Do you love shopping online with your favorite retailers? We all love digging through sites to find the best deals on stuff we’ve always wanted. However, with so many retailers and thousands of product listings, how do you know where the sales are online?
E-commerce is growing rapidly, while traditional brick-and-mortar stores are struggling to adapt to the digital economy. The lower overheads of online retailers mean they can offer deep discounts to prospective buyers.
Nowadays, almost no-one clicks the checkout button without first having a discount code or coupon ready to go. Statista estimates that over 135-million Americans will use digital coupon users in 2018, increasing to more than 145-million by 2021. A recent report by TechCrunch shows that more than 84-percent of Americans now shop online.
Buying your stuff online has plenty of benefits. You get a broader selection, and you don’t have to leave your home. The only issue is with delayed gratification. However, most companies will deliver to your doorstep in anywhere from 24 to 72-hours.
It’s possible to score some fantastic deals online if you shop at the right time of the year, and you know where to look for deals and discounts. We decided to put together this list of the best apps and tools you can use to save money with your online shopping.
Slickdeals
This site is our go-to discount platform when we’re looking for the best deals online. Using slickdeals is effortless; they have a great user-interface and dashboard that’s simple to navigate. You can set up deal alerts in minutes, and let the platform notify you of the best deals online.
Slickdeals find you the best prices on any consumer goods. If you’re in the market for a new couch, set up a price alert for a model that interests you, and then wait for the offers to come pouring in from the platform.
One of the unique features of slickdeals is sharing functionality. If you find a deal that others might be interested in, you can share it on your social platforms. You also get access to the slickdeals forum, where registered users can chat about how to save money when purchasing online. The blog on the site also has plenty of other useful information to help you save money on your shopping.
The slickdeals customize function allows users to set up price alerts that most interest their buying habits. You can customize your settings to receive deals for any class of products, from furniture to electronics or even gardening tools. Filter your results and get deals that are relevant to what you’re looking for online.
Hip2Save
A decade ago, a soccer mom decided to launch a platform to help other parents save money while shopping online.
The idea of the platform was to focus on providing shoppers with discount codes and coupons available for a wide variety of vendors. As a result of the last ten years worth of effort, Hip2save is one of the most popular discount coupon platforms online. Hip2save offers many unique features to the platform that sets them apart from other models in this niche.
You can register with the site, and as a hip2save insider, you’ll get the chance to create a profile and earn rewards points on the platform through acquiring “badges.” You get to set up filters to find the right deals you’re looking for, and eliminate any other deals that don’t interest you.
Redeem the points you earn on the site for giveaways and selected promotions offered by hip2save. This app is mobile-friendly, and you can download it from the iStore or Android app store. If you like using physical coupons in store, hip2save has an extensive database of coupons you can print off and take with you when you go shopping.
Tada
Our favorite site for finding the best local deals around our city is Tada. Founded in the ’80s by a married couple, the team grew into one of the dominant players in the discount and coupon code game. This website is all about helping you put more money into your back pocket when shopping.
The site provides you with the best local deals in your area and filters your results based on your preferred settings. The dashboard interface is easy to use, and you can skip through any deals that aren’t relevant to your needs.
The best feature of this platform is the cashback system. Every time you go shopping, you get cashback on selected items. In some cases, the platform offers you as much as 40-percent of your spending back in cashback dollars. Sign up for a free account, then download the savings button to your PC or mobile device.
After activating the cashback option, the system automatically scours the platform to find you the best cashback deals available.
RetailMeNot
If you’ve ever searched for discount codes online, the chances are that you already know about RetailMeNot. This platform offers a massive catalog of discount coupons for use with some of the most popular retailers and brands in America.
You can also use RetialMeNot to search for the best deals online using their filtered search bot. RetailMeNot is another platform that offers a cashback rewards program on your spending. By signing up to the site, you also get access to the “Genie.” This browser plugin automatically detects the retailer you’re browsing and brings you deals relevant to your search results.
Groupon
By now, everyone knows about Groupon. This website is one of the world’s most popular online discounting platforms. Founded by Andrew Mason, the company rose to prominence in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Initially, the concept of the platform was to get shoppers discounts on a wide range of products and services by getting people to buy as a group. With more buying power, retailers are likely to offer steeper discounts to obtain the business.
