Online shopping is one of the hobbies that I do often due to wide selection, the convenience and savings. When comparing online to in-store prices, most products are found to be cheaper online. But how do I make sure I’m getting the best deal online?

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I could spend hours on the internet looking for the best deals on a particular item. However, there is something out there that is more easy and fast for me to us. I can use a shopping assistant like Capital One Shopping (formerly Wikibuy). This is an extension and app that will help you find coupon codes and reward you for shopping with participating local merchants. For everything you need to know about Capital One Shopping, keep reading.

Please note, you don’t need a Capital One credit card to use this service. It’s open to everyone.

Table of Contents

Capital One Shopping Features

Capital One Shopping is a free browser extension that acts as an online shopping price comparison tool. It will tell you whether the item you are viewing is available elsewhere for less. On top of that, the extension will also search the internet for coupon and promo codes and automatically tests them for validity.

The site has a few other distinct features, including:

Price drop notification.
- Capital One Shopping will track the things you search for and purchase online. If the price of the product drops, the extension will let you know so you can take advantage of the deal. What about when you have already purchased the item? Some credit cards and retailers offer price protection, which means they will reimburse you for the amount you overpaid.
Reward credits.
- Link your credit cards to Capital One Shopping to access Local Offers. The company partners with local merchants to give users rewards when you shop. For example, 5% back in Capital One Shopping Credits at a partner eatery. All you have to do is activate the offer and pay for the meal with your linked card. Use your rewards to buy gift cards to popular merchants, like Barnes & Noble, eBay, Groupon, Sephora and Staples.
Universal search.
- You can search directly on the Capital One Shopping website if you want to do comparison shopping for a particular item. It will search its database to locate a possible discount and direct you to the purchase page. Use this feature when you’re shopping in-store by downloading the Capital One Shopping app to your phone and scanning the product barcode.
Synchronization.
- Capital One Shopping syncs your data between the web browser and the phone app, so you can easily search for products, view your search history and add items to your watchlist from both.

Capital One Shopping Pricing

Capital One Shopping is free to use. There is no cost to install the extension and app, and no monthly fees or additional charges.

Capital One Shopping Limitations

There are some limitations to keep in mind before you download the Capital One Shopping extension:

It may not find the lowest price available.
- There is no way to monitor the millions of retailers available online, and Capital One Shopping focuses on the biggest, most popular merchants. While it does eliminate a lot of research you have to do, the extension does not cover the whole spectrum.
It sometimes finds expired offers
- Capital One Shopping might show you an offer that is no longer available when you try to make the purchase. This is because retailers change their prices and coupon codes often. Similarly, the extension might show you an item that has recently become out of stock.
It may not give you a better deal compared to a cashback portal.
- For example, you might get a Capital One Shopping offer for 5% less, but Swagbucks or Rakuten is giving 10% cashback for shopping with the same merchant.
It collects a lot of data.
- The extension tracks and records things like emails, addresses, cookies, location, third-party beacons, payment information and transaction data.
It can slow down your browser.
- Like any other extension or add-on software, Capital One Shopping can negatively affect your browser’s performance.

Bottom Line

Capital One Shopping allows you two options: online with the extension and in-store with the mobile app. Therefore, it is an easy and low-effort way to save money when making purchases. If you are someone who wants to save money, but you do not want to manually search through the internet for a good deal, then Capital One Shopping is likely a good solution for you. It will help you find better deals on items you already plan on purchasing, it’s free, and it provides rewards with a linked credit card.

You might also want to consider shopping assistant alternatives like Honey and cashback portals like Swagbucks and Rakuten.