Brad's Deals

What Brad's Deals does

Brad's Deals, operated by Shop Smart LLC, is a U.S.-focused deals aggregation and coupon platform founded in 2001 by Brad, a college student responding to high bookstore prices. The platform surfaces curated deals, coupon codes, and price-drop alerts across thousands of online retailers including Macy's, Walmart, Home Depot, Kohl's, Nike, Nordstrom, Target, Amazon, and Wayfair, and is delivered through a website, native iOS and Android applications (2.2 million downloads), an Amazon Alexa Skill, a daily email newsletter to 12+ million subscribers, and social channels totaling 4+ million followers. The company differentiates through human-verified deal curation rather than automated aggregation, positioning itself as a consumer-advocacy brand supported by earned media coverage in the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, MSNBC, and the NBC Today Show.

The technology stack is a web and mobile product with social-login integrations (Facebook, Google, Apple), email-driven deal-alert personalization, and a merchant-facing partner portal called Axis. Underlying the consumer product is a network of ad-tech and data partners (LiveIntent, ALC, Cross Pixel, Circulate/LiveRamp, Paved) that support behavioral advertising and attribution, alongside compliance posture for CCPA, CPRA, Nevada SB 220, COPPA, and the DAA's Online Behavioral Advertising principles. Brad's Deals Axis functions as the B2B surface for merchants to manage advertising placements and exclusive deals.

Revenue is generated primarily through affiliate commissions paid by retailers when users complete purchases after clicking through from Brad's Deals, supplemented by advertising on the site. The service is free for consumers, with no subscription or purchase requirement. The company is privately held, founder-led, bootstrapped (no disclosed funding rounds), operates fully remotely with 80+ 'Brad Ambassadors' across the United States, and is legally domiciled in the U.S. Virgin Islands with a Chicago correspondence address.

Name

Brad's Deals

Legal name

Shop Smart LLC

Website

https://bradsdeals.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Brad's Deals (Shop Smart LLC) is a free, ad-supported deals and coupon platform founded in 2001 that curates offers from thousands of online retailers and earns affiliate commissions when shoppers click through to partner sites.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Deals and Coupons Platform

NAICS

General Merchandise Retailers (455)

SIC

Retail-Variety Stores (5331)

akta.pro primary industry

Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms (BPAMAGAH)

Keywords

• Deal aggregation
• Coupon codes
• Affiliate marketing
• Online deals
• Price comparison

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Affiliate Commissions: Brad's Deals earns commissions when users purchase products through their deal links or use their coupons at partner retailers. This is the primary revenue stream - a fee paid by retailers as thank-you for driving customers to their sites.
2. Advertising: The service is described as 'ad-supported', generating revenue from third-party advertisements placed on the website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Brad's Deals is a free, ad-supported deals aggregation and coupon platform that curates verified online deals, promo codes, and exclusive discounts from thousands of retailers including Macy's, Walmart, Home Depot, Kohl's, Target, Nike, Nordstrom, Amazon, and Wayfair. The company surfaces these offers to consumers through its website, iOS and Android mobile apps, an Amazon Alexa Skill, and a daily email newsletter to 12+ million subscribers, and it earns revenue through affiliate commissions when users complete purchases at partner retailers and through advertising on its properties.

Product overview

Brad's Deals is a free, ad-supported deals aggregation and curation platform operating since 2001. The core offering consists of the Brad's Deals Website, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and an Amazon Alexa Skill, which together allow consumers to discover and access deals across thousands of online retailers. The platform is complemented by a daily Email Newsletter sent to over 12 million subscribers, Deal Alerts for personalized notifications, and a Coupons & Promo Codes module. Brad's Deals Axis is a partner portal for merchants to manage advertising placements. The Shop Smart Blog provides editorial content including shopping tips and consumer advice, while Special Discount Programs aggregate third-party discount offers for military personnel, teachers, students, and seniors. The company operates on an affiliate commission model, earning fees when users purchase through partner retailer links, and also generates revenue through paid advertising placements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brad's Deals Website The primary consumer-facing web platform that aggregates and curates deals from thousands of online retailers. Users browse deals, filter by category and store, and click through to partner merchants to complete purchases.
• Brad's Deals Mobile App (iOS and Android)

Quantifiable outcome

• 24+ years in business without being a scam - longevity and trust indicator
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Kohl'scoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor retail partner featured with dedicated deals page and coupon codes on Brad's Deals platform. Kohl's pays affiliate commissions for referred sales.
• WalmartcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor retail partner driving significant deal traffic. Walmart pays commissions for sales referred through Brad's Deals links.
• Home DepotcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHome improvement retail partner with deals featured on Brad's Deals. Affiliate revenue relationship.
• Macy'scoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDepartment store partner with dedicated deals page and coupon section on Brad's Deals platform.
• TargetcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDiscount retailer partner with coupon codes and deals featured on Brad's Deals.
• NikecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAthletic apparel brand with dedicated deals page and affiliate partnership.
• AmazoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor e-commerce partner with coupon codes section and deal features on Brad's Deals.
• NordstromcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPremium department store partner with coupon codes and deals featured on platform.
• WayfaircoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHome goods retailer with dedicated deals page on Brad's Deals platform.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Flipp: Digital flyer and weekly deals platform focused on grocery and retail circulars. Overlaps with Brad's Deals on consumer deal discovery, particularly in home goods and retail, though Flipp specializes in paper-circular digitization rather than online promo codes.

Direct peers

• Capital One Shopping: Browser-based price comparison and coupon tool backed by Capital One. Competes with Brad's Deals for affiliate-driven deal discovery, with stronger browser-native integration and credit card cross-sell.
• RetailMeNot: Long-standing digital coupon and deals platform offering promo codes, cash back, and store deals across thousands of retailers. Directly comparable to Brad's Deals in product, target audience, and affiliate monetization model.
• DealNews: Editorially curated deals site that hand-picks and verifies discounts across categories. Closely comparable to Brad's Deals' human-curation model and email-driven traffic monetization.
• Slickdeals: Community-driven deal aggregation platform where users share and vote on the best deals across thousands of retailers. Closely comparable to Brad's Deals in audience, deal curation model, and affiliate-driven revenue, though Slickdeals leans more community-driven while Brad's emphasizes human editorial curation.
• Savings.com: Coupon and deals aggregator that curates promo codes and sales from thousands of retailers. Operates in the same affiliate-driven discovery space as Brad's Deals, with overlapping retail partnerships.
• Honey (PayPal): Browser extension that automatically finds and applies coupon codes at checkout, owned by PayPal. Directly competes with Brad's Deals for affiliate-driven coupon traffic, but reaches consumers at point of purchase rather than through discovery content.
• CouponCabin: Coupon codes, deals, and cashback platform serving US consumers across thousands of retailers. Directly comparable to Brad's Deals in audience, product surface, and affiliate revenue model.
• Rakuten: Cashback and coupon platform with thousands of retailer partners and a large engaged member base. Directly comparable to Brad's Deals in affiliate/cashback monetization, with deeper international presence and a stronger loyalty program.

Broad incumbents

• Groupon: Public deals marketplace offering local experiences, goods, and travel deals. Comparable in the broader deals/coupons category to Brad's Deals, but operates at greater scale with a marketplace model and broader category breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bradsdeals
• Facebookfacebook.com/bradsdeals
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bradsdeals-com
• Instagraminstagram.com/bradsdeals
• Pinterestpinterest.com/bradsdeals
• TikToktiktok.com/@bradsdeals

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brad's Deals