Plus savvy, safe online holiday shopping tips.
Dallas, TX (USA), December 20, 2012 — zuuzs.com, the online site that offers shoppers cash back at more than 800 major retailers, took a holiday survey of its Facebook friends and found that husbands are overwhelmingly harder to shop for than anyone else on the list. Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed named husbands the most difficult, parents were the second hardest group at 19 percent, and significant others came in at 15 percent. Wife, children, siblings and others came in at a clear distance.
Why is shopping for the hubby so daunting? Patricia Blair, zuuzs VP of marketing, has an idea. “In my household, my spouse is very picky. When it comes to electronics—the things high on his wish list—he likes to make the selection so he gets what he really wants. So that leaves me with clothes, shoes or little gadgets—not big ‘WOW’ items for gift giving. He also really prefers to give instead of get. I’m guessing a lot of wives have similar issues.”
The survey also found that in a world where Black Friday headlines screamed “melee, violence, chaos and hysteria,” nearly 75 percent of those surveyed want nonmaterial things for Christmas: 44 percent want the family together and 30 percent are looking for peace, love and happiness.
“It’s great news to us that people are focusing on the important things about the season,” says Blair. “Especially in today’s uncertain times when people are on tighter budgets.”
Let’s face it though, ‘tis the time to shop!
Forecasts say that with 2012’s extra long holiday shopping season, total sales will be up again—around 3-4 percent. When you’re shopping for friends and family, zuuzs’ survey found that electronic gadgets were the hot-ticket items once more, but you can’t go wrong with clothes and jewelry:
iPad 52 percent
Kindle Fire 20 percent
Smartphone 7 percent
Clothes 8 percent
Health and fitness 3 percent
Home stuff 3 percent
TV or TV accessories 2 percent
Tech gadgets 2 percent
Jewelry 2 percent
Beauty products 1 percent
Savvy, safe online holiday shopping
Online shopping can certainly be convenient and simple. But buyers beware, warns zuuzs’ lead developer Shane Walker.
“There are some important things that savvy internet shoppers should abide by to not only find the best deals, but shop safely,” Walker says. “Your wallet can get picked as easily online as it can out of your purse or pocket if you’re not careful—both by someone taking your card number or taking advantage of you in extra fees.”
Here are some things that online shoppers should consider:
1. Order online and pick up at the store. Get the browsing benefits of online shopping while still getting near-instant gratification by ordering online and picking up at the store.
2. Take advantage of Free Shipping Day. This year, mark your calendars for Dec. 17 when more than 1,000 online retailers offer shoppers free shipping and other discounts with delivery by Christmas Eve.
3. What’s the shopping trifecta? Retailer rewards + credit card cash (or points) rewards + zuuzs cash back equals maximum rewards for your gift giving.
4. Look for free shipping. Shop online stores that offer free shipping either across the board or when you spend a certain amount in one order. Many retailers also ship to store for free.
5. Don’t store credit card information. Unless you shop an online store frequently, don’t allow them to store your credit card information. Many online stores keep your credit card information as the default, so make sure you check this before logging off.
6. Keep your passwords sacred. Never save your user names or passwords on computers you share with others.
7. Shop the “buy x, get y” deals. You could potentially get enough gifts for all your friends in one fell swoop. And capture the savings.
8. Skip the gift wrapping upcharge. It can add $5 or more to your cost.
9. Read the fine print. Some retailers don’t allow you to use coupons on sale or clearance items.
10. Save by ordering from out-of-state retailers. If there are no retailer facilities in your state you save on sales taxes. For instance, in DFW this translates into about 8 percent; in Chicago about 10 percent savings. This benefit will likely be legislated out of existence soon, so this may be the last holiday to take advantage of it.
How zuuzs works:
Customers go to zuuzs.com and create a short profile that identifies their favorite stores and products. zuuzs customizes their shopping experiences, pulling the best and most relevant offers from over 800 retailers. When customers are ready to shop, they click on the deals or the retailers they are interested in, and zuuzs transfers them to the retailers. Once there, customers make their purchases, and zuuzs sends them their cash-back reward. Amounts vary, depending on the purchases and retail partner. See zuuzs.com for details.
About zuuzs:
zuuzs.com is a shopping and sharing site that combines amazing discounts with a social experience. Customers who shop through zuuzs can save money, share deals with friends and earn cash rewards. zuuzs has over 800 retail partners that specialize in a wide variety of products and services. The company is owned by Nectar Online Media, Inc. and is headquartered in Dallas. Connect with zuuzs on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/myzuuzs and Twitter at https://twitter.com/zuuzs. For more information, visit http://www.zuuzs.com.
Press & Media Contact:
Karen Carrera
TrizCom, Inc
Dallas, TX – USA
972-207-1935
karen@trizcom.com
http://www.zuuzs.com
