Online Holiday Shopping Series #3

Its the holidays and the one thing just about everybody will be doing this season is eating, drinking and shopping. African-Americans love a good holiday meal with friends and family. The only way to improve upon this holiday joy is to get the ingredients for a great meal for a substantial savings and possibly even get a little money back.

There are a lot of coupon apps available and all of them can help you save a few dollars on your holiday grocery shopping. What you have to understand is that some are easier to use than others. And some deliver more savings and bigger rebates than others. All these apps work a little differently from each other. To choose the best app consider your shopping habits and style and where you shop. These are some things you need to consider before you choose a shopping app.

• Where you live should be considered before you select a shopping app. Different apps offer coupons at different stores. Some regional and national chains may offer their own shopping app. So consider an app that works in your area and in stores you normally shop. Making a good choice and having success using an app to get coupons will depend on the supermarkets in your area and your shopping list.
• Paper coupons still rule. Don’t ignore your local newspaper or coupon flyer. Smartphone apps aren’t all about delivering digital deals. Sometimes they can help point out online or newspaper coupons that you have to print or clip. Consider that a lot of apps can deliver coupons to your email inbox.
• Mobile coupons are similar to paper ones. Digital coupons, sometimes in the form of bar codes will help you save on the same products as paper ones will.
• It pays to be loyal. Digital coupons often work very well when they are linked with your store loyalty cards. You can link the coupon to your card and get the savings when you scan at check out.

In this article we are going to highlight money saving grocery apps. Saving on groceries should be a key priority for black households every day and not just during the holidays. These apps can help you do exactly that.

Ibotta –  The Ibotta app provides rebates on many retail items at both national and regional grocery stores.

Once the app is downloaded the user will be asked to complete small tasks that provides the rebates. Unfortunately these tasks include watching videos, taking polls, playing trivia games, and learning facts about products. These tasks could save you as much 75 cents on items and change frequently. It can be a bit of a headache and inconvenience in my opinion. But it could pay off bigger than playing Candy Crush.

You can find offers of rebates on items such as milk, fresh meats, salad, frozen dinners, ground coffee, and even some generics.

Here is another thing about this app I am not a big fan of. After you do your shopping you verify purchases by uploading your receipt using your smartphone. Another way to verify your purchase is to link your grocery store card to the app. Basically its another way to collect information about your shopping habits, the things you buy regularly and where you buy them. Its not that great of an intrusion into your privacy since you have one of those grocery cards any way. Its just means you are sharing your info with a few more data collectors.

After you have earned $5 in rebates, you can have the cash transferred to a PayPal account and continue to accumulate the savings or you can use it to buy a gift card from various retailers. You can find the list of Ibotta Preferred Partners here.

Ibotta is available for Apple and Android devices.

Checkout 51 – I call this the “checks-in-the-mail” app because of the way it delivers your savings. Checkout 51 works differently than Ibotta. Every Thursday morning this app offers a new list of 20 or so items. These offers include rebates on fresh produce like tomatoes, strawberries, and bananas. Best thing about it is there are no tasks to complete to get the discounts but you do have to upload your receipt to the app. You can shop at any store where the items are sold.  And when you reach that magic $20 mark in savings you get a check in the mail. Checkout 51 is available on Apple and Android devices.

Shopmium – Much like Checkout 51 the Shopmium app offers rebates that can be redeemed at any store where the products are sold. Rebates range from 25 cents to more than a dollar. Like the other apps you have to verify your purchases by scanning the products bar code and uploading your receipt to the app. Your rebates are deposited into your PayPal or bank account and there is no minimum before you get your money.

Shopmium offers regular as well as exclusive offers to its users. According to the website, “Shopmium’s offers are only available to ours users: you won’t find them anywhere else and they’re the most advantageous on the market. They are private offers, available in every store the product is sold.” Shopmium is available on Apple and Android devices.

Cellfire – One of the cool things about this app is that it works by sending coupons directly to your loyalty cards. You just add your store loyalty card to the app.  Use the app to browse the available deals and tap on the ones you want. The deals are then saved to your store card and savings delivered at check out. It is almost effortless in the way it works. However easy this app is to use the one drawback is that the list of stores is limited. But count yourself lucky if there’s a store near you. This app is well worth it.

I give this app the privacy edge because you can use it without registering. But if you do register members get access to bigger, better deals. Another cool thing is on the website you can find both digital and printable coupons and you can have the coupons emailed to you. The app also offers a nice feature that allows you to get store alerts reminding you of coupons when you walk into a store. The app is available on Apple, Android and Blackberry devices.

Coupons.com – Coupons.com is the big man on campus when it comes to grocery and everyday items. The listing of items on the home page seem to never end. A great benefit of this app is that it makes it easy to access the deals on the go. The app delivers a coupon in your e-mail to be printed. Your tablet or mobile device can also be used to print out coupons if you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch and certain HP printers, or, and this is the most convenient, added to your store loyalty card to scan at checkout. For Apple technology owners this app has some special features. You can browse digital coupons from select retailers such as Old Navy and Petco then add those coupons to your Apple Passbook app. Just show you phone at checkout to get the savings. Coupons.com apps are available on Apple and Android devices.

Grocery IQ – Now here is a an app that can really be useful. Why? Because most people buy the same thing over and over again. We all have some brand we are loyal to and wouldn’t think of switching or even trying something else.  With Grocery IQ you begin by making your shopping list then saving it to the app. Grocery IQ  will match your list with applicable coupons. You get a few options to add items to your list. You can type them in, scroll through the master list and select them, scan a bar code, or speak them. This app shares the same data base with Coupons.com and you get them by printing them out or linking your loyalty card. But be prepared to spend some time getting it all set up. Available for Apple and Android devices.

SavingStar – This app allows you to  register your loyalty cards then browse a list of exclusive offers. Some of the deals offer as much as $5 off and if you see something you like you just tap on the “I Want This” link  and scan you store card when you check out. But you won’t get any money off your purchase at the register. Instead the savings builds up in your SavingStar account. When you hit $5, you can select how you want your money from one of four options; bank deposit, PayPal deposit, Amazon gift card, or donation to conservation group American Forests. The app usually offers  about 30 deals at any time and works with lots of grocery chains, including A&P, Kroger, and Pathmark, as well as with CVS and Rite Aid.

You are  going to be buying a lot stuff this holiday season. You may eat too much but these will keep you from spending too much. But like so many other things worth having you have to do the work. These apps make that work a lot easier and can actually put some money in your pocket.

Now you know.