WASHINGTON – Cyber Monday is expected to see major sales this holiday season, beating Black Friday experts say because of comparison shopping apps.
Phone apps like ShopAdvisor, RedLaser and Google Shopper are changing the game at the mall and giving consumers the upper hand in finding the best deals.
Most shopping apps popular this season blend barcode scanning and text input and use GPS and other location technology to let shoppers compare prices between websites and deals they’ll find in the store.
The RedLaser Barcode app by eBay, available for Apple and Android, lets shoppers scan the item to retrieve its listed price at major retailers, while showing how far those stores are from the shopper’s location. It archives searches, according to The Boston Globe, and lets users create lists of items they can return to on a later shopping trip.
Google Shopper recognizes pictures of products taken with the phone’s camera. Using Google’s search tools, the app lets users narrow their results by distance and other specifications.
Finally, a new trend this year is a combination of comparison shopping and social networking. The shopping app Yupty is available in iOS only. It is designed to support decision-making, reports the Globe. Other users of the app can weigh in instantly with a thumbs up, or thumbs down.
Other shopping apps to try:
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