Save Money Shopping with RetailMeNot Coupons

The infamous coupon website RetailMeNot has been online for a couple of years now. You can find coupons for nearly all the famous brands including Amazon, Domino’s Pizza, Best Buy and so many more. Their team released a new iOS app which is the perfect companion for their site.

You’ll be able to find new coupon codes and even redeem them inside the store. Often times these coupons will work when you’re shopping online. But even if you don’t shop on your phone, it’s easy enough to copy down the codes into your web browser. I’ll say this is one a handy application for the many frugal shoppers out there.

Getting Started

The first loading screen will populate with various hot deals recently published. You can swipe left and right between the carousel to select any of the brands. This will open a detail view of the coupon and explains how you can use it.

Many times these coupons will be redeemable for an extended period of time — consider a couple of days or even a week or two! If you need to check the dates quickly, just look after the coupon description for an expiration date.

Another point to make is that you won’t always need to redeem directly from the app. The large “Tap to claim” button isn’t going to be necessary, but will redirect you into a mobile web browser. If the coupon is advertising a sale, then you will not need any formal acceptance in the store.

Searching Retailers

In my time using the app I really come to love their search functionality. RetailMeNot Coupons is pulling from their own database, so it’s much easier choosing between their options.

As you begin to type letters, the autosuggest feature pops up. You can tap any of the suggestions to go right into that coupon view. For example, I’ve searched for “Subway” and quickly found the restaurant chain being listed. By tapping, I get another list of coupons to choose from and details on each one.

When a retailer is offering more than one coupon they will be split into two categories. The Online coupons are often sales being advertised, or limited only to online purchases. In-Store coupons should be redeemed when checking out at the retailer in person. If you’re confused about how to redeem anything, check the user comments for more info.

Sharing with Users

Much of the success for RetailMeNot has been through social media. When you build a solid product then you’ll attract a reasonable audience who is willing to spread links via word of mouth. Directly from the coupon detail view screen, tap Share to bring up a new menu.

You can send links via email, Twitter, Facebook or even a personal message. Users of the community can share private messages for new coupons and local deals. Your profile is created based on any existing accounts you’ve connected into the website.

The RetailMeNot homepage actually features a detailed login form. You can setup your first account through Facebook or Twitter direct OAuth connection. But alternatively, you can register with just an email address and create your new account. All your favorites will be transferred between the site and the mobile app once you login for the first time.

Popular Stores and Categories

Another way of sorting through this mass of coupons is by limiting criteria. Search results won’t always be useful, or often times you just won’t know what to search. Thankfully, you can organize listings by popular stories or categorically.

Some of the more intriguing categories include Gifts, Apparel, Food and Accessories, but there are tens of hundreds of different categories when listed in full. If you tap the See More button you’ll get a vertical scrolling menu of all the app’s local categories.

I am not exactly sure how these popular stores are calculated. However, I could imagine the list is generated by the amount of traffic or coupons each individual retailer provides. As more users comment on these coupons and share the links, then more activity is built around them. It’s a really great system for even small businesses looking to get some publicity.

Saving Favorites

Another nifty feature I want to mention is the saved coupons area. When viewing your profile, there is a link where you can access all your saved items. After coupons expire they are generally removed from the listings and shouldn’t appear anymore.

But what would be cool is the ability to save entire stores into your favorites. Then you could check up on retailers which specifically interest you and your shopping needs. I think as the system grows we’ll see these features come to fruition. Even getting used to the current saved favorites system can be difficult, but it will save you time in the long run!

Possible Changes

The RetailMeNot app runs perfectly on the iPhone or iPad, and there isn’t much you can complain about. The only thing I would love is to see more activity for members to access their own profile data. It’s not even an easy process to logout or register yourself a new account from the app. This is unfortunate since many of the RetailMeNot listings are supported and managed by the userbase.

All in all, the app has a tremendous starting advantage. There are so many unique features it’s hard to believe nobody else has followed and jumped onto the same bandwagon. There are already various methods for sharing codes and even purchasing online in your iOS device.

The basic features I’d like to see implemented would include more helpful user interaction. Allow new users to signup for an account, change their name and upload a profile photo. Allow users to comment on coupons right from the details view. This could be the starting edge of one huge social networking concept.

Final Thoughts

I often forget to look through Google for coupon codes before purchasing something. RetailMeNot has been the most consistent app for producing real working coupons at so many different establishments. You can end up saving a small fortune when buying new electronics, or picking up dinner a couple nights each week.

Even if you don’t shop very often RetailMeNot, is worth checking out; you’ll be surprised at just how many retailers are included. Their coupons app is updated frequently and powered by a committed userbase. Not to mention, it’s a totally free download off the App Store!