As the Walmart app (free) will tell you, the days are counting quickly until Christmas. But no matter what holidays you celebrate this season, it’s a fact that the next few weeks include some of the busiest shopping days of the year.
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Whether it’s looking for deals at mega-retailers, organizing your shopping lists and budget, or figuring out how to keep tabs on all those packages you’ve ordered, these apps should make the holiday season less stressful.
iPhone apps for stores
Walmart’s app only features electronics products, but its interface is decent for browsing to get gift ideas. It also has a television-sizing feature that can aid you in choosing the correct television for your space via the iPhone’s camera. It’s not as accurate as I’d like, but it is innovative.
If there’s a little one on your list, you’ll want to pick up Toys “R” Us Big Book (free), which is a mobile version of the toy behemoth’s catalog. You can sort products by deals or category, and then add items to a shopping list for reference after you’ve found a store. The app says prices are valid through Thanksgiving, so it’s a good guess that the app will update with December’s deals.
Browse big box store Target’s weekly ad in the free app, or checkout the app’s Christmas section, which divides gift idea by person. You can also shop for decorations for both the home and the tree. All of Target.com is available in app, and users are also able to narrow in-store product availability down to a particular store aisle.
If Amazon.com is your shopping destination, Amazon Mobile (free) makes buying specific products a snap. Although its interface isn’t the best for general browsing, if you know what you’re looking for, purchasing is just a tap away. It’s also nice to be able to quickly compare prices while you’re in brick-and-mortar stores. I also like the app’s experimental feature Amazon Remembers. Take a photo of something you’re interested in, and Amazon Remembers attempts to find something like it for sale on the Web. It isn’t perfect, but talk about major potential for changing the way people shop.
iPhone apps for making a list
If you’re looking for a cheap, no-frills app for keeping track of your holiday shopping there’s GiftBox Holiday Shopping List (free). Its interface is extremely basic, and lets you create a shopping list divided by gift recipients. Upon its first launch, you can elect to put a password on the list, handy for keeping nosy friends and family away.
If you’re willing to spend a few bucks, Gift List Budget Shopper ($3.99) can help you stick to your holiday budget. Again, you can create shopping lists for individuals, but this app also keeps track of how much you’ve spent. I love that you can set a budget for the entire list. As you enter in gifts and pricing, the app will show a breakdown of how much you’ve spent on each person and how much you’ve spent total, as well as reflect how much of your budget you have remaining.
iPhone apps to track orders
Last year, I bought 99 percent of my Christmas gifts online from a variety of Web sites. I spent a lot of time keeping track of orders, looking for tracking information and logging in an out of various accounts. This year, I plan to streamline with Delivery Status touch, a package tracker ($2.99). The name is a mouthful, but the app offers tracking for more than 25 shipping services, plus order tracking from certain merchants such as Amazon even before they ship. If you register for an account through parent company Junecloud, you can sync the app with the Web site or with the Junecloud dashboard widget for Mac. Junecloud also offers a bookmarklet that makes adding tracking numbers as simple as a matter of a click. Holidays are stressful enough, so do yourself a favor and splurge for Delivery Status — you’ll ensure your gifts don’t get left out in the snow.
