Thursday, November 17, 2005

ScanBuy Offers Scan Phone


Physical world connection player ScanBuy , makes the news again.
NBC30 reports on how a new technology will change the way you save money when you shop. All you need is a cell phone.

Bargain hunting may be changing big time as your cell phone revolutionizes it. You'll have the power to compare prices on just about any product, in seconds.

Is price comparison really the best application for this technology?

Olivier Attia is the CEO of Scan-Buy, which offers software that you can download to a cell phone that has a camera.

When you're shopping you can line up your camera phone with the bar code on an item, and SCAN-BUY almost instantly gives you a product description, customer ratings and a comparison of price from other e-tailers.

What if that barcode could link you TO the owner of the barcode, would that be more valuable to the consumer?

Would that be a way to create a mobile marketing campaign?

Question, where would you want the barcode to take you when you click on it?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think there is a universal truth here. I think both scenarios are true. For most commodity items (books, CD's, etc.)I just want to know if what I'm looking at is a good price. For more specific, and generally more expensive items, I want to find out more information than the teenager in the store can provide.
However, this is also a third scenario where I want to know if there are any specials on a specific item within the store. For instance, if the store knows that I've looked at three high priced components, they could route a "good" salesperson in my direction within the store, or they could make me an offer I couldn't refuse.

No Name said...

These are great suggestions.

In 2 of the 3 examples you cite, the owner of the barcode "controls" where you go when you click. That is key.

I don't know how much time I would spend checking a price of a DVD or book. These are spontaneous purchases.

When I'm buying a TV or DVD player, I don't see myself comparing prices with my cellphone. I will do that at home using Froogle.

The merging of the "prosumer" and the brand will provider numerous applications for the physical world connection.

Just as Google has provided users the ability to seek content on their PC, the barcode and camera phone will allow users to seek content on their mobile.

Hence, "the next Google"