Hey guys, if you have not yet completed shopping for gifts for your buddies and loved ones, then keep reading! While looking for gift ideas & planning to shop, let me help you get the best and ideal gifts without making any dent in your pocket.
Well, Smart shopping apps, thanks to data analytics, help you save money while doing holiday shopping. They help find good deals & discounts, compare prices across stores, and buy from the most-rewarding and best-loved online stores. They combine these features and plenty more.
I have compiled the best and highly-rated smart shopping apps in this article. I have excluded the commonly-known apps like Amazon, eBay, etc., to save your time. So, what are you waiting for? Let me introduce you to some best smart shopping apps.
1. Dosh
Dosh is another cash back app like Ibotta. Its tagline says, “the easiest money you have ever made.” and sure it is because it is just cold hard cash. It does not offer coupons or discount offers, unlike RetailMeNot & Flipp.
Its process is straightforward as well: you should connect your shopping cards (debit or credit card), then dine out or shop with your linked cards at its partner restaurants and stores, & automatically earn cashback up to 10%. I believe its quirky selling point is the ease & speed of providing cashback.
Dosh supports numerous restaurants & stores, like most of the tools listed in this write-up. For instance, the list of supported places includes 1800 Flowers, Dunkin, Jack in the Box, Sam’s Club, Pizza Hut, Sephora, Snapfish, etc. You can even book hotels and earn cashback with it.
Furthermore, you can also earn by referring your buddies to Dosh. You can get $5 for every person you refer to Dosh. Finally, you can quickly transfer your earned cashback to your bank account, Venmo, or PayPal per your choice. Besides, you can donate your hard-earned cash to one of the supported charities.
Pricing: Free | Download: Dosh for Android & iOS
2. RetailMeNot
RetailMeNot is a coupon, deal, & discount app that helps you save money while shopping for a wide range of products. It boasts of helping save you up to 70%. It gives these offers for both in-store & online shopping, enabling you to win cashback or rewards as well, as Ibotta offers them.
Furthermore, you can enjoy these offers on a range of products, including but not limited to automotive products, clothes, handbags, food items, shoes, etc. It even works for many stores, including Amazon, Airbnb, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Domino’s, Macy’s, Shutterfly, Walmart, Target, and many more.
What I found interesting is: it provides special deals and sales like Black Friday Deals, Cyber Monday Deals, & Christmas Sales. Additionally, it helps you save on pharmaceutical bills, thanks to its RxSaver (not to be confused with RX Save), enabling you to compare drug prices, get coupons, & save on medical bills.
Pricing: Free | Download: RetailMeNot for iOS and Android
3. Ibotta
Ibotta is one of the most famous apps for saving money while shopping, mainly thanks to its cashback programs & in-app offers. I found it most interesting that Ibotta claims to have helped its users save $682 million. I believe it is one of the reasons for its vast popularity, & it works vice-versa.
Moreover, it’s super simple to shop with Ibotta: add cashback or other offers, shop in-store or online, then shoot & upload the receipt to earn cash. Or, you can link a loyalty card or also make in-app purchases. You can save while shopping for almost everything clothing, travel products, groceries, home, etc., from most stores, including Walmart, Uber, Kroger, Target, Groupon, etc.
Additionally, it introduced its in-app payments platform in May 2019. Pay with Ibotta offers consumers instant rewards at ample retailers, giving you another reason to try out Ibotta; do not you agree? Finally, you can transfer your savings or earnings (if you like it) to PayPal or into a gift card.
Besides, you can earn more by inviting or referring friends, adding friends to your team, & completing extra tasks to get bonuses. Simply put, I believe Ibotta fits in every couponer’s or saver’s toolbox. It seamlessly works on top of all the saving options you are already using, like coupons.
Pricing: Free | Download: Ibotta for iOS and Android
4. ShopSavvy
ShopSavvy is a price comparison & product search app. I found it interesting because it enables checking for products using a barcode scanner, making it a super-quick process to compare prices between stores. It finds you in the store selling the product at a reasonable price to help you get the most savings.
Furthermore, you can search for any product using a barcode, unique product code, or a keyword (say, the product name). Afterward, it searches the product on all stores, online and offline (local stores) compares their prices.
Unexpectedly, it can help you buy it at the same store’s lowest price (price match policy). ShopSavvy is one of the oldest price comparison apps that supports a plethora of brands & stores. The list includes but isn’t limited to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Sears, eBay, Nordstrom, Target, and Walmart.
It even displays user reviews and finds deals & discounts on the scanned or searched products. Additionally, its ultimate goal is to help you buy your most-liked products at the lowest prices. You can also list your products & sell them directly to other users via the app, allowing you to resell items.
Pricing: Free | Download: ShopSavvy for Android & iOS
5. Flipp
Flipp boasts of assisting you to save up to half of the prices for your weekly shopping. Besides, Flipp makes it possible by getting to you the latest advertisements, coupons, & deals from more than two thousand retailers. The retailers’ list includes the most famous names, such as Aldi, Kroger, CVS Pharmacy, and Walmart.
Apart from that, Flipp gets you 1000+ weekly flyers and 100+ coupons from your best-loved brands and local retailers. It allows you to discover the available offers or search for a particular product or store. It lists that its coupons help its customers save anywhere from 20% to 70% on a vast range of products.
Additionally, it helps you create shopping lists, facilitating your shopping trips to boost your savings. You can even add loyalty cards for getting better savings at checkout, same as Ibotta, which further boosts earnings.
Pricing: Free | Download: Flipp for Android & iOS
Summary
Since there are multiple sorts of apps listed in this write-up, you can combine them to save your money. For example, you can get coupons & deals from RetailMeNot, check for the same item on Ibotta, also buy the product with the coupon or deal from RetailMeNot. Afterward, you can upload its receipt to Ibotta and even earn money. So, you will be saving and making money combinedly.