The best shopping apps for coupons, price comparisons and deals
Top Apps for Shoppers
Need to take a trip to the mall or your local big box store to either pick up a Valentine's Day gift or something for yourself? Not any more you don't — mobile apps give you the ability to handle everything from instant purchases to deal searches that help you find the best value and lowest prices.
These helpful shopping apps can help ensure you're getting the best price throughout the year, especially when holiday shopping season approaches. Whether it's e-commerce juggernauts, coupon collectors, deal finders, or price comparison tools, the best shopping apps can make your shopping easier and less expensive. (And be sure to check out our round-up of the latest Amazon deals and other top tech deals to save even more on your shopping.) (Photo Credit: MJTH/Shutterstock)
Amazon (Android, iOS)
From its humble beginnings as an online bookstore, Amazon has grown into an ecommerce juggernaut, and its mobile apps (Android, iOS) make sure that you're only a couple of taps away from millions of products, ranging from books to household appliances, software to clothing and everything else in between. Part of what makes Amazon an ecommerce gold standard is the many features integrated into its application, including one-click ordering, wishlists, barcode scanner price checks, voice search, and Amazon's smart assistant, Alexa. Amazon Prime subscribers get loads of extras, like free shipping and special discounts.
eBay (Android, iOS)
Another familiar name in ecommerce, eBay's mobile apps (Android, iOS) let you get in on the online auction action wherever you go. Users have everything they need to participate in the vibrant eBay marketplace, with search tools for their favorite products and sellers. The app also includes support for a number of coupons and deals, allowing you to find just what you want and place your bid. Notifications can alert you if you succeeded or if you've just been outbid. Besides finding and bidding on items, you can also put up your stuff on sale, with tools like a barcode scanner and QR code reader to help you get a listing set up in minutes.
Newegg Mobile (Android, iOS)
Newegg has long been a reliable name when it comes to online electronics shopping, and the Newegg Mobile app (Android, iOS) brings the goodness right to the palm of your hand. Users can browse thousands of items and deals, complete with each item's technical specs, user reviews, and detailed product comparisons, along with hot deals, flash sales, and mobile-only offers. You can even set a personal homepage of your favorite product categories and deals, as well as set custom notifications for daily deals and price alerts.
Dosh (Android, iOS)
Dosh (Android, iOS) is a credit card rewards and cash-back app that focuses on ease of use and automation, doing away with coupon cutting, receipt scanning and discount codes in favor of automation. You connect your credit or debit card accounts to the app; whenever you make a purchase, Dosh automatically searches for discount codes, coupons, and other promotions, automatically applying them to your purchase. Cash back is redeemed instantly into your Dosh wallet, which you can transfer into a bank account, PayPal, or the charity of your choice.
Deliveries (iOS: $4.99)
Tired of constantly entering package tracking numbers in order to track your parcels? Deliveries is one of the best all-in-one package tracking apps available online, with support for a variety of services, including UPS, USPS, FedEx and DHL. A simple system allows you to enter package information through tracking numbers or via iCloud syncing that pulls delivery information from your emails and receipts to automatically populate your incoming deliveries list. You can then view a quick timeline summary of incoming and delivered packages and ETAs. You can even find the location of your packages on a map where available, or through the provider's online tracking portal. A Today widget keeps you informed of incoming packages and notifies you of package arrivals.
Overstock (Android, iOS)
If you’re looking for deals on furniture or home decor, consider Overstock.com’s mobile app (Android, iOS). It provides a daily feed of coupons, deals, and discounts on a variety of furniture, rugs, and other home decor items. Overstock’s app also comes with a handy Augmented Reality mode that lets you visualize how a particular item might look like in your home. Overstock offers real-time order updates and notifications, and free delivery for orders more than $45.
Arrive (Android, iOS)
Package tracking app Arrive (Android, iOS) is a Shopify Garage project that uses smart, automatic package tracking and notifications to remove all the guesswork out of figuring out when packages and purchases will reach you or your recipient. Users simply sync their email with the app, and Arrive automatically tracks package information from hundreds of retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and Urban Outfitters, and postal services such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL. You can track your packages on the map or view order information and receipts. The app also helps in contacting retailers and carriers if any problems arise with your shipment.
