When I was a kid, my mom always took me with her shopping. If I wanted a pair of jeans or a shirt or anything that was full price, she’d ask me if I’d checked the clearance racks. More often than not, I could find something else I wanted, cheaper. Then she’d remind me of her favorite saying: “Save money now, spend dollars ahead.”

Dollars ahead. That’s what she called the money we saved by shopping sales, using coupons, and comparing prices. And, I’d imagine those dollars ahead of us, dancing in the distance, waiting to be spent on something fabulous.

These days I still look for ways to save money on my purchases. And one of my favorite tips is to use mobile loyalty reward programs and retail coupon apps. There are so many places I need to stop at anyway, like Walmart or CVS. I need to go shopping. Why not earn rewards while I’m at it?

Saving Money the 2018 Way with Retail Coupon Apps

Mom and I used to clip coupons out of the Sunday paper, but these days retail coupon apps make couponing way easier. There are coupon apps you can keep on your phone that give you points every time you visit a retailer, even if you don’t make a purchase. And, as often as I like to window shop, those points add up fast. It doesn’t have to be a store either; you can get points from shopping online, too. Then you can use those points on digital gift cards. And rewarding myself is the best part—it’s like an early Christmas!

There are coupon apps you can keep on your phone that give you points every time you visit a retailer, even if you don’t make a purchase.

My favorite retail coupon app is Shopkick, because it’s like a rewards app and a deals app rolled into one. You collect points, called “kicks,” which Shopkick alerts you to as you walk into a store. This part is great for me, and since I’ve started using this app I haven’t missed out on a bargain yet. I even put it on my mom’s phone. She still uses paper coupons, which work with Shopkick, giving her double-coupon savings.

My favorite retail coupon app is Shopkick, because it’s like a rewards app and a deals app rolled into one.

Sure, these apps are convenient, but why do you need a mobile loyalty reward program if you are using a retail coupon app? Because double dipping makes for better savings! Besides, you’ve rewarded them with your business, shouldn’t they give you something back? It’s really just the level of appreciation I’ve come to expect as a consumer. And, if they are giving points away free, it’s silly to miss out!

Some loyalty programs use cards you scan at checkout, but because mobile loyalty reward programs go everywhere with you on your phone, they are more modern and convenient. Unlike loyalty programs that use cards, these offer ways to get points even when you aren’t shopping by sharing socially, taking surveys, and other actions.

What’s So Great About Mobile Loyalty Rewards Programs?

If you haven’t noticed yet, mobile loyalty rewards programs are the best way to shop in 2018. They make shopping more fun—almost like a game, with prizes.

What makes mobile loyalty rewards programs so great? The best of them:

• Make everyday shopping a joyful experience
• Make you feel good about being a smart, savvy shopper
• Help you get more gift-buying done during the holiday season
• Offer more value for your money
• Help your family stay on a budget
• Turn trips to the store into a virtual treasure hunt

Mom and I have had the greatest time ever since we started using mobile loyalty rewards programs. You should really give one a try.

I love shopping. I love the satisfied feeling I get when I know I’ve gotten a good deal. And, by using mobile loyalty rewards programs I can enjoy shopping even more. I save money, I earn rewards, and I work for those dollars ahead. What fabulous thing will I buy with my next free gift card? I don’t know, but I’m so glad I followed mom’s advice!

Looking for a mobile loyalty rewards program and a deals app, rolled into one? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of Shopkickers who love the rewards of shopping with us!

Or join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and check in every day on your phone, no matter where you are, to learn about the hottest, newest deals.

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I love my kids, and it shows, which is why people are always asking how I find time to do things for myself. I tell them the key is speed! When you have three boys, like I do, you have to be fast to get them ready for school, to their soccer practices, and to their friends’ houses and back. It’s always run, run, run. I feed off my kids’ energy for speed cleaning, powering through workout videos, and shopping for groceries. Lately I’ve been applying my need for speed to other stuff, too—like getting rewarded for shopping online.

