Amazon giving shoppers up to $15 for using its Price Check app
Price-check apps are already a headache for bricks-and-mortar retailers, who lose out when in-store shoppers use their smartphones to scan the bar code of a product and find that it's cheaper elsewhere.
Now Amazon.com, arguably physical stores' No. 1 rival, is making it even more worthwhile to price check.
The world's biggest online retailer said that on Saturday, it will give customers an additional 5% discount (up to $5) on up to three qualifying products if they simply check the price of those items while shopping in physical retail stores. Eligible categories include electronics, toys, music, sporting goods and DVDs.
"The ability to check prices on your mobile phone when you're in a physical retail store is changing the way people shop," said Sam Hall, director of Amazon Mobile, in a statement. "Price transparency means that you can save money on the products you want and that's a great thing for customers."
The Price Check by Amazon app is available for iPhone and Android and can be downloaded for free from the Amazon Appstore, Android Market and App Store for the iPhone. Users can price check four ways: scanning a bar code, snapping a photo, saying a product name or typing in a search query.
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-- Andrea Chang
Photo: A shopper uses a smartphone to compare prices at a Toys R Us in New York in November. Credit: Seth Wenig / Associated Press
