I’m all for keeping my apps to a minimum—and I delete apps regularly to keep my phone “clean,” what I like to think of as highly “efficient.” If I haven’t opened the app in over a month, boom—it’s deleted. So trust me when I tell you that these three apps are actually worth a download. Feel free to delete the suckers once you’re finished all of your holiday shopping, or keep them—because they’re so good, you’ll want to use them again and again! Good luck to you, you kind consumers. Go get ‘em! Oh and Happy Holidays!
Target Cartwheel App
This completely free app lets you opt-in to the coupons you want to use. The app offers discounts usually from 5-10 percent off, and can be used in conjunction with sales and other coupons Target is running. Browse through the products by category (e.g. “electronics” or “toys & sports”), search for a specific product you want, or simply scan the product barcode with the built-in barcode reader. Once you find the coupon(s) you want to use, add it to your Cartwheel by tapping “Add.” Once you’re ready to check out, tap “My Barcode” which, when scanned, will apply all your discounts.
First time users can add/use ten offers per purchase. You can, however, unlock “Cartwheel badges” that enable you to use more than ten. Each badge allows you to use an additional coupon per purchase. Badges can be “unlocked” a couple of different ways—when you save over $100 with Cartwheel, a badge is added. Connect your social accounts to earn more badges.
RetailMeNot App
You may already be a fan of RetailMeNot’s website, which collects promo codes for online shopping. Well now the well-known coupon site has an app available with both online and in-store coupons. The app lets you “clip” the coupons and scan them right on your phone. Each coupon is labeled “online” or “in-store” (or both!) so you know which ones you can use now, and which ones you can use online later. Browse by popularity, location, or by your preferences (which are based on which stores you “favorite” when you first sign up).
“Clip” the coupons you want to use now and present to your cashier who can scan it directly from your phone, “star” the coupons you want to save for later, or use the “share” button to send your friends coupons (via text, email, Facebook, or Twitter). (I’ve already sent coupons to many various friends/family. It works perfectly.) Be sure to report any coupons as “no longer valid” or “unusable” if you find this is the case. RetailMeNot users rely on each other to weed out the ones that are expired, or unfortunately, denied.
RedLaser App
Have you ever found yourself staring down at a price tag betting you could get it elsewhere for cheaper—but not knowing if it’s worth the extra research? Scan the barcode on any product and you can see all the prices of that product in your area. Buying a TV at Best Buy? Find it cheaper at Sears and head over, or challenge the retailer to back up their claims about meeting their competitors’ prices on the spot. RedLaser lets you store all of your loyalty cards in the app, just scan ‘em in and you’ll never have to go searching for them again. Know you’re going to buy a specific item soon, or just love checking out the deal at your favorite store? Save it to your favorites and log in for updates.
Did I miss any? What are your favorite shopping apps? Comment below, or email your comments to [email protected].
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)
