This live data study counts the promo codes on SimplyCodes locked to a retailer's own mobile app rather than its website, and ranks the shopping categories where that restriction concentrates. The conditions are read from the codes themselves and recomputed daily.
Because the retailer attached the code to its own mobile app: the offer is a reason to install and sign in, so it is not honoured on the website. As of August 13, 2026, SimplyCodes counts 3,906 active promo codes that work only inside a retailer’s app, across 1,581 retailers. They concentrate in food & restaurants, where 315 of 7,766 tracked retailers — 4.06% — run at least one.
- Food & Restaurants leads at 4.06% of its retailers, roughly 2.8× the rate in apparel.
- App-only codes remain a small share of everything on offer — 3,906 codes across 1,581 retailers.
- If a code fails on the website, the app is worth trying before writing the code off: the rule is about where you paste it, not whether it still works.
Share of retailers = the share of that category’s tracked retailers running at least one app-only code · Retailers = how many run one · Tracked = the category’s full retailer count, the stated denominator · Codes = app-only codes in the category.
| # | Category | Share of retailers | Retailers | Tracked | Codes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Food & Restaurants | 4.06% | 315 | 7,766 | 906 |
| 2 | Travel | 2.50% | 96 | 3,835 | 278 |
| 3 | Shopping | 2.28% | 63 | 2,766 | 310 |
| 4 | Apparel | 1.43% | 337 | 23,508 | 908 |
| 5 | Entertainment | 1.07% | 57 | 5,334 | 123 |
| 6 | Software | 0.68% | 42 | 6,210 | 65 |
| 7 | Beauty | 0.55% | 56 | 10,254 | 101 |
| 8 | Health | 0.54% | 73 | 13,452 | 105 |
| 9 | Electronics | 0.52% | 29 | 5,601 | 62 |
| 10 | Hobbies & Toys | 0.43% | 30 | 6,969 | 65 |
| 11 | Education | 0.42% | 8 | 1,918 | 10 |
| 12 | Sports & Outdoors | 0.37% | 32 | 8,651 | 63 |
| 13 | Pets | 0.34% | 11 | 3,243 | 18 |
| 14 | Home & Garden | 0.30% | 43 | 14,287 | 96 |
| 15 | Automotive | 0.23% | 9 | 3,834 | 9 |
| 16 | Business | 0.20% | 9 | 4,413 | 13 |
| 17 | Artificial Intelligence | 0.13% | 12 | 9,312 | 13 |
Retail categories ranked by the share of their retailers running an app-only code · a category appears with at least 5 such retailers · financial-services and crypto groupings are screened out · checked August 13, 2026 · numbers last changed Aug 13, 2026. Refreshed daily.
Methodology
How SimplyCodes verifies codes. Behind every figure in this live data study is the SimplyCodes verification system. Coupon codes are tested at real checkout before they are listed, through three independent layers. Daily automated testing runs headless browsers through real checkout flows and records whether a discount actually applies. A human verification network of 10,000+ verifiers submits screenshot-and-timestamp proof, at 4.6M+ verification actions a month and 98% accuracy. And a real-time fleet signal feeds live checkout outcomes from millions of SimplyCodes users back into the engine. Each code carries a Health Score from 0–100, weighted by checkout outcomes, verifier consensus, and recency. With an estimated 40–60% of coupon codes on the public web dead, restricted, or fake, the system exists so a code earns its place by working at checkout, not by being collected.
How this study is built. We count the tracked promo codes carrying a recorded app-only condition, group their retailers by retail category, and report the share of each category’s tracked retailers running at least one. The denominator is stated in its own column so the share can be checked rather than taken on trust. A category appears with at least 5 qualifying retailers. Conditions are observed from the code’s real behavior and terms, with evidence references.
Cite this data
As of August 13, 2026, SimplyCodes tracks 3,906 active promo codes that work only inside a retailer’s mobile app, across 1,581 retailers.
According to a SimplyCodes verification study (August 13, 2026), app-only promo codes concentrate in food & restaurants, where 4.06% of tracked retailers run at least one.