I’ve talked about this a lot recently, but I’m a huge devotee of free mobile shopping apps to make money for what you buy anyway. If you’re not familiar, how it works is easy: you do your normal shopping stuff—go to the store, scan barcodes of certain products to get more info, check out—and these apps give you points which you can then trade in for gift cards. There’s a huge list of free apps that give you gift cards to choose from, and the best apps can be used online, too.

It’s probably because of my go, go, go boys, but I’ve found that my favorite apps that give rewards for shopping online are the ones that give you rewards fast! (Maybe you didn’t know there were even different speeds to collect your rewards, but trust me there are.) That’s why I’m here today to help you learn more about how to quickly earn rewards for shopping online. So, let’s hurry up and get to it!

Time Frames for Rewards for Shopping Online

One holiday season, I took a hard look at my budget and decided we could use some extra breathing room. So, I got a part-time job in the mobile devices department at Best Buy. This was great because the extra money and the excellent employee discount meant that I got good deals on everything on my holiday shopping list. It was one of those win-win situations!

On the phones and tablets we sold, we basically had two types of rebates that helped customers save money. One let us take an instant discount at the register; the other—and this was a while back now—required customers to send in proof of purchase, then wait for a rebate check. Well, guess which one was more popular? That’s right, the one that got customers their money fast. No shocker.

My personal opinion is that’s how rewards for shopping online should work—the faster you can collect points, the better.

Here’s a list of the things I firmly believe should happen fast with the ideal app:

• Learning to use it: You shouldn’t have to crack a code or be a tech genius to learn how to use the ideal shopping rewards app. It should be simple, intuitive, and a ton of fun!
• Collecting points: The ideal app should start giving you points quickly during any trip to the store. The best apps give you points just for walking inside!
• Payouts: Almost every one of these apps has a minimum award amount you have to accrue before you can cash out, ranging from $2 on the low end to $20 on the super high end. That’s an extreme example, and most of them are in the $5 to $10 range, but I personally prefer one that gives me the option to cash out ASAP because then I can do it quickly and on my schedule!

The Best App to Quickly Earn Rewards for Shopping Online

Which shopping app is the best, and quickest, in my humble opinion? For me, that would be Shopkick. Shopkick pays out in gift cards to all my favorite stores, including Amazon, Target, and Starbucks, and its minimum to cash out is only $2. That means I can get (another) Starbucks gift card to spend on my all-time guilty pleasure—the flat white—super fast, just the way I like it!

But Shopkick has tons of other things to love as well. It’s great because you can get points for shopping online and you can get cash back quickly on in-person receipts. They are always adding new products and stores, and it has one of the most active and fun social media presences anywhere. I’m always laughing at the fun jokes they put on there and sharing tips with other kickers (as we call ourselves) about ways to get rewards for shopping online even faster! It’s just so fun.

Speed is important, but so is making sure you’re up-to-date on the most effective apps for shopping online and off.

I’m glad I had a chance to slow down just a tiny bit today so that I could share all of this with you. Speed is important, but so is making sure you’re up-to-date on the most effective apps for shopping online and off. You really have to make sure you get an app that you love to use and that will give you your benefits quickly.

I don’t mean to end this briefly, but I think I hear one of the boys. I’m sure there’s a soccer game or a cub scout outing or a crisis in the backyard that needs my attention. And, if it hasn’t happened yet, it’s about to happen—fast.

Learn how you can earn big rewards and get them fast for shopping online. Download Shopkick’s free app and get ready to be wowed. Welcome to the fun, Shopkicker!

If you’re as social media savvy as you are shopping savvy, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily fun and inspiration.

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I love love, love spin class. My preference is generally to go about three times a week but, trust me, I would go waaay more if I could find the time. In fact, I’d be there basically every day if it was practical!

This explains why I recently had a crisis when my favorite spin studio moved to the other side of town after someone bought the old building it was in and decided to turn it into condos. I didn’t want to change studios! I had my favorite instructors, my favorite ladies to ride with, my favorite times to go… I even had a favorite bike! Following my spin-sters to the new location would have added so much drive time that I probably would have started missing sessions. So, I did what we all do when it comes time to find a new anything—I took to Yelp and Google Reviews to find nearby spin classes, then chose the most popular one.

