The holiday season is rapidly approaching and with it comes the intense pressure of getting your Christmas shopping done, on time and without breaking the bank. It’s no easy task but, fortunately, if you have a smart phone, help is quite literally at hand. Here’s a look at 5 of the best apps you can make use of to help take some of the stress out of playing Santa Claus.
Shop Savvy
This app should prove indispensible when you’re out in the Christmas rush battling your way through crowds of shoppers out to grab those must have presents. By scanning the barcode on a product and you’ll be shown where it’s in stock else nearby and given a comparison of the prices on offer. It’ll even give you directions to the retailer with the best price.
The information the app uses is also community driven, meaning it’s constantly being added to and updated. If you don’t have a barcode, you can search for the product by name and see where others have found it cheaper.
Furthermore, to save yourself legwork, if the cheapest deal is from an online retailer you can use the app to order the product over the internet, there and then.
Shop Advisor
Determined to grab a bargain on the perfect gift but can’t be bothered to constantly carry out price comparisons? Shop Advisor provides a great way to track the prices of items from leading retailers so that the second they drop to the level you consider affordable, you can pounce on the deal.
If you’re not sure which products you should be tracking, you can even use the app to generate gift ideas by finding out which popular products are being most watched. Again, the information is community sourced so you can get an idea of what people have their eye on- a great way of coming across gift ideas.
Snap Tell
There’s nothing more frustrating than investing in a gift when you’re still not sure whether the recipient will like it. It’s disappointing when such gambles don’t pay off, not to mention a real waste of money. Snap Tell is great way of finding out more about a product when your out shopping and on the edge of making a decision.
Say, for example, you know your friend loves a certain band or author, but are unsure if the particular CD or book you’re about to purchase is any good, you can simply take a picture of the cover with you phone and you’ll be given a wealth of information about its perceived quality, including reviews and ratings from numerous sources.
iSlick
This app is all about special offers. It pulls in the best deals from around the web for products in a range of categories including electronics, clothes, games, DVDs, Blu-Rays, jewellery and shoes, as well as coupons and freebies.
Users vote on deals and those that are most popular rise to the top, however, as well as using the voice of the crowd, you can ‘follow’ certain users who you think have similar tastes to your own to find out which offers have them excited. A great way of riding the coat tails of other, savvy shoppers.
FastMall
When the mall is crowded with festive shoppers finding a great deal can take second place to simply finding a way through the building. This app will help you find your way to where you want to be next, without the need for wifi or battery draining 3G. A great tool for planning your shop if you want to get in, get what you want, and make a hasty exit.
When using the SnapTell app I had a lot of trouble. I found it quite limited as far as its capabilities. If you're only interested in snapping photos of the products it excels at, then the app will do. But if you're looking to scan all products, I'd recommend RedLaser, or even ShopSavvy. SnapTell says that you should be able to scan the barcode on any product, but when I tried to scan the barcode on a container of garlic powder and the application led me to a CD. Perhaps this was just a one off glitch, but it turned me off of the application.
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