In Latest Ranking, Coupon Apps Save (Energy, Mostly) by Barely Changing Positions

Sometimes, change is good. Other times, it’s bad. Occasionally, there’s no change at all.

Appearances and suppositions to the contrary, we don’t control who rises and falls in these rankings. That awesome power belongs to consumers who download and use the apps we rank according to their own whims, wants, needs and necessities. Consumers call the shots here.

So, when nothing changes, blame consumers. Unless they can hear you. In that case, don’t.

Seriously, though, this Provider Ranking of Coupon Apps is pushing the savings thing almost too far (if that’s even possible), into aspects of physics like the First Law of Thermodynamics. What we mean is, it’s conserving energy by barely moving. Clausius and Kelvin would approve.

Come to think of it, these unmoved app providers are also undoubtedly pleased by holding onto their hard-won real estate. So, we take it all back. Here’s to the absence of change.

The Top Five

We’ve got Groupon at No. 1, with its recent focus on local with deals, like its pact with beauty and wellness appointment app Booksy to streamline the process of finding and booking appointments with salons, spas and the like. Makes a world of sense.

Paypal’s Honey Smart Shopping Assistant is sticky at No. 2, as its functionality became available in the Safari browser this month. But is there a coupon?

The Ibotta app is A-OK at No. 3 for another month, after the big announcement in June that Walmart and Ibotta cut a deal to develop new digital offers for Walmart’s own site and app.

At No. 4 it’s the Flipp app with weekly deals, seemingly entrenched in the top five.

Finally, at No. 5, it’s the good folks from GoodRX, which reported a healthy spike in subscribers back in August on a wave of other good news that the drug discounter has been surfing all year.

The Top 10

Moving on, all drivers are aware that gas prices have gone berserk. It helps explain the ever-present GasBuddy app — still at No. 6 in our ranking — which surpassed one million users this year.

Rakuten Rewards takes the No. 7 chart position yet again, proving that people love rewards.

We know this, of course, but seeing the Rakutens of the world is a helpful reminder.

At No. 8 it’s still the Shopkick app, which arrived in the top 10 some months ago and stayed there.

Those who appreciate our efforts with the Provider Ranking of Coupon Apps will recall that last cycle, there was a somewhat rare three-way tie for ninth place. It has since evaporated.

Now taking No. 9 for itself is the popular Receipt Hog app. Notice we didn’t say “hogging.”

Here at the very end, we’re confronted with the only app to actually change chart positions since the last cycle. Dropping a spot out of the aforementioned three-way tie, we’ve got the RetailMeNot app at No. 10, aggregating coupon offers on all kinds of goods.

Hope you got your money’s worth. See you here next month.