Shopping.com launches Android mobile application

Comparison shopping is a hot potatoe on mobile at the moment. The releases have been coming thick and fast for the past few weeks, as new mobile shopping services roll out and old ones update. This story falls into the latter category – as comparison site Shopping.com launches its application for the Android Market.

What’s the story?

The application being launched here is a price comparison application for when you are out shopping. The interface is incredibly simple – it’s just a search box:

From there you can narrow the search, access instant reviews and get price comparisons. There are literally thousands of merchants and retailers on board – so you’ll get a decent selection of prices for any goods you’re looking for.

It also tries to work in an element of what it calls “social shopping”. From within the app, you can send messages to people in your contacts list about products you particularly liked. You can also get recommendations from within the app; there’s a “people who searched for this item also searched for:” section.

What we think?

A big advantage that Shopping.com has over other services being launched at the moment is that it has a long history of comparison shopping. The on-line version has been running since 1997 – plenty of time to perfect its craft. But evidence of that craftiness is sadly lacking in this application. With such a great database of information and products to choose from, the application has some glaring omissions.

First, there should be a location option. Let’s say you’re in a shop, and you run a search on the Shopping.com app that tells you the product is available for much cheaper somewhere else. It should also tell you where that shop is – and possibly provide a map detailing how to get there. That’s one of the incredibly convenient things that a mobile is capable of, and a basic service that Shopping.com should provide. We’re talking about Android and iPhone apps here: the devices will have GPS.

Second, there should be a barcode scanner. This isn’t absolutely essential, but these apps are meant to make life more convenient for the shopper. Allowing a consumer to scan a barcode rather than type in the name of an entire product is part of that convenience, and Shopping.com has failed to provide it.