Whether it’s back to school shopping, birthday gifts or just a treat for you, finding something on sale makes that purchase extra sweet. The new ShopCatch smartphone app (free), from TorStar Digital, puts finding those bargains, sales and exclusive discounts right in the palm of your hand. 
The ShopCatch app lets you customize how you find deals: closest (using your location), category (such as apparel, books, electronics) or alphabetically by store name.
You can view deals in either a list form or if you are more visual, you can look at the deals laid out on a map. Finding deals near you isn’t where the functionality of ShopCatch ends. Users can get more information on a specific bargain, download a coupon (should one exist for the deal), share their find through their social media channels like twitter and facebook, bookmark the sale for easy reference later and even get directions to the store using Google technology.
I love that if you find a deal you like but it’s not at a store close to you, you can check where else the deal might be offered, one of the store’s other locations. And if you are planning on visiting a mall to take advantage of one of the sales you spotted, you can search what other bargains are available at that same mall. Now you can make your trip really worthwhile.
If you create an account (which you can do right from the app), you can bookmark sales that interest you for easy retrevial, plus you can follow a mall or specific store you like to visit to keep in the know about future sales. Creating an account does mean you’ll also receive weekly emails from ShopCatch. I could probably do without another e-newsletter.
Currently the ShopCatch app only highlights exclusive shopping deals, mobile coupons and in-store promotions throughout the Greater Toronto Area but it is in the process of expanding nationwide. UPDATE: ShopCatch is now national with plans to expand into the United States.
Next time you have the itch to go shopping, check your ShopCatch app first and you’re bound to find something on sale that you just have to have.
