With the holiday season approaching amidst ongoing economic challenges, Canadian consumers are looking for smart ways to stretch their shopping budgets. Fortunately, several free digital tools can help shoppers identify the best deals available both online and in local stores.
Essential Shopping Tools for Savvy Canadians
Technology expert Marc Saltzman recommends five free applications and websites that employ different strategies to help consumers save money. These tools are available through the App Store, Google Play, or accessible via web browsers, providing multiple approaches to finding bargains during the holiday shopping season.
Local Retail Savings with Flipp
Toronto-based Flipp specializes in aggregating weekly paper flyers from local retailers and highlighting the best deals, including Black Friday sales. Users can browse by store or search for specific products, then virtually clip items to create a smart shopping list. The platform also features a Watch List function that tracks deals on desired products and stores loyalty cards for convenient checkout scanning.
Earn While You Shop with Rakuten
Rakuten takes a different approach by actually paying users cash back on purchases made through their platform. The service partners with over 750 Canadian retailers, including popular stores like Temu, Sephora, and lululemon. New users receive a $5 bonus when signing up for a free account, and cash back earnings can be received via cheque, PayPal, or Interac e-Transfer. During peak shopping periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, members can earn up to 15% cash back at numerous participating stores.
Community-Powered Deals with Slickdeals
Slickdeals operates as a massive online deal-sharing community with approximately 12 million users. The platform uses a voting system where community members elevate the best deals to the Popular Deals section, with the most exceptional offers making it to the Frontpage after review by Deal Editors. The service includes dedicated Black Friday sections and price-watch alerts, plus browser extensions that provide early access to the platform's best web deals.
Automatic Savings with PayPal Honey
Now owned by PayPal, Honey functions as a browser extension that automatically searches for better prices and applicable coupon codes across thousands of websites. The tool indicates whether current prices are higher or lower than usual and can apply promo codes directly to shopping carts. Honey also offers a Gold rewards program where users earn points toward gift cards from retailers like Apple, Old Navy, and LEGO Canada.
Local Marketplace Opportunities
Don't overlook online marketplace apps like Kijiji for holiday shopping deals. Many items available are new-in-box from recipients reselling gifts or unwanted purchases. The platform facilitates communication between buyers and sellers, includes rating systems to establish trust, and enables local transactions that avoid shipping costs and delays. Other valuable local classified options include Craigslist, Nextdoor, and Facebook Marketplace.
By leveraging these free tools strategically, Canadian consumers can maximize their holiday shopping budgets while still finding thoughtful gifts for loved ones during the 2025 holiday season.