Groupon experienced some challenges with its business model in 2013, as users found ways to buck the system, and providers stopped issuing Groupon codes. However, the company made a comeback. Now they have millions of registered users around the globe looking for deals on the site.
Groupon offers discount codes and coupons on a wide variety of products and services. You can use the site to find deals on everything from restaurants to airline flights and hotel accommodation, or consumer products and food.
In a recent partnership with ParkWhizz, Groupon users can now download the app to find discounts on parking as well. You also get Groupons for use in all of the large retailers like Amazon and Target, as well.
FreeShipping.com
A husband and wife team created freeshipping.org back in 2007. This couple hated paying for online shipping, and they decided to research the market to find out what consumers thought about this issue.
It was through the site’s activities in changing the mind of consumers that free shipping became a reality with most online merchants.
Sign up for the platform, and you’ll receive alerts on deals where free shipping is an option. This site partners with hundreds of retailers to bring you the best deals with free shipping available online.
The site has a clean interface and easy-to-navigate dashboard and its works with adblocker software, so you don’t have to deal with pop-ups when browsing the deals.
Rakuten
This site is one of the most popular cashback platforms with consumers for sourcing shopping discounts. Sign up for a free account, and you’ll find that the site is easy to navigate, and has a user-friendly interface.
When you find a deal you like, use the Rakuten link through the site, and make your purchase. By using the link when you decide to checkout, you can benefit from up to 40-percent cashback on your purchases.
The site also recently launched its “cashback button.” Use the button to find the best deals online with anything you’re interested in buying. If you don’t want to shop online, and prefer using a store instead, then you can still benefit from cashback with eBates. Link your debit or credit card to your Rakuten account, and earn cashback every time you swipe with selected partners.
You build the cashback credit in your Rakuten account and then request a check or direct payment to your PayPal account when you want to withdraw your rewards.
Frugaa
When you first log on to Frugga, you get the impression that they haven’t done anything to update the site since the nineties. However, when the platforms working so well, why fix what isn’t broke? Frugga has free registration, and once you’re a verified user, you get access to some impressive discounts from online retailers.
According to the information on the website, they have a stocked archive of over 40,000-coupons for you to choose and use. The platform also offers over 9,000-free shipping deals, with data suggesting that the average user saves around $28 each time they use the site.
As with other sites, you can search the platform to find deals on anything you like, and filter your results as well. The unique feature of this platform is the savings calculator. You can use this device to calculate your budget, and Frugga will bring you deals based on that information.
Frugga is not our top choice for finding deals online. However, the site does offer some unique tools that make it an option for anyone sourcing discounts.
DealNews
One of the best online platforms for sourcing the best deals is DealNews. This website offers you tons of offers from leading retailers and stores across America. The site claims that they receive more than 14-million visitors each month, with more than 400-deals, posted every day of the week.
If you want to use DealNews, you don’t have to sign up for the platform and register an account. However, if you do register, then you’ll get access to more of the features of the platform.
Registered users get notifications about any new deals that meet their filtering criteria. As a registered user, you also get access to discussions on offers, exclusive deals, and app for your desktop or mobile device.
The only drawback of this site is that they don’t offer any discount codes or coupons, and they have no cashback program for registered users. While it may have its shortcomings, DelaNews is still one of our top choices when looking for the best deals online.
Brad’s Deals
We like the clean look and feel of this website, and we also appreciate the way it doesn’t instantly push offers in your face when you land on the homepage. The clean and accessible layout of the site allows you to easily navigate the toolbars and source the best deal on any products you want.
At first glance, Brad’s deals might look like any other discount site. However, they have a few features that make them stand out from other platforms in this article. The site has reviews on deal items written by real people, not some spam-bot that’s dropping millions of Amazon reviews every day.
The site also offers users some useful shopping guides. These categories give you filtered results on anything you’re thinking of buying, and they include a write-up and review of the product. As a result, you get more information to ensure you make the right purchase decision before you checkout.
We think Brad’s deal is an underrated platform that deserves more recognition. Visit them and register for one of the best ways to source discounts on your favorite consumer products with online retailers.
The Final Thought – Applied Knowledge is Power
Use these sites and apps to help you get the best discounts on your favorite consumer products. There’s no reason to pay the full sticker price when you can get a better deal with little effort.
The sites in this review all operate in a specific niche, and we feel like there is an app to cover any product you want. Book mark the pages and do your due diligence, the start saving on your shopping.
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