Mobile Consumer Empowerment Apps: Assisting Shoppers on the Fly

Over the past few weeks we’ve discussed a variety of usage scenarios in the retail industry where smartphone-based barcode scanning is being leveraged through mobile apps. Today we’ll continue this discussion by looking at consumer empowerment apps.

Typical Features of Consumer Empowerment Apps

Consumer empowerment apps can take on many forms. An app could be designed to provide price comparison and review information—or on the other end of the spectrum a retailer could design an app to replace product information kiosks in a brick-and-mortar store. The spectrum of features this presents makes consumer empowerment apps a flexible and expanding category. Here are some different features you may find in consumer empowerment apps:

–          Price Comparison

–          Customer Reviews

–          Inventory and Price Information (Kiosk Replacement)

–          Deal Delivery

–          Origin and Manufacturer Information

–          Nutritional Information

–          Political Information

No matter the exact feature set, the intention of consumer empowerment apps is similar—to deliver useful and impartial product information to consumers that helps them make more informed purchasing decisions.

Adding Product Data and Barcode Scanning to a Consumer Empowerment App

All consumer empowerment apps involve delivering some sort of product-related information to consumers. By adding a barcode scanner to your app and connecting it to a product database, you can ensure that consumers have a quick and engaging way to interact with real world products. The Scandit Product API provides access to a product database featuring product information related over 25 million UPC codes.  Combined with Scandit’s massive  product database, the barcode scanner provides cross-platform reliability and non-autofocus device support necessary to work across the largest possible range of Android and iOS devices. Watch the video to get a sense of the user experience:

Build a Consumer Empowerment App

So you’re convinced, it’s time to build app—what needs to happen next?

1)      Decide if you want to build the app in house or hire a solution provider to build one.

2)      Decided which platforms you’d like the app to run on.

3)      Assess which systems you need the app to work with. What kind of databases do you need to connect the app to?

4)      Identify the features you need, and find the best software components for the job.
(Our Barcode Scanner SDK and Product API are perfect for sales empowerment apps).

5)      Build and test your app (or watch it being built).

6)      Deploy and Enjoy.

Need help making a decision? Our sales staff is here to help. Contact us for more information.

Stay tuned for more usage scenarios including Pharmacy apps coming soon!