Tech

New App Lets Buyers Compare Prices of Groceries and Hawker Food

2019-09-11 , 6:00 pm

Does this scene sound familiar: You’re at your local supermarket shopping for tomorrow’s breakfast. In your hands are two loaves of bread, and you stand in front of the bread shelf wondering if there are any cheaper alternatives or if the 20 cents price difference is worth it.

Now, with the new crowdsourcing app, Price Kaki, you will no longer have to go through that tedious process.

All the aunties:

About Price Kaki

Price Kaki, a free mobile app by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), aims to help consumers save their bucks by allowing them to compare prices of groceries and hawker food.

Users will also be able to track price changes for products.

How It Works

The next time you want to get something for the best possible price, simply search for the item in the app. Alternatively, you can also scan the barcode of the item to see how much it costs elsewhere.

The app would show you the retailers offering the lowest price.

A walkthrough of the Price Kaki app shows that the app not only shows you the nearest supermarkets and hawkers, but it also shows you what each hawker store sells and the price points of the items.

Participating supermarkets include NTUC FairPrice, Giant, Sheng Siong, and Prime Supermarket.

What’s In It For The Users?

Aside from allowing us to be cheapskates, you can earn rewards such as grocery, movie and transport vouchers by contributing information on in-store retail prices and promotions you come across, which must be verified with a photo.

Took Some Convincing For Supermarkets To Jump On Board

CASE consumer empowerment taskforce chairperson Melvin Yong said it was “a bit of a challenge” getting supermarkets to join as they were concerned about the possibility of a price war.

Well, that’s understandable.

To counter that argument, Mr Yong mentioned that the app only shares publicly available information.

“What we are providing is transparency, and sharing information that is already out there.”

The supermarkets want consumers to know the promotion they have and understood the benefit when they realised that the app can do exactly just that.

Price Not The Only Factor That Attracts Consumers

According to CNA, Sheng Siong Group chief executive officer Lim Hock Chee said, “Besides price, there is customer service and quality,”.

The location also plays an important part in purchasing habits, according to Prime Group International CEO Tan Yong Shao.

After all, if you live in Jurong, you won’t want to go to Pasir Ris just to buy a cheaper toilet paper, right?

But…

Will Price Kaki Lead To Price-Fixing?

The two CEOs of the supermarkets disagree.

They mentioned that business is already very competitive with fluctuating prices and the app is just a price consolidator which acts as a one-stop centre for price checking.

In the event of price-fixing among supermarkets, CASE will let the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore do its own investigations.

When Will Price Kaki Be Available?

Don’t go apeshit and search for it now; the app will only be available for download on Apple’s App Store and Google Play from 28 Sept.

However, it will first be trialled with businesses in Jurong West, Tampines, and Toa Payoh.

31 supermarket outlets and 11 hawker centres in the above areas will be part of the trial.

The nationwide launch will happen in early 2020.

Cheapskates of Singapore, rejoice!

In the meantime, why not download our app first, if you haven’t done so?