‘Showrooming’ is the practice of checking out goods in a physical retail store before buying them online (much to the chagrin of shopkeepers.) Now the phenomenon has its own Android app that lets you scan product barcodes and instantly compare with the best online prices.
Showrooming picture from Shutterstock
Crowdbuy.info is a shopping application designed to bring you the best online prices on retail products. When you scan a product’s barcode it automatically pulls the best online deals from Amazon, eBay and their networks which amounts to thousands of stores.
You can then tap through to the best bargain and make your purchase from right there in the store (if you want to be a dick about it).
While Crowdbuy.info isn’t the first showrooming app to hit the Android market, its integration with eBay and Amazon does increase your chances of landing a local deal or an item that can be shipped to Australia. Just be aware that overseas stores will involve lengthier shipping times which may result in receiving your parcels sometime after Christmas.
You can download the Crowdbuy.info app from the Android Play Store. An iOS version is “coming soon”.
Comments
11 responses to “CrowdBuy Is A Showrooming App That Scans Barcodes For Better Prices”
I’m all for a bargain and what a retail stores margin is,but tread carefully. 100000’s jobs at risk to save a few bucks?
It depends on what you do with the money you save by buying online. I regularly purchase items from overseas at a huge saving. However, I make a point of spending the money I save locally, in restaurants, in family businesses, and by supporting tradesmen. Most importantly, I support local artists, muso’s and craftspeople.
This strategy puts a lot more money back into our economy than paying an “Australian Tax” which mostly only benefits foreign multinationals.
How many Aussies does Amazon,iTunes etc employ?
dogrockdog : point taken. However, we present deals from local sellers via the Ebay Commerce Network. For example, scan a can of coke and it will show you cans of coke from Dan Murphies. Opportunities exist for online sellers via advertising on the eBay Commerce Network
http://www.crowdbuy.info/search?q=Coca%20Cola%20Zero
Nonsense.
I get paid peanuts. I buy stuff that is cheap so I can use the “few bucks” savings to buy more stuff to improve quality of my life. Sound selfish? Damn straight. This is my choice.
So now everyone starts scanning all the things on their desks – I have Red bull cans, tomato soup cans, books, magazines – and why the hell is someone drinking Vodka at work ?
Its Australia. Everything costs more in Australia. Why? Nobody knows. Nobody cares to find out and the government will hamper any effort to find out. God forbid we reduce their tax profits.
When companies stop looking at consumers as cash cows, and realise that they need us a great deal more than we need them, maybe more stuff would be bought in store than online. Until then, I will continue to buy online.
America is a great model. How much stuff do they buy from overseas online? Very little. Because they can walk into a local brick and mortar store and support their local community by buying products with prices that are actually realistic and fair, and in most cases the same as online……sometimes cheaper.
Sorry, but I save over 50% by shopping online. And thats even when half of the total order cost is from the international shipping alone. My last purchase? An exhaust system for my motorcycle. Cheapest quote, from our fair and reasonable brick and mortar stores? Nearly 1500 dollars. Thankyou to the American seller who shipped it to my door for 650……….yes including shipping.
Australia as a whole, is way overvalued.
Did you ever think to factor in things like Australia’s minimum wage vs. that of the US? Or how about general standard of living? Look at all the great things we have in this country that the United States doesn’t, like decent health care. These things (and much more) are generally what determines how much things cost. I’m more than happy to pay Australian prices for the things I buy, as it’s stimulating our economy. I’ll only ever buy from the states or overseas if its a product that is unavailable here. My opinion is, you want to pay the US price, go live in the US.
I know this wasn’t really the point of your comment but for the record this is virtually impossible. Canada, however…
Fixed that for you
^ Part of the motivation behind this application was to break some of the monopolising that goes on in the retail industry. Before online shopping came along, consumers were held at ransom under the guise of “Oh but Australia is so far away from everything”. I believe China is further away from America than it is Australia.
When you lift the covers, you will find that most major Australian retailers broker exclusive deals with suppliers in order to block other merchants from competing with them.
If anything, show rooming, and other online applications will undermine these exclusive deals resulting in the select few becoming billionaires and then crying when some competition enters the ring. Bring it on.