Comparison shopping site PriceGrabber.com has added price alerts and a local availability feature to its apps for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad.
The site, a division of Experian plc, beefed up its app in part because it found 36% of holiday shoppers used mobile devices for shopping-related activities during the 2010 holiday season.
PriceGrabber’s mobile price alert feature lets consumers set the dollar amount they want to spend on a product directly from a mobile device. When the product reaches the designated price on the comparison shopping site, PriceGrabber immediately alerts the consumer via her mobile device.
“At PriceGrabber, we are dedicated to providing consumers with a comprehensive shopping experience anytime, anywhere,” says Laura Conrad, president of PriceGrabber. “We are continually innovating to leverage mobile technology capabilities with consumer shopping needs and behaviors.”
Additionally, PriceGrabber now allows consumers to search inventory of local retailers via an app. Search results and product pages tell shoppers when a local merchant is selling the selected product. The tool also offers local store hours, directions to the store and access to store inventory. It zeroes in on location based on GPS technology in the device or via a ZIP code a user enters.
“Many people want to see if an item is available near their home or office location, or other travel destination, and for those people, we offer the ability to input a ZIP code manually,” a PriceGrabber spokeswoman says.
If the user chooses the GPS option, the app can show a her a map from her exact location to the store of her choice.
The PriceGrabber app shows not only local stores that carry the item, but also tells shoppers if the item is in stock. That helps because the item a user wants may not be in stock at the nearest location to her but it may be in stock at the store three miles down the road, PriceGrabber says. “We can tell you if the item is in stock and even if the inventory is low on that item so you know where to spend your time when visiting a local retailer,” the spokeswoman says.
In October PriceGrabber added a local availability feature to its web site.