Today’s trend for shoppers is the term ‘Shoptimization’ or in laymen terms, optimizing your shopping time and shopping budget.
With so many choices available in today’s marketplace, shoppers are beginning to realize that paying full price isn’t always necessary and that with fierce competition among retailers, there is always some reward or discount from which a shopper can benefit.
Today there are a whole slew of tools and apps helping shoppers get the most out of their shopping experience – whether it is through sale notifications or helping consumers optimize rewards.
Interactive retail, or hooking up your phone with an app of your favorite retail stores, could give you discounts, perks and points to fuel your hunger for more of their stuff. Not only will they influence the way we shop, but these shopping aids also stand to impact future retail strategy and promotion.
The Coupon App is a great example. This app includes a coupon widget with real-time coupons and daily deals throughout each day. It helps you find the cheapest gas prices based on your location and has a barcode scanner to compare prices. It also allows you to share a coupons via email, text and social media and allows you to save coupons on your calendar.
Other websites and apps that offer similar features are Slice.com and Checkpoints.com.
As we become more conscious about what we buy and how we buy – retailers and app-makers are discovering that the ultimate competitive advantage may come not from what you sell, but by how smart, easy, and fun you can make the shopping process itself. Have you used any shopping apps recently?
