No one can argue that Wal-Mart has been incredibly successful as far as retail stores go. Their success is due at least in part, to a conscious effort to provide their customers, and other potential customers with merchandise that they need or want to buy, and make it available at affordable prices. That is why more and more people are going to Wal-Mart to do some, if not all of their shopping. Even people who swore that they would never shop at a Wal-Mart store are reconsidering that decision. While most people may not do all of their shopping at Wal-Mart stores, there are many things for which you’d be hard pressed to find better prices, and that is when it is worthwhile to take a look at what is available because you may be surprised at what you can find there.
Here are some tips to help you shop more efficiently at Wal-Mart.
*Check the weekly ads
Wal-Mart has sales ads just like regular stores. Even if you don’t get a newspaper, you may find the ads in the weekly advertising circulars that come in your mail. Look over the sale items and rollbacks to see what the best deals are. You can also look online because you may find things that are specific to your local store.
The weekly ads are often the best way to determine whether or not you want to go into the store to purchase something. You can always look at the Wal-Mart website to see what is on sale at any given time. Check out clothing because that is one area where you can find some nice items at the most reasonable prices. Wal-Mart regularly marks down their clothing, and if you look through the racks fairly regularly, you can find some really amazing deals.
*Learn the layout of the store
Most WalMart stores will have a pretty universal organizing scheme. Unless you master the layout of the store, you will wind up going through the entire store trying to find that one item you came to purchase. Inevitably, you will wind up buying way more than you intended to buy, so that cost saving shopping trip may have turned into a more costly trip than you would have liked.
*Inquire about price matching
Many WalMart stores will match prices of their local competitors. That means that you can even use coupons that may only be valid at your local grocery store at WalMart. If there are sale prices at another store, be sure you bring along the sales flier to show the check out person so they can give you that cheaper price. The price matching and coupon acceptance doesn’t apply to thinks that are no longer on sale or coupons that have expired.
*Look for clearance items, rollbacks and other mark downs
Most WalMart stores don’t have room to devote an entire section to their clearance or marked down merchandise. You have to be a savvy shopper who can look through the racks to find the really deep price reductions. This is especially true with clothing. You may also find this with household things like sheets, towels and bedding.
*Shop at the end of the season –
If you are looking for clothing, look for deals at the end of the season. T-shirts may be reduced to $3 instead of $10. Summer sleep shirts may be reduced to $7 instead of $8. When you find a deal on a package of cotton underwear, you can get it for a fraction of the original price. All over the clothing department, you are likely to find great deals, but you have to pay attention, look carefully at the sizes, and make sure that you are getting the size you want.
*Don’t wait to shop at the biggest and most heavily advertised sales –
There was a deal at WalMart stores all over the country some time ago for a laptop priced at under $350. It was a name brand laptop with decent specifications at a steal of a price. People lined up outside stores the night before, just to be sure they would get one because the supplies were limited. Within an hour after the store opened, they had sold out. When there is a really fabulous deal, jump on it.
When you learn how to look for Wal-Mart sales, and when to shop at those sales, you can save a substantial amount of money. Go into the store on a regular basis so that you can see what’s available. You can always count on finding great prices on cleaning supplies, paper goods such as toilet paper, and laundry and dishwasher soap. If you shop to get those items, you can take advantage of that shopping trip to look for other great sale items. Don’t discount the quality of Wal-Mart merchandise, because some of it is every bit as good as anything you’d find in a higher end department store.