Rewards and shopping have always sort of gone together, at least in my experience, whether those rewards end up taking the form of a really great secret sale, or the feeling you get when you find the absolute perfect top that you can wear to both the office and out with the ladies. Grocery shopping, however, has always been the one part of shopping where I have personally found the rewards opportunities to be just a bit more elusive.

That is until I discovered the concept of the grocery shopping rewards app. Technology these days is truly amazing—and getting more amazing all the time—and it’s now being used to make trips to the grocery store more fun with great savings. There are different ways that these apps can save us shoppers money, with the one thing they have in common being the positive effect they can have on our shopping game, as well as on our budgets.

One of the best parts of all this, I have to say, is how you can take these apps with you, meaning that they aren’t just limited to your local grocer. Let’s say you’re on the other side of town for spin class, and after you make a quick run to a nearby store for a few items. You can do that. I’ve even used all three of the grocery shopping rewards app selections here while I travel! Simply put, saving money knows no bounds, so neither should the apps you use to get rewards for your groceries!

Grocery Shopping Reward App #1: SavingStar

Our first grocery shopping rewards app that can be used anywhere is SavingStar. It’s what’s known as a digital couponing app, and how it works is that it discounts items at most grocery store locations, funneling your savings into an account that you can cash out later.

It’s super easy to use because you can link SavingStar up to your store loyalty card account (or an equivalent), and you don’t even have to scan your receipt after you’ve made purchases. SavingStar offers its users an array of methods that they can use to cash out, including PayPal, direct bank account deposits, checks, a Upromise account, or gift cards to a select group of stores.

Grocery Shopping Reward App #2: Coupons.com

For the second entry on our list of grocery shopping rewards apps that can be used anywhere, we have Coupons.com, which is like SavingStar in that it’s an online digital coupon app. It’s different, however, in that users must go on and download digital coupons, although recently they’ve worked to add a linked store loyalty card functionality that is similar to SavingStar, but in all honesty, I haven’t had a chance to try it out just yet.

Coupons.com also gives its users an option to shop in a truly old school way. That’s right, you can use this app to print out physical coupons that you then take with you to the store in order to redeem your savings. You know, just like most of us did when we were kids and the Sunday paper was the primary way to collect savings at our local stores.

Grocery Shopping Reward App #3: Shopkick

The other two apps on today’s list are great, make no mistake, but my favorite out of any grocery shopping reward app is Shopkick. It’s definitely the one I use the most. Like the other two, how it works is pretty simple. You go to a grocery store in your town, on vacation, while visiting friends—basically anywhere—and you get points for the simple things you do while you’re shopping anyway, things like making purchases, scanning the barcodes on certain products, and even just walking into the store. Then you trade those points in for free gift cards!

It’s really easy to use, clearly, but what I think I like the most about it is the way that it fits so seamlessly into my regular grocery shopping routine. I hardly have to go out of my way at all, I just quickly scan the barcodes of the things I put in my cart, and then when I’m done, I scan my receipts, and the points roll in. As an efficient shopper, I’m a huge fan, and I can’t recommend Shopkick enough. It even makes your trips out to the store more fun, because once you get familiar enough with the point-scoring system, each time down the aisle starts to feel like an exciting scavenger hunt for more rewards, especially if you like to push yourself a bit at things, like me.

Finding and redeeming rewards have never been such a vital part of shopping.

The last point I want to make here today about all of these apps is that because of their wide-range of eligible stores and their inherently digital natures, you can literally take them with you anywhere. You can (and should) of course use them for your normal grocery shopping, but you should also remember to use them at stores that fall outside of your normal routine.

Finding and redeeming rewards have never been such a vital part of shopping. There are more and more ways to incorporate rewards into your regular shopping routines, but I strongly suggest you incorporate some or all of these apps into yours, especially Shopkick, which you can pair with either of the digital coupon apps on this list. And if some savings is a good thing, double the savings is even better, right?

Looking for a grocery shopping rewards app to save money and make your trips to the store much more fun? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of Shopkickers who love the rewards of shopping with us!

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Image courtesy wdnetstudio