Ireland: Being thrifty is back in fashion

SAVING money is not just an imperative, it is fashionable, according to the founder of online discount website, pigsback.com.

Michael Dwyer said the company is seeing "a whole new interest in bargain hunting" over the last few months. He said a new money-saving tips forum has attracted more than 7,000 posts from members in three months and Pigsback is attracting 1,000 new members each week and now has well over a quarter of a million users in Ireland.
"Coffee shop conversations are peppered with claims to have found the best and latest savings from Aldi and Lidl. Who would have thought it possible in the peak of the Celtic Tiger," he said.
Research conducted recently by pigsback found one in five (19%) Irish people do most of their shopping in discounters, up from 4% in 2005. Just 5% say they never shop in discounters.
"This is not just a challenge to Tesco, Dunnes and Super Valu but it is also a real challenge to traditional brands. One form of response open to brands is couponing, enabling them to drive demand for their products.
"This is also something consumers are responding to with 48% of our members claiming to be more inclined to use coupons now than before," said Mr Dwyer.
Pigsback offers vouchers to users in exchange for piggy points which can be won through shopping on the website.
Another website that is growing in popularity is www.callcosts.ie which claims householders can save hundreds of euro a year in their phone and internet bills by logging on.
The www.callcosts.ie website works out the best deals for consumers by analysing how many phone calls they make, how long they talk for and who they call.
Householders can find out the best broadband deals in their area through the site, which is run by the Government’s telecommunications watchdog ComReg.
ComReg said the website was designed to help consumers cut through the confusing amount of phone and broadband deals on offer.
Major discounts can also be found by shopping for books and CDs on Amazon and for clothes at stores such as asos.com.
Recent research from online auction site eBay show Irish people are to the fore in the growing online shopping trends.
In the first three months of this year health and beauty sales on the site are up 44% in Ireland compared with last year, far outstripping the European average of 4%. Sales of manicure and pedicure products were up by 101% compared with 30% in Britain.
Sales in clothing and accessories grew by 6% on last year’s figures across Europe, with Irish shoppers registering a 19% sales increase over last year.
In women’s clothing, Irish sales are on a par with France, with growth of more than 30% with sales of wedding dresses up 31% and bridal accessories up 64%.