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Call it the first location-based deal aggregator. DealMap attempts to one-up price alert and mobile coupon apps by figuring out which deals are available closest to your current GPS location--and then showing them to you on a map. You can filter deals by business or product categories, or share them via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter. The company has also started a status and rewards program, although it's just getting off the ground, as is an Android version of the handy app.
Available for: Android, iPhone
Price: Free
Groupon is all about providing discounts on fun things to do in and around your city, whether it's half-price tickets to a Broadway show or $10 worth of grub at a local pub. The app offers daily deals in more than 70 cities and lets you print coupons to present to sales clerks at participating outlets. (Whether they'll know what to do with them is another matter.) The app maps nearby Groupons, hooks into Facebook, and lets you browse your purchase history. You can also bookmark Groupons by location, date, and expiration.
Available for: Android, iPhone.
Price: Free
Like Groupon, Shooger offers mobile coupons for more than 50,000 merchants, and gathers both local and online deals. You can browse for deals by store, product category, and location. You can even purchase products with your coupon directly from your phone. Shooger's Deal Alert lets you sign up for specific merchants so you can get the latest news on coupons and discounts. The app also ties into the phone's dialer, letting you call any store with a single tap.
Available for: Android, iPhone
Price: Free
It looks like a regular barcode scanner app at first glance, but ShopSavvy claims its app has support for more than 20,000 big-name retailers including Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Target--plus online stores such as Amazon.com and Buy.com. It also features an attractive UI with easy price comparisons for local and web retailers, plus configurable price alerts. A built-in store info database lets you get directions, e-mail links, launch a store's website, and call the store directly from the app.
Available for: Android, iPhone, webOS
Price: Free
Think of Shopkick as the Foursquare of shopping apps. You collect kickbucks for checking into places around you, including well-known retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters, Best Buy, Macy's, and Sports Authority. You can then redeem those bucks for rewards. Even if you don't feel like collecting anything, the app will alert you to special deals (such as getting 15 percent off your entire purchase). For now, the app is limited to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, as well as a handful of stores in Dallas, Miami, and Minneapolis.
Available for: Android, iPhone
Price: Free
Figuring out which stores will accept mobile coupons can be tough. But Yowza!! attempts to clear up the confusion with its list of more than 10,000 supported stores. You walk up to the cashier, show them the phone with the coupon displayed, and you get your discount--simple, right? The app hooks into the iPhone's GPS chip (on compatible models) to find coupons available closest to you at any time.
Available for: iPhone
Price: Free
More than just a search engine, Microsoft's Bing contains plenty of useful features for mobile shoppers. All of the basics are represented, including store locations, directions, click-to-call, and comprehensive voice searches. The latest version of Bing for iPhone (yes, you read that right--hell has frozen over) has a shopping section that's accessible directly from the home screen. It lets you search by camera phone picture in addition to voice or keyboard. The app also offers user reviews for thousands of products.
Available for: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone
Price: Free
Craigslist's mobile app offers practically everything the desktop site does--and it looks better, to boot. For starters, you can post new ads, run multi-city searches, and save favorite ads to a list. The app also lets you browse photos within listings, sort results, and keep a history of searches. You can manage your account and listings right on the device. The paid PRO version runs searches in the background even when you're not using the app, lets you annotate ads, and drops the service's own ads from the app.
Available for: iPhone
Price: Free
This site is a veteran in the online comparison-shopping world. Its new mobile app reflects that, with its multifaceted search utility that works by name, UPC code, or manufacturer's part number. A nifty Gift Shaker comes up with random gift ideas for various product categories whenever--you guessed it--you shake the phone. Our favorite feature: When sifting through search results, you can set a bottom line price, including tax and shipping. Why not let the app do all of the work?
Available for: Android, iPhone
Price: Free
This app offers robust comparison-shopping for local and web-based retailers in the U.S. and U.K. It lets you search any website for products using a custom URL, as well scan item barcodes, track them in lists, and e-mail the links to yourself. You can also manually enter UPC codes. It even searches for books in nearby libraries and displays food allergen info for grocery shoppers. eBay liked RedLaser enough to acquire the rights to the app from its original developer, Occipital, in June. They must be onto something.
Available for: iPhone
Price: Free
Why mess with scanning barcodes when you can just take a picture of an item? Do that, and SnapTell will figure out what it is--assuming the item is a book, DVD, CD, or video game. The app will then deliver a rating, description, and links to relevant websites such as IMDB, Wikipedia, or YouTube. It also offers store links to buy the product right on the spot. Version 3.0 now scans barcodes, too--presumably because all the other cool apps on the playground do it.
Available for: Android, iPhone
Price: Free
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