Some believe shopping is a way to reduce stress in our everyday lives. Although, there are others who believe that just entering a department store or a mall would be the contributing factor to a nervous breakdown wrapped in a panic attack. I, myself, fall somewhere in the middle. I like to shop when I know what I'm looking for, where to find it and what it costs. In and out, that's my style. But that's not an easy feat to accomplish when the malls are growing in size, sales are popping up everywhere enticing consumers here and there, and more stores are beginning to carry the same brands. For instance, I may find a watch I like at one end of the mall that's 15% off but who's to say that it's not being offered at 25% off at another store located at the other end? Keeping my budget in mind I would, of course, need to go check it out before I buy. Thus, turning an in-and-out shopping trip into an all day undertaking.
It's time to welcome the new smartphone shopping apps and thank them for putting an end to this insanity. Lately, I've been experimenting with the Westfield Mall app and have been using it in conjunction with another shopping app called Zoomingo. Both shopping apps have recently been launched and can be greatly attributed to creating a more accurate, budget-friendly and sane shopping experience.
The Westfield Mall shopping app is available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices and can be used at all 55 Westfield Mall locations. Theoretically, it's a portable mall in your purse and can be utilized anywhere, even from your own home. The app includes a directory and map of each mall, ability to create a shopping list, upcoming offers and events, movie lists and the most recently added feature, a product search.
I was most impressed with the Product Search feature. I used it to locate a particular watch brand I was shopping for. I plugged in the brand and it produced results for three different stores. At that point, I was able read the product descriptions, choose the exact watch I wanted at the lowest price and add it to my shopping list, then map out the location of the store in the mall. Although this might seem a bit similar to your basic online Internet shopping, this offers more benefits to the consumer. There is no need to hassle with shipping, waiting for the item to arrive, and then often discovering the item needs to be returned.
As a way to enhance my budget-conscious shopping trip, I decided to also use the newly launched Zoomingo shopping app (available for iPhone and Android) to view all the sales available at the store where I was purchasing my watch. This shopping app is not connected to any particular mall and it doesn't allow the consumer to compare prices, but does offer them the ability to view local offers and sales. It is currently connected to over 70,000 retail outlets. Consumers can plug in the brands in which they shop most often and follow them. When they tap on a brand, Zoomingo will list all the sales presently being offered.
One of the more interesting features is the Alert feature. You can add an alert to a certain item and when similar items go on sale, Zoomingo will alert you via email. Or, if you would like to share a particular sale item, you can alert your friends via Facebook or email. Furthermore, it is possible to follow other shoppers, “like” or comment on certain brands or sales, and “check-in.”
On the down-side, I found that the Zoomingo shopping app had a tendency to foreclose often, causing a bit of frustration. I also felt that some features, such as brand search and store search were not very user-friendly. Maneuvering around the app was also a bit tedious. But it's important to put out the reminder that this shopping app is very new and more than likely we will see changes and upgrades in the near future.
Related articles:
Mobile Loyalty Love and Affection
Do Mobile Shopping Apps Affect POS?
Consumers Embrace Mobile Retail Shopping Apps
See these video links from Barcode.com:
1. Create a QR Code for business cards
