The holiday shopping season starts earlier and earlier each year, with over a quarter of consumers surveyed by Boston-based digital marketing firm SessionM saying they’ve already started their shopping this season.
While mobile apps for online shopping abound, some consumers still shop online through a computer rather than a tablet or smartphone, so we’ve uncovered several Internet browser extensions and other online tools for that style of shopping.
Here’s a look at several online tools you may not know about — along with an explanation of how they can save you money.
1. Paribus.co. Give Paribus access to the email account you use for online shopping, and it scans your inbox for receipts from major online retailers such as Amazon, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. (Paribus does have security measures in place, but if you don’t want it to access your other messages or if you’re worried about retail spam in your primary email account, you could use a separate email for online shopping.)
The site tracks the prices of the items you order, and if the price drops during the price protection period set by the retailer, it can automatically get you money back from the retailer, depending on that retailer’s policy. Money is typically refunded onto the original form of payment used with that retailer. For online retailers that don’t offer price protection, you may be able to use your credit card’s price protection (Paribus hopes to make this part automatic in the future).
Paribus is free to use, but it automatically collects 25 percent of any refund it gets you. That percentage drops by 5 percent for each new user you refer, so you could get the service gratis after referring five people.
Since Paribus launched in May 2015, co-founder Karim Atiyeh says around a third of its users save money in any given month. “There are a few tools out that will help users track prices, but we’re the only ones that go and claim the money on your behalf,” he says. In the future, he says they hope to integrate price matching between different retailers and alert consumers to couponing opportunities.
2. PriceBlink.com. This browser extension is available for iPad and for Chrome, Firefox and Safari on computers. “Once you download the free extension to your browser, PriceBlink automatically scans thousands of sites for the lowest Internet price on whatever product you’re viewing and will also alert you to coupons,” explains Karl Quist, president of PriceBlink.com. “If you have a few weeks to spare, you can set it up to receive automatic alerts when the price drops, or if you are in a time crunch, you can instantaneously find out if the item you are shopping for is available on another site for less or if there are coupons available for the site you are shopping on.” Quist adds that the average user will save between 17 and 20 percent each time they shop. (He’s also president of GetInvisibleHand.com, which works similarly for savings on hotels, flights and rental cars.)
3. JoinHoney.com. Free browser extension Honey is available for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera, with plans to launch a mobile app in the future. It automatically locates coupons for the online retailer you’re browsing.
“We search the Internet to find the best coupon codes for thousands of sites so that you don’t have to waste your time coupon hunting,” explains CEO and co-founder George Ruan. “During checkout, the Honey sidebar will pop out and apply the coupon code that saves you the most money on your purchase.” Outside of Amazon, Ruan says users save around 20 percent on average (or about $16) each time they click the Honey button.
4. Pricep.in. Pricep.in is a free bookmarklet available on most Internet browsers as well as Apple devices and Android phones. Once you drag it to your browser and set up a free account, it allows you to “pin” products you’re interested in buying and monitor the price over time, receiving real-time notifications on price changes and graphs representing pricing information. Pricep.in could not be reached for comment.
5. Walla.by. Price comparisons and coupon codes can save you money, but paying with the right credit card to maximize rewards or cash back can boost the value of your purchases even more. Wallaby is a website and mobile app designed to help you do just that. Its browser extension is available for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browser and works with an existing free Wallaby account. (U.S. News partners with Wallaby for the Best Credit Card rankings.)
“Your Wallaby account has a profile of which credit cards you have, but doesn’t require your credit card number to work,” explains Wallaby CEO Matthew Goldman. “Once you install the browser extension and log in, you simply click the icon on any of the almost 2,000 supported e-commerce sites. We’ll do an instant, real-time calculation of which credit card will maximize your shopping experience at that online merchant and tell you why.”
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5 Tools to Turbocharge Your Online Shopping originally appeared on usnews.com
