Fat Wallet maintains a website that promotes deals on popular merchandise, and they utilize that resource to support their free Black Friday iOS app. The app is compatible with iPhone 3GS through iPhone 5, although it is optimized for iPhone 5. It is also compatible with 3rd, 4th, and 5th generations of iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iOS 5.0. It is available in English only.
Black Friday app home page
As I was looking at this app, a song from the movie Guys and Dolls popped into my head because it is so apropos to the frustrations associated with shopping on Black Friday. The song is the opening number and involves three of the minor characters trying to decide which horse will win a race -- Nicely Nicely, Rusty, and Benny. Nicely Nicely starts off. “I got the horse right here. The name is Paul Revere and here’s a guy that says that the weather’s clear ….” Then Benny starts in while Nicely is still talking - “I’m pickin’ Valentine, ‘cause on the morning line a guy has got him figured at five to nine….” At this point Rusty joins in with “But look at Epitaph, he wins it by half according to this here in the Telegraph…”
You have this huge Thanksgiving newspaper with ads screaming at you with bargains that you can’t pass up, so how do you decide. It’s just like each of the guys saying their horse is a sure thing. Should someone go get in line at midnight to take advantage of the loss leader at an electronics store, or would it be better to check on-line? But if you get the electronics deal, you will miss out on the special toy at another store. It’s all well and good that it is free, but how is it going to help me get the things I want/need at the best price?
What does it do?
It will:
- Search and sort deals by store, category, brand and price range.
- Conduct an advanced search for free shipping, door busters, online availability and rebates.
- Search by phrase, such as product name.
- Review individual deals details for price and additional discounts.
- Send push notifications when new store ads are made public.
- Share deals via email or text.
- Add deals to Wish Lists for quick-in-store reference and comparison.
Using the product
That is a nice list of options, but Siri is not going to come on and ask you what you want to look for. The app requires a bit of set up before you start planning your shopping. Primarily, you need to visit the following screen and make your choices. Once you are familiar with your options and have set your parameters you will be able to take full advantage of the app.
Choose options
One nice feature of this app is the amount of information you can gather about products on-line. With just a click you can move from a store to an ad, to a specific product or product type, to all the information needed to place an order.
Shop directly from the app
Do I recommend it?
I do. Like some others of you, I remember the days when little girls had to have a Cabbage Patch Kid or the world would end. I would have given anything for an option that helped me find one.
Oh, and for those who now have that Guys and Dolls song stuck in their head, sorry about that.