Sleeping bags and tents are popping up near the big box stores, but don’t worry, it’s just America’s intense need to bargain hunt once again. Black Friday is coming, and if you want to survive this weekend with a few deals under your belt, you’ll need all the help you can get. We’ve got you covered once again with our list of must-have apps for the big shopping weekend, so you can get an upper hand on whatever deals you might be hunting for.
This year, our apps guide covers a range of useful Black Friday apps, including some that help you keep track of ads, compare prices, clip coupons, and confront everything else in between you and that doorbuster. With even just a few of these apps, you’ll lead the Black Friday charge like a pro, even if you’re only running on an hour of sleep, a latte, and three cans of Mountain Dew.
In case you missed our articles on Black Friday, here’s the countdown to Black Friday with our favorite deals, a sneak peek at the Best Buy and Walmart deals, and the best Amazon Black Friday deals.
Alerts and deals
At the heart of Black Friday is the need to bring order to the chaos of ads and offers at hundreds of stores. Here are some apps to consider that will help you keep track of deals, find alerts on the stuff you want, and so much more.
Dealnews Black Friday 2017
Dealnews pulls information on Black Friday sales and ongoing deals from thousands of websites and retailers. All you have to do is sort through this app and pick the stores you plan to visit. Once you do, you’ll have access to their Black Friday ads, and the ability to set alerts when retailers issue new prices both in-store and online. The app is designed just for Black Friday to keep an eye on all the special deals, but you can also use it for Cyber Monday and other deal days that come before and after the big day.
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SlickDeals
Imagine having your own army of deal hunters who share with you the very greatest ways to save money on Black Friday. Powered by a community totaling more than 2 million members, SlickDeals is that very army, one that offers up a host of features that enable your on-the-fly Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping. Not only do members post the very best deals they find, but SlickDeals also lets you monitor for on-the-spot deals that quickly go out of stock. You can also set alerts if something you’ve been looking for is posted as a deal by a fellow community member.
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Flipp
Flipp is an all-in-one flyer, coupon, and savings tracker for your smartphone. Whether it’s for the coming Black Friday madness or just another weekly visit to the supermarket, Flipp helps guide you through every step of the way. Flipp has added new features that enable you to easily add coupons from various store circulars and print them via email. That way, you can plan your entire Black Friday invasion right from your smartphone.
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Shopular
There are plenty of apps out there that handle your Black Friday alerts and notifications, but Shopular is one that not only handles all the deal alerts but also keeps track of your coupons, cash back and other rewards in the process. Shopular lets you scour major retailers for deals while marking off special coupons that you can use directly on your smartphone when checking out. You can even rake in cash back through the app to save you even more money during the holiday season.
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Shopkick
Catching a deal is a great achievement in its own right, but you can sweeten it further with the help of an app like Shopkick. Shopkick works by awarding points — aka “kicks” — every time you walk into a retailer. It will make offers and suggestions based on your interests, and let you know what deals are going on at the store you’re visiting. You’ll also get important contact and store details as you walk in. The kicks you earn can later be redeemed for gift cards at all sorts of stores, including Target and Starbucks.
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Mint
Mint, Intuit’s personal finance app, is hardly a Black Friday shopping app. That said, when you’re running around the mall, the last thing you want to be worrying about is which credit card to use when you make it to the register. Rather than sort through each of your credit card apps in the midst of the Black Friday chaos, the Mint app lets you manage everything from one application, allowing you to view credit card balances without fumbling through your individual bank accounts. While many use Mint already to manage finances, the app is especially helpful on Black Friday, given you can keep an eye on your spending without getting lost in a throng of apps. It’s also great for tracking each credit card and tagging transactions to help you find them later.
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The Coupons App
With this app, you can search for online promo codes, coupons, and deals from more than 100,000 retailers. You can also browse both local or national offers using your location, and you can set it up so that you receive alerts when deals are available nearby. A dedicated section for Black Friday deals makes it even easier to find what you’re looking for, and if you’re worried about availability, rest easy knowing that the app will remind you if a coupon is about to expire.
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Offers.com
This app is similar to other coupon apps, but it also gives you the available coupon codes for online shopping. This is the official companion app for Offers.com, which is a great website for scouring Black Friday offers. It also offers coupon codes for more than 15,000 stores, brands, and restaurants. With more than 300 categories spanning everything from electronics to travel, this is a must-have app for Black Friday and the remainder of the year.
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