This evening I’ll be off to Castlepoint Shopping Park in Bournemouth for their annual Student lock-in event. If you’ve never been to a lock-in before, basically all you have to do is turn up at your shopping centre of choice, and you’ll be locked in to shop ’til you drop with the incentives of freebies and exclusive discounts.
These events aren’t just good for clothes shopping – although most clothing stores involved will offer between 15-25% discount during the lock-in – you could also get discounts and freebies for restaurants, phone stores, health and beauty and technology stores.
Plus, some stores also give out freebies to the first people who enter the shop, so it pays to get there early! For example, at the Castlepoint lock-in tonight Boots are giving a free goody bag to the first 100 customers, plus free entry to a prize draw to win £50 worth of cosmetics. There will be a lot of entrants to these kind of competitions, of course, but you have to be in it to win it!
If you’re planning on heading to a lock-in near you, here are some handy hints to make the most out of your time:
P R I O R I T I S E V I S I T I N G Y O U R F A V O U R I T E S T O R E S F I R S T – the first customers will be the ones who get the freebies and the best choice of items to buy, so don’t waste time in shops you don’t care about.
P R E P A R E A S H O P P I N G L I S T – it’s easy to go overboard and spend too much at these kind of events, so make sure you have a mental list of what you actually need to buy on the night.
S I G N U P T O L O Y A L T Y C A R D S – if you don’t already have loyalty cards at the shops you visit, make sure to sign up on the night to make sure you hear about future discounts, offers and events before everyone else.
Are you planning on going to a lock-in soon? What top tips do you think I missed? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter!
Currently listening to: The Captain – Biffy Clyro
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