Martin Lewis explains clever idea to save huge sums in winter sales

For those scrambling around to buy any last minute presents, or wish to get ahead for next year, one money-saving hack can ensure you grab huge discounts.

With Christmas being an expensive time of year, any chance to shave a few pennies off a purchase can help greatly.

Now MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis has revealed a cheeky hack to garner discounts for those online shopping over the next few days.

When adding items to your cart, clicking pay is typically the next step. However, the expert says the key is to “fail to finish”. Writing on his website, the advice says: “Log in to your online shopping account, add what you want in the basket, then fail to finish – within 48 hours many companies often send you codes to tempt you back.”

This theory was put to the test last year when Martin asked users on X to send examples of it working. From the success stories, the most common firms which do basket discounts are Currys, Argos and Morrisons.

The experiment saw people reportedly gaining discounts of up to 50% on companies such as Asos, Boohoo, Dunelm, H&M, Ugg and many more.

Codes offering £10-£150 were also offered across companies such as Virgin Media, Waitrose and Deliveroo, according to MoneySavingExpert.

Other companies have dished out free delivery codes to entice customers back, as well as loyalty scheme offers. For those with a Sparks account, M&S reportedly sent customers offers for the products they left in the basket, with Boots doing the same for Advantage card members.

The basket discount trick is one of Martin Lewis’ 21 online shopping hacks and tips for ‘last-minute Christmas need-buys’ ahead of next week.

The advice includes checking the returns policy of items to prevent losing out on money if you change your mind, using shopping comparison websites for larger purchases, checking last delivery dates to avoid paying next-day delivery costs and hunting online outlet stores.

For those who are used to haggling a bargain in stores, Martin says that this method is still possible online by using the live chat option.