Some make it easier to comparison shop and score the best deals, others help you find the stores you’re looking for or identify the best gifts for the hard-to-please. And, best of all, many of these  applications are free.

Take a look at a few of my favorite shopping applications below.

1. ShopSavvy

One of the original barcode-reading applications, ShopSavvy uses your phone’s camera to scan and read product barcodes to automatically compare prices among tens of thousands of online and brick-and-mortar retailers.

It generates a list of retailers in your area where you can buy the product, and even gives you a map to the store’s location. You can also check out reviews, save items to a wish list or create a price alert so that you’re notified when the price of a product drops below a certain level.

Cost: Free for the iPhone and Android Phones

2. FastMall

How many times have you gone round in circles in the mall, trying to find that little boutique or the ladies room? FastMall is an app that helps you find, then be guided, turn by turn to restrooms, stores and restaurants at shopping malls around the world, without using GPS or Wi-Fi.

Once you download your local mall, the phone stores the information, including the location of stores, escalators, exits and restrooms.

When you find the store you’re looking for, all you have to do is tap it, and it will calculate the best route for you, taking into consideration whether you need an elevator for a baby stroller.

You can also record messages that remind you where you parked the car, (that’s you, Larry!) and check-in to stores to get discounts and coupons.

FastMall provides full interactive maps, and includes most of the largest shopping malls in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France and hundreds of other countries.

Cost: Free for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad. (An Android version will be released this month.)

3. Sale Saver – Percent Off / Sales Tax Calculator

Many of us get coupons for stores such as Kohl’s, Macy’s and Lord and Taylor: “20 percent off this … 25 percent off that … one day sale only!”

So how do you know how much something will wind up costing, if it’s both on sale and you have a coupon?

Sale Saver has a price calculator that lets you factor in your discounts and store all the items in your cart to calculate your savings. It even adds in tax to show you how much your total holiday shopping spree will cost.

If international travel is part of your holiday plans, the app’s currency converter can help you keep track of purchases overseas.

Cost: 99 cents for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

4. Coupons on Mobile – MobiQpons

If you want to keep tabs on coupons in your neighborhood, download this free application. The hyper-local app shows you coupons available for stores, restaurants and services near you.

You can search by location or business name, filter stores by your favorites and calculate your savings.

When you’re ready to use the coupon, you can just click “use” and show the phone to the cashier, who types in the number or scans the barcode.

Free: iPod. This hyper-local app will show you coupons available for stores, restaurants and services near you. You can search by location or business name.

Cost: Free for the iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and BlackBerry.

5. SnapTell

Similar to ShopSavvy, this app helps you instantly look up information about products you want to buy. Take a picture of the cover of a book, CD, DVD, video game, and the app will give you ratings, reviews, pricing information (so that you can comparison shop) and even the option to buy the product from your phone.

You can also snap a picture of the item’s barcode to get the same information.

Cost: Free for the iPhone and Android