Whether you agree with it or not, Black Friday has become a tradition all its own in the United States. In case you’re not aware (you have to know all about it if you live in my house), the day after Thanksgiving is the day that stores across the country offer blowout prices storewide for people looking to get a jump on their Christmas shopping. Many item specific sales are limited, so customers often line up for hours awaiting the store’s opening, and something resembling the running of the bulls occurs when the doors are finally unlocked. Sound like fun? For millions it is, and the day is a home run for retailers, prompting many to open earlier on Thanksgiving Day. A discussion on whether or not that’s appropriate can be had on another day. Since it’s worthwhile to save yourself a few bucks, let’s take a look at ways to make Black Friday a little easier, and maybe even safer!
As I mentioned last week, my wife and I actually have two Thanksgiving dinners each year. We’re in our fourth year of marriage, so it was more of a struggle at first. We’ve slowly figured out how to eat just enough at the first meal to be able to power through the second. The first meal is at her parents’ house, and much of the discussion involving her mother, cousin, and aunt is centered around building the perfect plan of attack for Black Friday shopping. Inevitably, circulars from various retailers get passed around the table as they decide on a route for their conquests. If only there was a way to see these flyers on your phone. Actually there is! Check out the Flipp app. Available for free on iOS devices as well as Android, Flipp allows you to enter your zip code and see every flyer from every store in your area. The app allows you to search deals and coupon matchups by item, brand, or category, and create a shopping list that can be checked off after the desired item is secured. Over 800 retailers are included, such as Walmart, The Home Depot, JCPenney, Target, Macy’s, and Best Buy.
One of my favorite things to do with my iPhone is to scan barcodes and QR (quick response) codes. Ask my wife about the time we were in Shop Rite looking for the perfect watermelon for the 4th of July. She wasn’t sure how to pick one. Luckily I saw a QR code on the side of the box containing the watermelons so I scanned it, and learned more than I ever wanted to know about watermelons! If you’re wondering, consider the weight of the watermelon, and look at the shade of yellow on the spot that developed when the watermelon was on the ground. Anyway, I found ShopSavvy by accident when I was looking for a QR code scanner. ShopSavvy gave me the best of both worlds since I could scan QR codes as well as barcodes. The advantage to this app (also available for iOS and Android) is that you can scan the barcode on an item, and find the prices of that item at local retailers as well as online so you’re sure to find the best deal. It will even list whether the store will price match, and if so, display a screen you can show to the cashier at checkout. Deals to many popular stores are displayed when the app is launched.
Do you have people on your list that are hard to shop for? Do you ever feel that it would be easier to just give them a gift card so they can choose whatever they’d like? Me too. Fortunately for us, there’s Raise. Like the previously mentioned apps, Raise is free to download, and available across both the iOS and Android platforms. The app features over 3000 retailers and restaurants, and offers gift cards at reduced rates. Have you ever gotten a gift card for a store or restaurant you know you’ll never use? I’m sure that’s a resounding yes! Raise let’s you sell these cards. Simply list the price you’d like to get, your card will be listed in the marketplace for all users to see, and you’ll get paid when it’s sold.
If you’ve been religiously following the Blog this year, you’ll know that shopping isn’t among my favorite pastimes. It’s a necessary evil, so I’m always looking for ways to do it as easily and inexpensively as possible. These apps (and many more) accomplish just that. If you’re interested in trying any of these we’ve discussed, head to the App Store on your Apple device, or Google Play with your Android product, and search for the name you’re interested in. Download, and you’re on your way. You can make a killing on Black Friday, but, thanks to your smartphone, there are ways to do the day “smarter”, and even more successfully than ever before!