Gadgetory

get out your smartphones it's deal hunting season I'm Bridget Carey and this is your scene at update the holiday shopping rush has begun but before you start stressing out I have some hopeful news retailers are pushing out more online sales than ever before so you may just be able to do all your shopping from your computer and not feel like you're missing out on the deals at the mall the national retail federation expects the average consumer to do forty percent of their holiday shopping online this year which is more than ever before but chances are you're still going to have to go to the mall for some items but you can keep yourself sane by loading up on a few apps start with the basics a barcode scanner I liked red laser and shopsavvy before buying an item scan the barcode in the store by turning on the app and pointing the camera at the bar code these apps tell you who else is selling the item at at what prices so you can find out if you're getting a good deal and if a big retailer or even amazon is selling it for less you should ask the cashier if they'll match the lower price according to deal science this year more than twenty percent of big retailers are offering a price match guarantee best buy is one such store and they'll even match amazon just be kind to the clerk and have the prices loaded up on your phone when you get to the register so you don't hold up the line you don't have to carry around flyers and weekly circulars anymore for coupons use the app shop uhler filter out only the stores you care about and it'll pull up any coupons or promotions going on and you can even flip through the entire weekly ad the cashier can scan coupons right off the screen or they could just type in the code manually i also like using the app king ring to search for random coupons and promotions for restaurants or other things like auto services if you're someone who doesn't like carrying around a ton of loyalty cards in your wallet or on your keychain it also stores those for you digitally to stay organized throughout the month use the app return guru it's for iphone and windows phone it keeps track of your receipts in a neat way once you buy something before you stuff the receipt into a bag and forget it use the app to take a photo of the receipt in a day or less the app will be updated with the return policy of that store and you'll get a push notification alert a few days before the return deadline hits just in case you changed your mind if you're shopping with a posse you can put someone in charge of managing the app shopkick it's more of a scavenger hunt to collect points to earn gift cards you earn points by walking into stores and in some cases by scanning items in the store that your tech news update but you can get more details at cnet com / update from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey