I’m not much of a Target shopper. I recently started using Target Cartwheel and I find it an easy way to save money so I’m actually shopping there more when a good deal comes up.
What is Target Cartwheel
Target Cartwheel is a coupon app from Target. You can access the coupons, called “offers” on the Cartwheel website or on the Cartwheel app (available for ios and Android). The offers can be applied to in-store purchases only.
How to access
In order to access Cartwheel you need a Target.com account. You can set one up here. You can log in to Cartwheel on the website or through the app with your target.com account login and password.
Add offers to your Cartwheel
When you first join Cartwheel you are allowed to select up to ten offers to add to your account. As you use Cartwheel you will earn badges (I have notifications turned off) and the number of offers you can select will increase to a maximum of fifty. I believe I used it three times and was up to fifty.
You can add and remove offers as often as you like. You’ll know when an offer is on your Cartwheel when a check mark appears next to it. You’ll be notified when you reach your maximum number of offers. You can check the website or the app frequently in order to find the latest offers. My experience is that offers are added on Thursdays and Sundays. Offers expire and will automatically be removed from your account.
How to redeem your offers
When you’re ready to make purchases at a Target store you need to either print out the bar code for your account from the website or use your smart phone to scan the bar code at the register to get your Cartwheel discounts. To print the bar code got to “Checkout.” The bar code doesn’t change so you can use the same copy every time you’re heading to Target.
You can redeem all Cartwheel offers on your list at the time of your transaction. You may also be able to use paper manufacturer coupons. More on that later.
Load offers before you get to the store
When you log in to Cartwheel will see “Offers for you.” You can also browse by the “Categories” tab on the website or app. You can filter further, for example, if you select “Food” you can narrow it down further to “Produce.”
Load offers in store
You can also load offers in-store. You’ll need to log in to Target’s free wifi and as you shop you can scan items in the app and see if there are any offers.
How often can you use Cartwheel
You can use Cartwheel up to six times a day. (Maybe people go to multiple stores when one doesn’t have something they are looking for?). That said you can only apply a single Cartwheel offer up to four times per transaction. So if you’re buying five of something you will only get the Cartwheel discount on four items. You can split the purchase and buy additional items in a second transaction. If you plan on buying more than one of an item you might want to read the terms and conditions on the coupon before you load up your cart.
Cartwheel allows stacking
Stacking is when you apply multiple discounts to one item. You can use one Target coupon, one Cartwheel offer and one manufacturer’s coupon per item you purchase. Here’s how Target applies discounts:
- Target coupons from Cartwheel are applied first. Generally those are the cents or dollars off offers.
- Cartwheel offers are applied next. These are generally the percentage off offers.
- Manufacturer coupons are applied next. You can apply one manufacturer coupon, paper or digital, per product. Cartwheel will not allow you to apply coupons that reduce the cost of an item to below zero.
- If you are using an offer that applies to the whole purchase, a threshold offer, such as “Buy $50 in groceries get $10 bonus gift card”) it applies after all other discounts and coupons have been applied.
- If you have one, The Target Red card 5% discount is applied last.
Target’s full coupon policy here.
Example: My latest Cartwheel purchase
- Cashier scans in $64 worth of groceries (before taxes and discounts).
- Scan Target Cartwheel bar code from smart phone.
- Less: $10 in Cartwheel discounts.
- Scan in paper manufacturer coupon I brought into the store.
- Less: $1 manufacturers coupon.
- Net cost before taxes: $53
- Scan in additional Cartwheel offer “Buy $50 in groceries get $10 bonus gift card”. (The bonus gift card can only be used on a subsequent purchase).
- Paid with 10% off Target Gift Card (additional savings $5).
- Collect receipt and $10 bonus gift card.
- Total savings: $11 Cartwheel/Coupon, $5 off payment and $10 bonus gift card= $26 or 40%. Cha-ching!
Review
- Create a target.com account.
- Log in to Cartwheel and add offers to your account.
- Bring your smart phone or paper bar code to the store.
- When making your purchase scan Cartwheel first, then any paper coupons and pay with a discount gift card or the Target Red Card.
- Enjoy your savings!
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