(Newswire.net — February 26, 2015) — As consumers slither out of hibernation, March comes in like a lion bringing two solid weeks of savings opportunities as winter clearance collides with spring sales, pre-madness. Although March lacks a true large holiday sales event, St. Patrick’s Day deals aside, the variety of early March retail offers are designed to help consumers stretch incoming tax refunds by discounting winter inventory and spring prep needs, all at the same time. Other big technology announcements traditionally play a factor in consumer behavior during March, as does weather and travel.
Here are the 6 leading categories for consumers to save money in March:
Smartphone Deals: January CES (Consumer Electronics Show) teased consumers and retailers with new gadget rumors, sparking a slow decline in pricing on last year’s electronics stock. Enter the Mobile World Congress event the first weekend in March, which will immediately initiate discounting to the cell phone buyers market. Following breakthrough mobile tech news and announcements including the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 release dates, and a handful of other notable smartphone releases from Motorola, Sony, LG and cheaper LTE smartphones, consumers can expect a fire sale of sorts. Last year’s smartphones will be discounted heavily by cell phone makers and carriers alike, as they’ll push March sales prudently to a captive audience during the heavily watched March Madness event. Add pressure from the new Apple Watch due in April which will bring consumers timely savings on existing Android smart watches, with some retailers offering them free with an Android cell phone upgrade.
Electronics Deals: As stated above, electronics prices will continue to drop on select products as 2015 models start ship to retail inventory. Of note this year are continued price drops of TV deals, especially 4K TV deals, well after Super Bowl sales. Late february prices report a 55” Changhong 4K TV for under $600, 51” Samsung Plasma under $350, and select LG and Panasonic 4K TVs up to 40% off, suggesting Black Friday doorbuster pricing. Typically, March TV sales don’t build up until the NCAA Championships announce their brackets. Related sales feature some of the best deals of the year on TV accessories and cables from online tech favorites like Newegg, Monoprice, TigerDirect and Parts Express where prices already heavily undercut the big name brands. It’s also a good time to save on HDMI and A/V cables, as well as TV mounts and home theater products.
Spring Sales/Winter Clearance: Come March, winter clearance for outerwear has been well picked through, but savvy shoppers can still find great bargains, some as much as 50-80% off quality winter coats, hats, boots and gloves from top stores like REI, Moosejaw, Cabela’s and others. Meanwhile, bigbox retail continues clearance sales in the background, as they shift ad focus to Spring Fashion deals come week two and three of March. Although early spring sales may not feature pricing we see at clearance, early shoppers can expect sales with an average 20% savings. The real advantage to shopping early during spring fashion sales is about assuring style/sizing selection and getting full use (seasonal wear time). Running shoe deals are also trending during these sales as spring joggers who get the itch to ditch cabin fever can find up to 50% off last year’s top jogging and hiking footwear most of the month.
Outdoor Sports Deals: Other items show up on winter clearance later in the month, including 20-50% discounting of skiis, skates, snowboarding gear, hockey equipment, ice-fishing and hunting gear. last year’s bicycle models see strong sales in March clearing way for 2015 cycling inventory, and collegiate sports wear sales heat up faster than Cinderalla’s fall off tourney brackets.
Travel Deals: Select savings on last minute Spring Break packages and March Madness hotel deals trend early this month. Late March will hint the beginning of early summer vacation package deals as proactive summer vacation bookers will take advantage of securing the best hotel locations, airfare and seat selection and any bonus early-bird specials/inclusions. Luggage deals are fully packed in with many bigger sales and clearance this time of year, providing up to half off a significant selection of luggage sets, carry-ons, roller bags, backpacks and travel laptop bags.
Tax Software Deals: Alarms start to go off for tax procrastinators the closer we get to April 15. The majority of 2015 tax software can be found for 50% off, and often for free (with filing charges) in late March and into April. For insider tax tips, visit the highly touted Finance forum at FatWallet where experienced DIY filers and personal finance experts share insider tactics on how to optimize any deductions, refunds and which tax software to buy. Hand in hand with tax software, office supplies go on sale at the end of the month and into April, creating one of, if not the best time of year to stock up on basic back-to-school supplies and home office supplies and equipment.
About: The information and data in this article comes courtesy of the online shopping experts at FatWallet.com, a one-stop shopping resource for millions of smart consumers to find and share direct, and indirect, ways to save money. FatWallet members can earn cash back from nearly 2,000 reputable stores and services every time they shop online, including the annual March Mania Cash Back Sale, where more than 100 retail stores will increase cash back through the end of March.