It's no news that throughout history, people have always wanted to give less and get more. So why don't we already do it? We all shop at places like eBay or Amazon to snag deals, otherwise we would probably never have purchased the product in the first place.
When you know exactly what you want, it's a lot easier to find the best price for it. Such as if you want a white iPhone 5, you'll know where to look; and that's not at the Apple Store. The iPhone is a specialty item that provides you with features that no other products will be able to provide you with. If you prefer an Android, you'll know what you like about it and there'll be solid reasoning behind why you chose it over the iPhone
Why is it so much more difficult when we're looking for dresses? We often jump into shopping at high end retailers without thinking about why we're really looking for our dresses there. Is it because we think Macy's offers us the sexiest dresses? I can't say they don't have nice products and a lovely atmosphere, but is it worth the price that we pay for the dress? In terms of design and material, we can find similar if not FAR better dresses. The only difference is that it won't be the brand name that you've grown to know and the huge difference between the price tags.
I have shopped at Macy's, purchased $200 dresses and loved them. I have also shopped at smaller dress boutiques, purchased dresses for $50 and loved them even more! Not only do smaller stores help you to save money on dresses, they pay more attention to the products they're offering to their customers. They don't get hundreds of thousands of dresses coming in, they stock them by the hundreds at most and know their products pretty well.
Let's face the facts, when you walk into a large department store, the customer reps don't have a clue what they're selling and they quite frankly don't give a crap. That's the experience that you're actually paying for. Walk into a boutique and you'll find someone who knows that they're talking about, what compliments your body figure, and what price people are actually willing to pay.
Aside from just saving money, shopping at dress boutiques often give me a feeling of uniqueness. Everybody shops at the department store, but not me! I enjoy having styles that nobody else has, and something that is not known of. So I can come off as my own kind, my own category, and incomparable. If you stop to think about it, these are probably your wants/needs as well.
If the experience is of a minor factor to you, because you are a dress guru, and know exactly what you want: Shopping for dresses online is a great way to save money as well.