain.com. Next time you shop online, try these sites out. You have a good chance of saving some serious cash for a very small investment of your time!

Another method of finding coupon codes is to join the email list for your favorite stores or register online with them. Some of the larger stores like Kohl’s, JcPenney’s, K-Mart, Sears and Target will send coupons (online and in-store) via snail mail when you register with them. If you are concerned about spam email, you can easily customize your email preferences when you register so that the number of emails you receive is limited.

Although shopping online with coupon codes takes a few extra minutes of your time, the savings you can reap are more than worth the trouble of taking a couple extra steps.

 

Learn more about this author, Gisele Mulverhill.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.