The Consumer in Control
The recent recession and the sluggish recovery that’s followed it have given shape to a decidedly more thoughtful consumer. Todays’ shoppers are looking to leverage information wherever possible to make better, more thoughtful buying decisions. …
The recent recession and the sluggish recovery that’s followed it have given shape to a decidedly more thoughtful consumer. Todays’ shoppers are looking to leverage information wherever possible to make better, more thoughtful buying decisions. This has given rise to an array of apps designed to make shoppers smarter and more efficient. Although price is unquestionably important, this new level of consumer consciousness isn’t limited to finding the best deals on products. Shoppers are also increasingly concerned about how the things they buy are made and the ingredients they contain.
With all that in mind, here are three great apps I came across recently play right into feeding this new, responsible and informed shopper mindset.
Pocket Price
It’s easy, when shopping, to lose track of what we’re actually spending, especially when the things we’re buying are on sale. We may feel like we haven’t spent very much, only to get hit with sticker shock at the register.
Pocket Price is a ridiculously simple, yet practical app that does the math for you. Simply input the price, the sale discount and your local sales tax rate and it’ll figure out the rest. Now you’ll be able to keep track of exactly what you’re spending, sparing you that moment of disbelief and even embarrassment at checkout.
Compare Me
Perhaps you’ve been in this situation; The regular sized Ketchup is $2.99 but the so-called economy sized bottle is $5.99. The problem is you wonder if it’s really worth it to buy that much more than you need? Are you really saving enough to justify the difference? The truth is, sometimes these deals aren’t as good as they seem.
Compare Me makes these mental gymnastics a snap. Just input the price and quantity of both items and it figures out which is the best deal and tells you precisely how much you’d be saving or overpaying buying one or the other. It even allows you to compare metric values to imperial – something even the smartest shoppers might struggle with from time to time. This little bit of extra smarts at the shelf could potentially save a shopper hundreds of dollars a year.
Carrot Lines
Ingredient lists and nutritional values can be confusing. Some products read more like a chemistry experiment than a food item. If you’re someone with a specific religious dietary restrictions, lead a vegetarian lifestyle or are simply watchful of what you eat, grocery shopping can be really time consuming. Here’s something that can speed up your trip considerably.
Carrot Lines is an easy-to-use app that allows you to set up a profile based on what aspects of diet and nutrition are important to you. Once you’re profile is loaded, simply scan the barcodes of the food items you’re interested in, using the built in scanning app, and Carrot Lines will give you a quick scorecard telling you if the item meets your dietary requirements. Canadian shoppers will also be happy to know that Carrot Lines, unlike similar apps, was developed in Canada and works with Canadian packaging.
If you have any favorite shopping apps, let us know what they are. Post your personal favorites here!
THIS IS CONSUMER IN CONTROL EXAMPLE.
It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.
On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.
The guy at the Farmers’ Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna.
The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him “services” on credit.
The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism. And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works.
Hello Retail Prophet,
Thank you for the feature and we’re very proud to be Canadian. Our users will be happy to know that in addition to expanding our food coverage, we have new exciting features coming up in early 2012. Follow us @CarrotLines on Twitter and Facebook and let us know what you’d like CarrotLines to do for you!
Keep healthy.
CarrotLines App Team
http://carrotLines.Tel