ParcelTrack (Android, iOS)
ParcelTrack (Android, iOS) is another solid option for keeping track of your incoming deliveries and parcels, as well as your outgoing packages. Users sign up for a ParcelTrack account and are given a free email address to forward all of their shipping notifications to; ParcelTrack then automatically scrapes all the relevant info from each message, such as tracking numbers, which the app uses to keep you up to date with your deliveries. ParcelTrack supports a variety of shipping providers such as FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, and Royal Mail. The app also includes a number of premium subscriber features, such as multidevice syncing and push notifications.
Black Friday Ads 2019 (Android, iOS)
Rakuten's Slice (Android, iOS) is another app designed to take the hassle out of package tracking, taking tracking info automatically from your emails so you don't even need to input any tracking numbers. The app automatically stores your electronic receipts and sends push notifications to inform you of package progress and when it's ready to be delivered, so your online purchases will never take you by surprise when they arrive at the door. Another neat feature is that Slice automatically tracks the prices of items that you've ordered, allowing you to take advantage of any price drop refunds that retailers and websites might offer.
Blackfriday.fm has been keeping tabs on top deals for harried shoppers since 2008, and its Black Friday 2019 Ads app (Android, iOS) is aimed to help you gear up for the year's biggest shopping days with the latest news, released and leaked ads and deals from the big retailers like Walmart, Best Buy and Target. Users can search for deals by store or category, view discounts and doorbusters, get notifications on the latest news and sales, bookmark their favorite deals and access Black Friday coupons.
Shopbop (Android, iOS)
Shopbop (Android, iOS) focuses on the latest in women's fashion trends, collecting the best offerings from more than 800 different brands and fashion labels. In addition to the detailed product pages, Shopbop offers fashion feature articles, styling tips, and a daily lookbook, as well as curated fashion boutiques for every season and occasion. A great extra is that Shopbop can users can log in with their Amazon account, allowing them to take advantage of Prime memberships for free shipping and other discounts.
Krazy Coupon Lady (Android, iOS)
The Krazy Coupon Lady (Android, iOS) brings you tons of discount coupons, codes, and offers from a variety of brands and websites, all collected into a single app for ease of use. Users can set notifications for offers from their favorite stores or brands, create a shopping list of discount items, store coupons, and sync your coupon database across multiple devices. There's even a handy section of videos and tutorials for those new to the entire system of coupons and bargain hunting.
Groupon (Android, iOS)
Easily among the most recognizable brand names in digital deals, Groupon (Android, iOS) allows users to pre-purchase vouchers and deals that offer massive discounts on everything from food and goods to accommodations. The Groupon app allows users to buy and redeem their vouchers on their mobile device, track their voucher use and share their Groupon vouchers to friends and family through social media.
RetailMeNot (Android, iOS)
RetailMeNot (Android, iOS) offers a slick, all-in-one discount and coupon hunting app with deals from more than 50,000 retailers and food offers from thousands of nationwide and local restaurants. You can look up the best or most popular deals as well as personalized offers; you can also save a list of your favorite establishments so that the app can notify you of new offers. Categorized searches also allow you to look for just the right discount. Additionally, location-based features allow you to quickly search for deals at nearby shopping destinations, malls and eateries.
Slickdeals (Android, iOS)
Slickdeals (Android, iOS) is an excellent aggregator that collects the best deals available from a wide variety of sources and puts them into a single place. Since the app covers everything from electronics and clothing to groceries and local deals, there's a good chance Slickdeals has what you're looking for. Users can view featured deals on the front page as well as popular or local deals. The app also lets you search and view by product type and set custom deal alerts for specific products and categories.
Brad's Deals (Android, iOS)
Online deal-hunting site Brad's Deals (Android, iOS) has been scouring the web for the best in online deals since 2001, and its claim to fame is that it features the best in curated deals on everything from consumer electronics to apparel and designer shoes. Users can search for deals in a variety of categories from their favorite online stores, check out featured and editor's choice picks, bookmark their favorite deals, and share them to friends and family on social media.
