Comparison shopping blew up as a service for shoppers for one very simple reason: it saved people money with their purchases. It wasn’t a surprise, then, that the same functionality is slowly becoming a staple in mobile phones as well.
The Android platform currently has two popular comparison-shopping apps in its list of offerings, CompareEverywhere and ShopSavvy. While there are probably a few others, these two have proven the most sophisticated of the lot and offer services that allow it to produce results almost as good as their full website counterparts.
CompareEverywhere
CompareEverywhere allows users to search for prices of specific products directly from their handset. You can create your search in one of two ways, either by entering the item’s name or by using your phone’s camera to scan the barcode. It outputs a list of all local and online stores that carry the product you’ve searched for, along with their current price.
For the barcode, you don’t actually need to take a photo. Instead, just put the camera in front of it and wait a few seconds for the app to recognize the print. This feature is not perfect, though, and you’ll come across some products that it can’t recognize, but it is getting better.
ShopSavvy
ShopSavvy is a similar app that takes the same feature set of CompareEverywhere and does it one better. Like the latter, it allows both typing the product name and barcode scanning for its searches. You get an extra third option that allows you to type the barcode characters instead of using your camera.
More than offering just a price list, however, ShopSavvy adds a wishlist feature that allows you to organize your comparison shopping a little bit. There’s also a Price Alerts section where you can find price drops on products that you are keeping tabs on. If you’re looking for a deal and aren’t in a hurry, this is a great way to find it when it does become available.
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
