I guess I'm not doing enough variety of shopping and eating out, because I'm not very aware of this as a thing. But as I thought about it more, I remembered I have gotten a few apps for stores/restaurants over the last couple of years.
The first two on my list are the only ones that came to mind before I had to open up my phone and page through it to remember what others I have.
Ruby Tuesday -- it's my kids' favorite family restaurant (the only sit-down place everyone likes)
Michael's -- I started using it when I got really into knitting this past year.
Rita's Italian Ice -- my dairy allergic daughter's favorite frozen treat place (and my other kids like it a lot too)
Wegman's -- I shop there every week and tried using the app for a while a couple of years ago, then had some trouble with its grocery list feature, and haven't opened it again since. I've just been using the Apple Reminders App for my grocery list. I'd like to try the Wegmans app again though, so I can use coupons occasionally, so thanks for the reminder.
Giant (grocery store) -- It's my closest grocery store, so sometimes I run in there for something quick instead of Wegmans. Their app is awful unless it has improved since I last opened it a year or two ago.
Tropical Smoothie -- This is one of the worst apps ever. At least it was when I tried to use it last year. I haven't even visited the place this year yet. You can tell I don't bother to delete apps, judging by the list, right?
Clothes Mentor -- a resale shop near us. I don't remember this app being useful for anything. It's a good store though!
Lafayette Hotel in San Diego -- It was fun to read the info in the app when we planned our trip to San Diego last January, but while were there, I found little use for it. I did use it to look up the room descriptions when we decided we wanted to switch.
Starbucks -- This one should be the most useful, because my older daughter loves frappucinos. I gave her a gift card for Christmas and then entered it into this app. But it has been so difficult and confusing to use; I still haven't figured it out.
Panera -- my all time favorite restaurant, although I rarely eat there anymore. Haven't opened the app in ages, but my friend tells me she uses it a lot to order on her way there so the food is ready when she arrives. I still show my old reward card from 2008 when I order my food; I wonder if it's incorporated into the app?
Joann -- fabric store. I don't even remember downloading this one. I never go there because I don't sew, but we bought some fabric last Halloween for my older daughter's costume.
Oh! Here's one of the most useful apps I've ever used. Not exactly a store or restaurant, but an amusement park. Kings Dominion, here in Virginia. We got season passes for the first time this summer, and the app has several useful features: helping you keep track of where you parked, describing all the rides and telling the current wait time, tracking yourself on the map in real time, storing my family's passes, so I don't need to carry the cards, etc etc etc. To make it perfect, there is free Wifi in the park. I was so excited when I learned that on our first visit this spring.
Okay, I flipped through my 6 pages of phone apps twice and I think that covers all the stores/restaurants and I think I found all I have. I'm not opposed to them; I just don't shop in a lot of places. Of all the apps I listed, the only one I've opened in several weeks is Rita's and Kings Dominion (both on the same day a few weeks ago, I think!).
There are other ways to get discounts that I use though. One is email. Most of my email is store newsletters I subscribe to just so I have the sales and coupon info available to me when I decide to go shopping. I spend time deleting all that mail though, so if I could get sale info and coupons through an app instead, I think that would be better.
The newest way (for me) is that I've accepted text messaging from a few places that inform me of discounts. Sonic (fast food burger place my kids love) sends a text every Monday, Redbox (movie rental place) once or twice week, Rue21 (clothing store). I like getting text notifications because they're easier to dismiss than emails. Of course, less can be crammed into a text message, so there again, an app could be better. Text messaging is great for notifications about things like medication being ready for pick up at the pharmacy and that an expected package is due to arrive today.
How did I just write so much about this?
I'm off to search the app store now...