Now is the time to window-shop for December holiday

By PETER KAMURI

The festive season is approaching. Despite the economic downturn occasioned by a weak shilling and the ever-rising cost of living, many people are hoping that this year’s shopping will be an exciting experience and nothing will dampen it.

That is probably why many Kenyans are gradually throbbing shopping malls looking for what is on offer and where they can get the best bargains.

With the many offers and promotions running in most shopping outlets, shoppers are likely to be spoilt for choice.

Shopping during the festive season is always fun to many people. However, failure to plan well can easily make the experience gory. It may also leave your pocket badly punctured. This may not only make you not enjoy your holiday, but you also have trouble paying your bills at the beginning of the New Year.

There are many ways you can come up to ensure that shopping for you during this festive season will be an exhilarating and a rewarding one. However, the best way may be to try to do window-shopping before the actual season begins. This, experts argue, can save you a lot of financial troubles.

Felix Mugekenyi, a financial expert working in a private firm in Nairobi, says window-shopping is a practice many people undertake as a routine and hardly take it seriously. He claims they just take it to be a fun exercise—for passing time.

IMMENSE BENEFITS

"Although window-shopping can largely be seen as a "pass-time" activity, it has immense benefits especially at a time like now when we are approaching the festive season," says Mr Mugekenyi.

He adds: "Window-shopping involves visiting different supermarkets and other outlets with the sole purpose of looking for what is on sale. You can browse through the items on display with a possibility of buying them later. It is often a fun-filled exercise."

He says it is important for one to take advantage of the benefits window-shopping can bring before the peak season begins. This should form part of the prelimi nary preparations for the holiday shopping. "The first and the greatest advantage of window-shopping is that it is free.

Regardless of your current financial status, you can have a ‘feel’ of items you are even unlikely to buy in the foreseeable future," he observes.

According to Mr Mugekenyi, the fun part of window-shopping is not actually the time you spend in the mall, but the joy and satisfaction you derive from enjoying the items on display on the shelves and display windows.

"You can enjoy this shopping over tea or lunch break, in the evening after work or on weekends when you have ample time."

He adds: "The other benefit of window-shopping is that it enables a buyer to get an idea about the products that are in the market. New items are being introduced in the shelves everyday. What you leave today is not what you get tomorrow. You need to familiarise yourself with what is new."

Experts say that when you learn about the existence of a product during window-shopping, you get an opportunity to do research about it before the actual buying.

You can contact your friends who may have previously bought the item and they can tell you how it works and the benefits. You can also do Internet search to learn more about it before committing your money.

During the festive season, shopping outlets are usually jammed with people. When you do your window-shopping early, you will know exactly where you can get a certain item and at how much.

Mugekenyi says this can help you to spend less time shopping as you will just need to pick and pay for the item. Perhaps the greatest advantage of doing window-shopping is savings you can make. When you have enough time to do thorough window-shopping, you will always get the best bargains. You are able to move from one shop to the other looking for one with the best offers.

HUGE SAVINGS

"You might be surprised to learn that two adjacent shops have great variations in their pricing. Sometimes the difference is so much that you can make huge savings that can spare some money for you to buy other items," says Mugekenyi.

He further says: "The hassles that come with shopping during peak times like the festive season can be avoided by doing window-shopping early. This way, you will be able to compare quality of different items in terms of colour, make, durability and other considerations that you think are important."

Experts say that during the peak periods, the shop attendants are usually busy as they attend to many customers. They definitely cannot get all the time you may need about an item. So take advantage and do window-shopping before the peak. They will be available to answer most of your questions about a product.

"Window-shopping is particularly healthy for certain products. While as you may not need to do a thorough window-shopping for food items, if you want to get value for your money when buying items like electronics, clothes or jewellery, you must do window-shopping," Mugekenyi advises.

Some people who have come up with big business ideas developed them by sampling items on display in shops when window-shopping. As you window shop, you can be inspired or develop creative ideas that can see you start a money making venture in future. "Ultimately, window-shopping helps you to get an opportunity to know those products that are discounted. Most outlets put a number of items on promotional sales and when you get this information, you can make arrangements on how to acquire them and pay less," says Mugekenyi.

After all, It is a good way to help your mind relax and generally keep you away from engagements that are not beneficial and at times expensive. "However, window-shopping has its flipside. You can easily find yourself buying items you do not really need. In addition, it can become addictive and end up sapping up so much of your time and energy," says Mugekenyi.