How to Use Technology and Product Reviews to Shop Smarter

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Purchasing Power: How to Use Technology and Product Reviews to Shop Smarter

Certainly, all it needs to shop online is to use your finger tips. Still, the charm of visiting an actual retail store and dropping items into your trolley hasn’t lost at all. That’s because the in-store shopping experience still matters. And it keeps on improving – thanks to new technology.

As you enter a retail store, advanced technology may be helping you make smart purchasing decisions without you even realizing it. This is backed by devices and apps that notify retailers when the best-selling items are about to be out of stock. Not only this, you’re soon going to see product reviews that help you shop smarter and save money.

Below are a few ways technology will add value to the shopping experience – making everyone a smart consumer.

Shelfbucks

81% of people read product reviews before purchasing their preferred product from a store. Shelfbulks plans to provide reviews in-store so that shoppers don’t have to spend extra time researching for reviews online.

The idea is that all you need to do is to hold your phone near the beacon device on the product shelf. You’ll see product reviews such as Oral B reviews instantly. The signage also notifies discounts on certain items.

Shelfbucks’ approach is to help people make proactive purchase decisions while minimizing the time required to research reviews online. With this technology, you’ll be able to read reviews and purchase a product in-store immediately.

Speed Shopping

Too tired to roam around the entire supermarket to get your desired product? Speed shopping is here to help. This cognitive technology goes like this: you’ll be inputting the list of shopping items in your mobile app. As you’ll enter the supermarket, the app will link to beacons (a technology that’ll pinpoint where you’re standing).

Within a few seconds, you’ll be provided with a map of the supermarket, information about where the least congested queues are, the order you can follow to shop for your desired products in the minimum time possible, and the list of products that are going to be out-of-stock.

Panasonic Powershelf

What can be more annoying than to rush off to your grocery store and realize that the spice sauce you wanted for your favorite recipe is out of stock? The Panasonic Powershelf aims to fix this problem. It helps retailers tackle their low-inventory issues.

This technology uses a special mat on the retail shelf. When the last item is picked from this shelf, the store in-charge instantly gets a text message that notifies him/her of the product that requires restocking.

Powershelf also provides digital price tags. That’s how retailers can lower their prices instantly. For instance, if a retail store realizes that the bananas need to be sold off within a day because they are soon going to be spoiled, the retailer can reduce the price of bananas immediately. And there’s a benefit for shoppers too! Of course, who wouldn’t want to buy low-priced bananas?

Wrapping It Up

With an all new look of advanced shopping options, in-store shopping won’t go away, but it surely is getting upgraded. Advanced technology is closing the gap between online and in-store shopping. Displaying product reviews, price information, and in-store guidelines is going to help shoppers in every way. They’ll save time and shop smarter without spending a lot.

Rachel Jennings can’t remember how she lived life before the invention of online shopping! Rachel is a busy working Mom who writes parenting, health and tech articles in her spare time as a way to unwind.