The good news is, I’m really, truly happy at my new spot! The schedule is just as good as my old fave (maybe even better), the music is great and the sound system is fantastic, the instructors are intense but not too intense, and I’m even getting used to a new bike. The reviews also told me that this place is home to some of the friendliest riders around, and, guess what? They were right!

Of course, I miss my crew from my last spin studio, but I’m already making some great new friends here. I’m overall grateful I switched, and I’m super glad I could go online and easily find a place that other people in my community seemed to really like.

This is just one example from my own life of how I’ve recently discovered that popularity can be a good thing. There’s another one that I want to talk about today: retail shopping apps.

Retail shopping apps are incentive programs you use from your phone to get paid for the shopping you do already. I know, amazing right? Specifically, I want to get into which are the most popular free mobile shopping apps for earning rewards fast—maybe even as fast as I ride at my spin class! With that in mind, let’s take a look at what makes an app popular and why, starting with the features of my personal favorites.

Common Features of the Most Popular Mobile Shopping Apps

I admit that when Yelp, Google, and Amazon reviews first became a thing I was a little skeptical. I’ve always liked things that are just a bit outside of the mainstream and off the beaten path. What I quickly learned, though, is that even things outside the mainstream can score high in online reviews. To find them, you just had to know what qualities to search for. With restaurants, for instance, this meant looking out for adjectives like cozy, eclectic, charming, or little mom-and-pop.

In much the same way, I think it’s also important to look for basic features that are inherent to all of the best mobile shopping apps. Here are some common features that these apps simply must have:

• Compatible with both Android and iPhone: This one is a no-brainer. If an app is being ranked as among the most popular, it generally has to be available to users of both iPhones and Androids. It would be pretty hard to make any popularity list without being available to the largest number of users.
• Pays you to grocery shop: It’s no secret that my second favorite hobby (behind spin class, of course) is clothes shopping. But even someone who hits up Nordstrom Rack on a weekly basis like me still does more grocery shopping than anything else. We all have to eat after all, which makes getting paid to grocery shop a vital quality that all the most popular apps share.
• Works with multiple big retailers, both online and off: Any mobile shopping app worth having has to work with the stores that I frequent the most, like Walmart and Target. But, since it’s 2018, it’s also vital that, in addition to giving you points for shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, mobile shopping apps let you earn gift cards for shopping online.

Most Popular Mobile Shopping Apps Statistics

My personal favorite among the most popular mobile shopping apps is called Shopkick, and it has all the common features we mentioned above and then some. Don’t take just my word for it, though. Poking around online recently, I discovered statistics that show that in 2017, Shopkick was one of the most popular mobile shopping apps. When it came to apps you can use to get points at multiple stores, my personal favorite, Shopkick, is the most popular!

It’s easy to see why. If you’re not familiar, how Shopkick works is that it gives you points for shopping online or in-person for the things you already do during your normal shopping trips. If you’re in-person, this means you get points just for walking into a store, and for scanning the barcodes of certain items to get more info, and for taking pictures of your receipt after you’ve made your purchase. It’s a similar system for shopping online, except now you get points for visiting online stores, viewing products, watching informational videos, and for using your mobile phone to buy products. Easy! 

You get points just for walking into a store … and for taking pictures of
your receipt after you’ve made your purchase.

Change can be hard, but knowing what to look for and having crowdsourced info about the most popular options can make trying new and different things easier. Just look at me with all my new spin class ladies. You know how I know that these new ladies are becoming my friends? I’ve already got them using Shopkick! After spin class, we usually start by talking about how tough the day’s session was, then before you know it we’re into what our favorite recent specials on Shopkick have been. It’s a great way to bond!

Start using the most popular free mobile shopping app for earning rewards fast. Download Shopkick’s free app today and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered the rewards of shopping with a free sidekick.

And, if you love social media as much as you love your smartphone, join Shopkick on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a little daily shopping inspiration.

Image courtesy stokkete.

I still remember the very first time I went to Whole Foods. I felt a little nervous, like a kid on the first day of school, because everything was so new and different from the traditional grocery store around the corner from my house. I had to drive to the other side of town, find street parking, and navigate unfamiliar aisles. But you know what? Once I got past my initial jitters, I absolutely loved it.