Shopular (Android, iOS)
Rather than bombard you with a ton of coupons and offers that you probably aren't interested in or won't be able to use, Shopular (Android, iOS) offers a more focused presentation. Shopular sorts deals based on the stores closest to you, allowing you to quickly filter by proximity, and the app even brings you the latest deals when you enter a store or mall. In addition, users can filter their favorite stores or product categories. With coupons, deals and weekly offers from the likes of Target, Walmart, Macy's and more, Shopular has something to offer to every shopper looking to save a few bucks.
Rakuten (Android, iOS)
Online shoppers should check out Rakuten (Android, iOS), a coupons and rebates app that focuses on online deals rather than brick-and-mortar locations. Formerly known as Ebates, Rakuten works with more than 2,000 stores and websites to provide a mix of deals, sales and coupons, alerting you to the latest deals and providing you with cash back rebates on purchases. Rakuten has a good mix of deals and promos from a broad range of vendors, such as JCPenny and Office Depot, as well as services like Lyft rides or food deliveries from Grubhub and Caviar. Users can set up custom notifications for types of deals, and use the app's built-in browser to shop from within the app itself.
BuyVia (Android, iOS)
Another great price comparison option is BuyVia's app (Android, iOS), which combines mobile couponing, deal searches and price comparison features into a single app. Users can scan bar or QR codes to easily look up a product's prices, as well as related deals, specs and reviews, with BuyVia looking for the best prices from online and local retailers. You can also set the app to give you alerts when deals or price drops occur on items in your watch list.
DealNews (Android, iOS)
Rather than flood your phone an overwhelming number of discounts, DealNews (Android, iOS) tries to offer users a more curated list of deals that deliver the best bang for your buck. DealNews’ experts provide you with a list of the day’s best deals, with options to set deal alerts for a particular gadget that you’re looking for, and search tools that let you look for deals by keyword, category, store, or combination of filters. You can share deals to friends and family over social media or email, as well as clip online and in-store coupons for later use.
ScanLife (Android, iOS)
ScanLife (Android, iOS) lets users scan barcodes, QR codes or Microsoft Tags to quickly get their hands on a wealth of information useful to the savvy shopper. The app lets you look up online and storefront prices, as well as relevant price matching programs and product reviews. You can look up nutritional information, where available, as well as nearby locations carrying the same item. Users can earn points for scanning items, and those points can be redeemed for gift cards.
Flipp (Android, iOS)
Another good choice for a coupon aggregator app is Flipp (Android, iOS), which brings together coupons, deals and offers from national and local chains and brands into one place, making it easy to maximize savings. You can plan out purchases with a shopping list that also helps you discover deals, and you can clip deals and items together in the app to help organize your purchase planning. You can set reminders for expiring deals as well as notifications for new deals and other updates from your favorite stores and brands.
Key Ring (Android, iOS)
Key Ring (Android, iOS) boasts that you'll never need to carry another coupon, loyalty or membership card again. Users can scan or input their reward card numbers, which can then be displayed in-store or shared to friends and relatives. In addition to scanning cards, users can also access a treasure trove of coupons, weekly sales and other rewards. Other great features include a shopping list function, the ability to sign up to a growing list of rewards programs, and back up reward and membership card data to the cloud for cross-device syncing.
SnipSnap (Android, iOS)
Users who get a lot of physical reward coupons but can't organize them to save their life will love SnipSnap (Android, iOS). Use the app to take a picture of a coupon on your phone, so that it can appear as an image, barcode or promo code. In addition to scanning your own coupons, you can share your coupons with friends and family or discover and download other coupon deals within the app. SnipSnap will even remind you of your coupons when you enter an applicable store or warn you when a coupon's expiration date is approaching.
Shopkick (Android, iOS)
If you're a dedicated mall rat, ShopKick is the app for you. This rewarding app (Android, iOS) for local mall and participating store shoppers sends "kicks" whenever you visit stores, scan items or make a purchase. You can then redeem kicks for gift cards, discounts and other promotional items. You can earn more kicks by inviting friends or linking a MasterCard or Visa credit card. In addition to its reward points system, Shopkick features a variety of deals and collections of products to provide you even more savings.
