Screenshots: Five tools to make you a smarter shopper

Software

Screenshots: Five tools to make you a smarter shopper

By Jack Wallen July 28, 2015, 8:43 AM PDT

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Introduction

Image: iStockphoto.com elwynn1130

Introduction

We all shop. There’s no way around it. Sometimes we shop tornfill our personal needs and sometimes we shop to take care of our businesses.rnNo matter the reason, you want to shop responsibly and save as much money asrnyou can.

Prior to smartphone technology, comparison shopping meantrnflipping through advertisements and making note of prices for the goods yournwanted. Now? You can simply open an app, scan an item, and find the bestrnavailable price.

Let’s take a look at five great apps that can streamlinernyour shopping chores and help you save money.

Note:rnThis gallery is also available as an article.

Image: iStockphoto.com elwynn1130

RedLaser

The latest iteration of the app includes a beta version ofrnthe Store Alerts feature, which allows you to get alerts when a store isrnfeaturing a great deal. RedLaser is free and available for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

ShopSavvy

The only caveat here is that you aren’t presented withrnnearly the results returned by RedLaser, and sometimes (especially with specializedrnitems) the deals aren’t as good as you’d expect. But on standard items, ShopSavvyrnis fairly, well, savvy. It’s available free for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

ScanLife Barcode & QR Reader

Configuring interests requires you to rate categoriesrn(Health and Beauty, Lifestyle and Home, Going Out, Sport, Food and Drink, etc.).rnOnce you’ve updated your interests, the feed will automatically change to reflectrnthe personalization. It works well but doesn’t always guarantee you’ll find arndeal on something you want. For that, stick with the scanner. Scanlife is freernfor Android and iOS.

ShopAdviser

From your results, you can tap on an item and then tap TurnrnOn Alerts to get pinged when a deal for the item becomes available. When yournturn on an alert, you can either go with the default (an alert when the pricerndrops) or set your own price threshold for an item. This last feature makesrnShopAdviser one of the best comparison-shopping tools on the market. ShopAdviserrnis available free for Android and iOS.

BuyVia

BuyViarnalso does a great job of easing up on the tech lingo to make shopping for techrnhardware much easier for the average user. Get BuyVia for Androidor iOS.

By Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic, The New Stack, and Linux New Media. He's covered a variety of topics for over twenty years and is an avid promoter of open source. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.

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