Online Shopping Hacks You Need To Know About

We get it: online shopping can be an absolute minefield. One minute you’re thinking, ‘I quite fancy a new dress for that BBQ on Sunday’, and next minute - BAM - ASOS is like, ‘Hey! Here’s 24528 dresses for you spanning across 70 pages, have fun!’.

No one has time for that.

Now, don’t get it twisted: we love the variety and the range that online shops such as ASOS have to offer, but you need to figure out an online shopping method that works for you. If you have the time and fancy a browse, fair enough, but if you have one mission and a limited amount of time to succeed in said mission, then you’re gonna need some of our handy hints and tips on how you can make the most of online shopping and get the absolute best bits for you. Another key problem: how do you know you’ve seen absolutely everything and not missed out on potentially the best thing money could buy you? We’ll answer all of this, and more, in our guide on how to boss online shopping.

Don’t worry if you find the whole process overwhelming; a lot of people prefer to shop in *actual* shops for this very reason. However, lockdown has taught us that the convenience and variety found online is not to be sniffed at. One of the aims of this guide is to reduce the amount of returns you have to make and encourage you to buy things you NEED. Don’t get us wrong, we are truly fans of the ‘treat yourself’ mindset (almost too much!), but we could all take a step back from fast fashion, and fill our wardrobe with timeless pieces instead, that fit well and look good.

We’ve asked each of the TSS team how they online shop to make the most of everything on offer. Learning from what your mates do is really useful and will get you thinking, ‘why didn’t I ever think of doing that?!’. Admittedly, if you’re as seasoned as us at the old haul, then you might think ‘duh, this is obvious’. But if you’re one of those people who fears online shopping incase it goes horrendously wrong, then fear not: we’re here to help.

Lots of retailers will have specific sections on their websites dedicated to different occasions. For example, Missguided even have ‘Nice Top’ section for those jeans-and-a-nice-top GNOs. Going to a wedding? Head to the Wedding Edit. Need some new bits and bobs for the office? Workwear is the place to be. This way, a lot of the hard work is done for you and you won’t need to decide what’s acceptable for the workplace environment.

If you know that only things of a certain length or size are going to fit, then stick to those sections. It’s easier when you know that a certain pair of jeans are going to have a 36” leg, rather than being merely labelled ‘Size 10’ with no indication of what that really means. One of the TSS members shared:

‘I’m only 5’1, so I limit my searches to the Petite section only. There’s lots on offer elsewhere that I could definitely fit into, however it’s a lot more difficult to get the sizing right so isn’t worth the hassle.’

If you’re shopping on a site, like ASOS, that has a review section, then we beg you read them. You can find out so much about a product and the way it fits from completely honest people who have tried it before you. If you’re looking to spend a lot of money on an investment piece, then search the internet for reviews, perhaps on YouTube or Reddit, to make sure you’re definitely getting what you bargained for.

There can be so much rubbish at the ‘Low’ end of the price range. If a dress is only £2, then there’s a reason. Cut the crap and set your price range between £15 - £30, this way you know you’ll get something of decent quality and probably with more stock.

Why look at all the dresses, when you know you want a bodycon, mini dress? Make sure to set the length and style of clothing, rather than ‘All Dresses’.

Not sure what you want? It’s good to still split your search into sections. This way, it is less overwhelming and you’ll have more focus on finding what you want.

Loads of sites nowadays will advertise which products are sustainable or ‘responsible’ and often there will specific sections of the website for these items. If this is important to you, then head there to see what’s on offer instead of having the products intermingled with other things you aren’t interested in purchasing.

We cannot stress this enough. Select your size before searching. Whether this is W30L32 for jeans and/or a size 12; or maybe you can fit into both 32E and 34DD, so you search for both of those. Not quite sure and sit between two sizes? Select both, as this is better than not filtering at all! There’s nothing worse than finding your dream pair of shoes, just to click and find out there’s only a size 9 left (if you are a 9, then it’s your lucky day!). If you cancel out the things you can’t buy to begin with, you have less to look through and it saves any potential heartache.

The model is styled that way for a reason. Fancy the whole outfit? Then they’ve done an excellent job. But seriously, most sites will link the other items the model is wearing, or something similar, at the bottom of the page, so make sure to check these out as it will save searching for something yourself.

There’s no point trawling through 100s of pairs of jeans from every brand on ASOS when you know you only want Weekday jeans, as they fit you the best. We crave reliability when it comes to clothes shopping to save us having to go back to the postie AGAIN. So when buying things like bras, jeans and swimwear, stick to what you know. There’s no harm in buying the same things in different colours! Whatever works for you, boo.

There may be a bargain or two to be found if you search for multipacks. If you need a couple of tank tops, for example, one black and one white, then you’ll probably find them for less in a basics multipack.

If you know you want a ‘pink Nike tee’, why not just search for ‘pink Nike tee’. Sounds dumb, but you wouldn’t believe the amount of people who just continuously scroll hoping to come across their dream t-shirt. This even saves you having to filter, and everyone loves a queen who knows exactly what she wants.

When shopping on Zara, search for TRF. This is how you’ll get all those clothes you’ve seen on IG, but can never find on site. The photos are generally less bizarre too, but not completely.

It’s very tempting to head to ASOS at every given moment (hello, Premier Delivery), however maybe check to see if there are offers on other sites. You might save yourself a bit of dosh! For example: you’ve seen a PUMA tracksuit on JD, but it’s full price. Check out other similar retailers like Footasylum or Footlocker to see if it’s on sale or they have an offer on. And never forget to check UNiDAYS or Student Beans for that all-important student discount code!

The retailer will be tracking whether you’ve added something to your bag and not committed yet. They might reach out to you with a sweet discount to encourage the purchase. However, don’t do this if it’s low stock or you need it ASAP. You might miss out.

Wishlists are there for a reason. If you’re stuck between items, add them to the Wishlist to come back to later. It’s also good to see items side-by-side and compare that way. It really puts things into perspective.