Finding the lowest price tag on a particular gift, keeping wishlists organized or simply staying on top of sales can wind up feeling like a stressful part-time job.
Luckily, the age of online shopping means there are lots of apps that do the hard part for you and can ultimately help to ensure your holiday shopping budget stays intact.
Whether you’re interested in snagging a deal on electronics or saving big on one of the hottest toys of the holiday season, technology can lend a hand in the form of apps that sniff out the best deals online and in stores.
Here are a few apps that promise to help consumers keep even more money in their pocket on Black Friday and beyond.
Black Friday savings apps
- ShopSavvy (iOS and Android). This app will watch for low prices on items you are interested in purchasing and let you know when popular stores are having a sale. It can also be used to scan barcodes while you’re out shopping, so you can compare the price of a particular product across multiple retailers.
- DealNews (iOS and Android). Deal experts collect information on special Black Friday deals from thousands of websites and retailers and publish the 300 best ones to the DealNews app. Simply select the stores you plan to visit and receive alerts when retailers mark down prices in-store and online.
- Flipp (iOS and Android) This app combs through local weekly ads and matches them with hundreds of coupons from over 800 retailers. With Flipp, consumers can ‘clip out’ coupons for a specific store, item, or brand. You can even highlight deals that are relevant to you and save them for easy access later on.
- Amazon (iOS and Android). Avoid the remorse of realizing you could have gotten an item for cheaper online by downloading the Amazon’s price comparison app. This app (available for iOS and Android) lets you pull up the Amazon price of any item you see in a store simply by scanning its barcode. If you’re among those who would prefer to stay home this Black Friday, the Amazon app can help you accomplish your shopping from the comfort of home.
- Santa’s Bag (iOS) or Christmas Gift List (Android). Between making your list and purchasing all the gifts on it, holiday shopping can feel like a huge undertaking -- but these apps can help simplify the process. You can use them to set a shopping budget, keep a log of gift ideas for people on your list, and keep track of items you’ve already bought. You can also keep track of how much you spent on each gift.