The expert named ways to save money during Cyber Monday

The first major online sale of the year, Cyber Monday, starts in Russia on January 26, and this year shoppers will have to apply new strategies to get real benefits rather than fall victim to marketing tricks. Andrey Yefimochkin, Director of Retail products at the fintech company Humopeu, told Izvestia on January 23.

According to the expert, the very paradigm of product search has changed: if earlier the buyer manually compared prices, now this process is successfully delegated to artificial intelligence.

"Shopping assistants, Telegram bots, and AI-based browser extensions conduct unbiased audits, compare prices, predict their dynamics, and even give forecasts for peak discounts, which avoids buying products with inflated discounts. Automation has also affected after-sales services: in 2026, retailers are increasingly using AI solutions for instant recognition of defects, which simplifies the return procedure and makes online purchases less risky," the specialist said.

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Another trap for the thrifty consumer has become the endless assortment of large marketplaces, provoking an increase in the average receipt due to unplanned related purchases. In contrast, there is a trend towards returning to specialized niche online stores, where limited choice reduces cognitive load and the risk of impulsive spending. However, as Efimochkin notes, such sites have a "first day" rule: the most interesting products end at the beginning of the promotion.

The most significant transformation, according to the expert, occurred in payment methods, which turned into a tool for additional earnings. Customers are increasingly creating a "benefit chain" by combining store discounts with promo codes and paying through tools with combined cashback, such as electronic wallets or cards with increased refunds.

Payment services that allow you to receive double cashback are especially effective: from the bank and from the service itself. The proper construction of such a financial combination in some cases allows you to bring the total benefit up to 50%, which often exceeds even the most aggressive discounts of retailers.

Efimochkin told Izvestia in January last year that you can save money not only through shares, but also through the payment method. According to him, if you choose the right payment method, it will increase the benefits.

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