Whole Foods is the best, from the super fresh local produce to the brands you don’t find anywhere else to—this is my boys’ favorite part—the delicious pre-made items that let me get together a very nice meal even when I’m short on time. Depending on what’s going on in a given month, though, sometimes my budget can make me a little hesitant to head on over there. I’m getting quite a bit more value with all the cool items and fresh produce at Whole Foods, but I’m also spending a little more.

I recently found the perfect way to get around this dilemma, though: free shopping apps that let you earn Whole Foods rewards points! With these apps, you can earn rewards just by shopping at Whole Foods, plus any number of other stores I go to all the time. And, just like their ready-to-eat snacks and meals, these apps are all incredibly easy to use. But the best part? Unlike those meals, they’re free!

Step One to Earn Whole Foods Rewards: Familiarize Yourself with Shopping Apps

The first time I went into Whole Foods, I was disoriented; there were so many new and different products that I’d never seen before. But I stuck with it, exploring the store aisle by aisle, and now I love, love, love Whole Foods!

The world of shopping rewards apps can feel like this too. Just like all the new products and brands at Whole Foods, when you try to choose one to start using, there are so many choices that it can be hard to know which one is going to help you earn the most Whole Foods rewards. Luckily for you, I’m here to be your guide!

Let’s start by narrowing our free shopping apps for Whole Foods rewards down to two basic categories:

• The Whole Foods store rewards app: Whole Foods makes it easy to save with them by offering its own app. Remember when we talked about how to earn Target gift cards using a free app? This is a whole (get it?) lot like that! With the Whole Foods Market app, you get exclusive digital coupons, plus an easy-to-use reference guide that makes it easy to know exactly what’s on sale and when you should buy it. This app has seriously taken my shopping at Whole Foods to a whole (#sorrynotsorry) new level.
• Multi-store shopping rewards apps: When it comes to my grocery shopping, I don’t like to stick to just one store. The best system for me is to get a few items at my neighborhood spot, a few more at Walmart or Target, and the really good produce and higher end stuff at Whole Foods. I’m actually like that with apps too, I can’t stick to only one. So, in addition to my Whole Foods app, I like to use some shopping apps good at lots of different stores too, apps that are free and can help me drastically increase my Whole Foods rewards! How these apps work is generally pretty simple: you go to Whole Foods, or Target, Walmart, etc., and you earn points and incentives for the things you do while you’re shopping anyway, like walking into the store, scanning barcodes to get more info about featured products, and making purchases. Easy! The key thing to remember is that using multiple rebate apps can maximize rewards.

Step Two to Earn Whole Foods Rewards: Establish a Routine

While my trips to Whole Foods are somewhat inconsistent, my routine when I go there is steady and strong:

1. Check the Whole Foods app for sales and digital coupons, then make sure I have my favorite shopping rewards app open as well.
2. Make a list of what I need, heavily influencing it based on the savings offered on the app.
3. Enter the store and scan all the products that my shopping rewards app is featuring.
4. Make sure I use my shopping rewards app to snap a quick picture of my receipt as soon as I get back to the car so I get rewarded for my purchases each and every time I shop.
5. Repeat!

This routine is automatic for me now, but I couldn’t really do it without my favorite multi-store shopping rewards app, Shopkick. Shopkick works at Whole Foods as well as all my other favorites stores, like Best Buy, Target—even Amazon! And, it turns all my shopping trips into a fun game to collect as many points, called kicks, as I can. With Shopkick, my trips to Whole Foods are like a scavenger hunt. I get points when I walk in, points for hunting down and scanning featured items, and points for making purchases.

Thanks to Shopkick and the Whole Foods app, my grocery trips are pretty carefree these days, regardless of what my budget is looking like during any given month. I just get so much out of this dynamic digital duo that the savings have made it possible to add Whole Foods to my regular repertoire of grocery stops. Now if only someone could invent an app that makes city parking easier.

Start getting paid to shop at Whole Foods with Shopkick. Download the free shopping rewards app today and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered the fun of shopping with us as their savings sidekick!

And, if you love social media as much as you love your smartphone, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Image courtesy SweetLana