5 Best Alternative Apps to Shop Smarter in 2020

If you’ve not yet completed shopping gifts for your friends and loved ones, keep reading! While you’re looking for gift ideas and planning to shop, let me help you to get the best gifts without making a dent in your pocket.

Smart shopping apps — thanks to data analytics and other tech innovations — help you to save money while doing holiday shopping. They assist in finding good deals and discounts, comparing prices across stores, and buying from the most-rewarding online stores. They combine these features and more!

I’ve compiled the best smart shopping apps in this post. Of course, I’ve excluded the commonly-known apps such as Amazon, eBay, etc. to save you time. So, what are you waiting for? Let me introduce you to some smart shopping apps.

Ibotta

Ibotta is one of the most popular apps for saving money while shopping, thanks to its cashback programs and in-app offers. What I found most interesting is: Ibotta claims to have helped its users save $682 million, marvelously! I believe it’s one of the reasons for its huge popularity, and it works vice-versa.

It’s super easy to shop with Ibotta: add cashback or other offers, shop in-store or online, then shoot and upload the receipt to earn cash. Alternatively, you can link a loyalty card or make in-app purchases. You can save while shopping for almost anything — clothing, groceries, home and travel products, etc. from most stores including Walmart, Uber, Target, Kroger, Groupon, and more.

Moreover, it introduced its in-app payments platform in May 2019. Pay with Ibotta provides consumers with instant rewards at numerous retailers, giving you another reason to try out Ibotta; don’t you agree? Finally, you can transfer your earnings (or savings if you prefer it) to PayPal or into a gift card.

That’s not all; you can earn even more by inviting or referring friends, adding friends in your team, and completing extra tasks to get bonuses. That all being said, I believe Ibotta just fits in every couponer’s or saver’s toolbox. It works on top of all the saving options you’re already using such as coupons.

Pricing: Free | Download: Ibotta for Android and iOS

RetailMeNot

RetailMeNot is a coupon, deal, and discount app that helps you to save money while shopping for a wide range of products. It boasts to help save you up to 70%. It provides these offers for both in-store and online shopping which allows you to win cashback or rewards as well, as they’re provided by Ibotta.

You can enjoy these offers on a range of products including but not limited to automotive products, clothes, food items, handbags, shoes, etc. Also, it works for a vast amount of stores including Airbnb, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Domino’s, Macy’s, Shutterfly, Target, Walmart, and many many more.

What I found interesting is: it offers special deals and sales such as Black Friday Deals, Cyber Monday Deals, and Christmas Sales. Moreover, it helps you save on pharmaceutical bills, thanks to its RxSaver (not to be confused with RX Save) that helps you compare drug prices, get coupons, and save on medical bills.

Pricing: Free | Download: RetailMeNot for Android and iOS

Flipp

Flipp boasts of helping you to save up to half of the prices for your weekly shopping. Flipp makes it possible by getting to you the latest advertisements, coupons, and deals from more than two thousand retailers. The list of retailers includes most popular names like Aldi, CVS Pharmacy, Kroger, and Walmart.

That’s not all, Flipp gets you 1000+ weekly flyers and 100+ coupons from your favorite brands and local retailers. It lets you discover the available offers or search for a particular product or store as well. It lists that its coupons help its customers save anywhere from 20% to 70% on a wide range of products.

But it offers much more! It helps you create shopping lists, facilitating your shopping trips to boost your savings. You can also add loyalty cards for getting better savings at checkout, just like Ibotta, which further boosts earnings.

Pricing: Free | Download: Flipp for Android and iOS

ShopSavvy

ShopSavvy is a price comparison and product search application. What I found interesting is: it allows checking for products using a barcode scanner, making it a super-quick process to compare prices between stores. It finds you the store selling the product at the lowest price to help you get the most savings.

You can search for any product using a barcode, unique product code, or a keyword (say, the product name). Then, it searches the product on all stores — online as well as offline (local stores) — compare their prices. Surprisingly, it can help you buy it at the lowest price at the same store (price match policy).

ShopSavvy — being one of the oldest price comparison apps — supports a plethora of brands and stores. The list includes but is not limited to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, eBay, Nordstrom, Sears, Target, and Walmart.

That’s not all; it also displays user reviews and finds deals and discounts on the scanned or searched products. Its ultimate goal is to help you buy your favorite products at the lowest prices! Also, you can list your products and sell them directly to other users through the app, allowing you to resell items too!

Pricing: Free | Download: ShopSavvy for Android and iOS

Dosh

Dosh is another cashback application like Ibotta. Its tagline says “the easiest money you’ve ever made.” and sure it is because it’s just cold hard cash. It doesn’t offer coupons or discount offers, unlike RetailMeNot and Flipp.

Its process is simple as well: you should connect your shopping cards (credit or debit card), then dine out or shop with your linked cards at its partner restaurants and stores, and automatically earn cashback up to ten percent. I believe its unique selling point is the ease and speed of providing cashbacks.

Dosh supports numerous restaurants and stores, like most of the tools listed in this write-up. For example, the list of supported places includes 1800 Flowers, Dunkin, Jack in the Box, Pizza Hut, Sam’s Club, Sephora, Snapfish, etc. What makes it unique is: you can also book hotels and earn cashback with it.

Moreover, you can even earn by referring your friends to Dosh. You get $5 for every person you refer to Dosh, surprisingly! Finally, you can transfer your earned cashback to your bank account, PayPal, or Venmo, per your choice. Also, you can donate your hard-earned cash to one of the supported charities.

Pricing: Free | Download: Dosh for Android and iOS

Summary

Since there are multiple types of apps listed in this write-up, you can combine them to save more money.

For instance, you can get coupons and deals from RetailMeNot, check for the same item on Ibotta, and buy the product with the coupon or deal from RetailMeNot. Then, you can upload its receipt to Ibotta and earn money as well. So, you’ll be saving and earning money combinedly!