Find Shopping Deals Comparing prices has never been easier
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By GREG BENSINGER Bargain hunters have never had it better.
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A wealth of mobile apps are helping shoppers find the merchandise they want at the lowest prices available—whether in bricks-and-mortar stores or online—rack up redeemable points, find fleeting special deals and collect coupons.
"I've had quite a bit of savings by using apps," says graphic designer Armand Davila, 41. The Sarasota, Fla., resident uses two or three mobile-phone applications to compare prices. "There's no reason not to bring your phone with you to the store, because you just might find out that you've been overpaying for something that's cheaper right down the street," he says.
There are dozens of apps that compare prices using bar-code-scanning technology, including an eponymous app from TheFind Inc.; PriceGrabber, which Experian PLC agreed in May to sell to Ybrand Digital Ltd.; Pic2Shop from Vision Smarts, and the aptly named Barcode Scanner from ZXing Team, all free.
The idea is simple: Aim your phone's camera at an item's bar code and the app tells you whether you can get it cheaper at nearby stores or online.
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Shopkick Shopkick compares prices and rewards customers with points just for entering participating stores.
Mr. Davila says that while hunting for an office chair he recently left an Office Depot store because the ShopSavvy bar-code-scanning app on his mobile phone found the same chair for about $20 less at a nearby Target store. He ended up buying a higher-quality chair at Target for the same amount he would have spent on the lesser chair at Office Depot.
ShopSavvy Inc.'s app and another of the more popular bar-code-scanning apps, eBay Inc.'s EBAY +0.63% RedLaser—both free—are among those that not only allow shoppers to check prices, but also make it easy to purchase items from select websites using your phone. With Amazon.com Inc.'s AMZN +1.88% free Price Check app, you can compare the company's prices to those at other retailers by scanning bar codes, taking photos of products or entering voice or text searches. If it turns out Amazon has the best buy, you can also make the purchase through the app.
Love Those PointsPlenty of apps dole out rewards to shoppers. The free LevelUp app, from SCVNGR Inc., is one of several that give shoppers cash credits after they spend a certain amount using the app at selected retailers.
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Smoopa The Smoopa price checker sometimes offers a bonus credit good for cash, gift cards or donations.
Shoppers can also use a variety of apps to earn cash or other rewards without even making a purchase. When you scan a bar code with the Smoopa app, free from Smoopa Inc., and enter the price of the item and the location of the store, it shows you comparison prices and sometimes gives you a bonus—a credit that can be redeemed in cash or applied to gift cards or charitable donations.
An app called Shopkick, free from Shopkick Inc., rewards customers with points, called kicks, just for entering participating stores, in addition to helping them find the cheapest prices at area retailers. Users of the app also accrue kicks when they buy items in-store. The points can be redeemed for discounts at a list of retailers including Old Navy and American Eagle Outfitters. Shopkick also doles out extra points on some days to users who visit certain malls.
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Price Check Amazon.com's Price Check compares prices via bar-code scan, product photo, or voice or text search.
Joanna Alva, 23, a paralegal from Sunnyvale, Calif., says she checks Shopkick twice a day for discounts and sometimes goes to the mall just to get the extra kicks. "It's a lot more fun than sitting at a computer" searching for bargains, says Ms. Alva. "I've found myself going out of my way" to get points.
Special DealsFor shoppers seeking more serendipity, the Groupon Now! app gathers limited-time offers near a user's location. New York-based magazine editor Jamilah Lemieux, 27, says she checks the free app from Groupon Inc. every day before she leaves her apartment in hopes of finding an unusual deal, such as the hair trim and conditioning she recently paid $19 for.
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ShopSavvy In addition to comparing prices, ShopSavvy makes it easy to purchase items from select websites.
Other free apps aggregate online discounts, such as Coupon Sherpa from Capable Ant for Apple and Android devices, RetailMeNot from WhaleShark Media Inc. for Apple devices only, and CoupSource from CoupSource Inc. for Android only. Surfwax Media Inc. makes free coupon apps called TapSave for Android devices and Coupon Closet for Apple devices.
There is also an app for those forgetful shoppers who leave their supermarket, drugstore and other loyalty cards at home or in the car. The free Key Ring app, from Mobestream Media Inc., stores that information in a mobile phone for easy access at checkout.
As always, more is on the way. For one thing, with all this shopping power in the hands of consumers, retailers "will have to develop apps of their own that work to their advantage," says Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester Research Inc. analyst. That could include more apps that offer discounts to put a retailer at the top of shoppers' lists. "Over time," says Ms. Mulpuru, "that could turn this whole market on its head again."
Mr. Bensinger is a staff reporter in The Wall Street Journal's San Francisco bureau. He can be reached at greg.bensinger@wsj.com. |
