Priceisright.co.za is a free service that will allow you to compare grocery prices between a number of popular stores throughout South Africa. It’s just gone live and this is just a taste of what’s to come with this awesome service.
I can just see it… create your profile, add a few shopping lists: monthly: for all those big items like detergents, soaps, liquids, toilet paper, etc. and those weekly or daily shopping lists for bread, milk, juice, cold meats, biscuits, etc. and get www.priceisright.co.za to direct you to the store that is currently offering you the best overall deal.
In an interview with www.priceisright.co.za inventor and creator John K. Weber (the same person that launched the free crime busting service www.tagga.co.za) HTT asked him a few questions:
Q: HTT: John, thanks for an awesome service: what gave you this idea?
A: JW: Well, with all the questions going around about collusion with the retailers, I thought that it would be a good idea to put all the prices on the table and let the consumers decide for themselves where to do their shopping.
Q: HTT: How does the system work?
A: JW: At the moment we are capturing prices of all the main household items from a few stores in the main centres in South Africa and we hope to expand this network as fast as possible. The current version of www.priceisright.co.za allows the public to compare certain stores’ prices – just click on the “View Prices” link. This will open a window with a list of stores where you can choose to compare prices – so select the 2 stores and press “Compare products”.
The next window will show the barcodes of the available products, and their prices sorted by price difference.
You can then decide on the best store for you to go and do your shopping!
At present, a limited number of stores Pick ‘n Pay and Woolworths stores are listed, but the list of stores and branches will be expanded rapidly now that the framework is ready.
Q: HTT: Obviously, the key to this site’s success is the quality of data?
A: JW: Yes, you’ve spotted some of the critical success factor and we aim to address this in 2 ways: 1) We have a team of shoppers that will input their personal shopping into the www.priceisright.co.za system; and 2) We employ a team of data capturers that will input data (barcodes, descriptions, prices). Obviously, the more people that enter data into the system, the more accurate and beneficial the www.priceisright.co.za system becomes.
Q: HTT: How does one become one of the team of shoppers to input their personal shopping into the system?
A: JW: We will be releasing this information as soon as the web site’s functionality is released. It will be very easy for the shopper to enter the store name, area, product info (barcode) and price which will then be available for fellow shoppers to use in their comparisons.
Q: HTT: How much does using the system cost?
A: JW: At the moment the service is free to the general public, but in the future we will be selling advertising space as well as premium services to people that could benefit from the statistical information.
Q: HTT: So, will the ‘premium services’ pay for the system?
Q: JW: Yes, to a certain extent, but we will also sell advertising space.
Q: HTT: Has anything surprised you while building the system?
A: JW: Yes, there are some very surprising things that I have seen that will need further investigations but at first glance it seems that some online shopping services charge more on a per item basis that their “real” shops, plus they charge for delivery as well!
Q: HTT: In my intro I predicted the future by saying “I can just see it… create your profile, add a few shopping lists: monthly: and those weekly or daily shopping lists and get www.priceisright.co.za to direct you to the store that is currently offering you the best overall deal.“ How accurate are my foresights?
A: JW: That’s quite a good prediction and we hope to implement what you predict and more…. Currently, we offer comparison of only 2 stores at a time, but we will offer whatever is sensible and fits onto the screen.
Q: HTT: Which stores will you focus on getting prices for?
A: JW: The main stores in South Africa obviously service the most of the people out there. Our aim is to provide a service to the people of South Africa so that they can get the best deal! So initially, Pick ‘n Pay, Shoprite/Checkers, Spar, and Woolworths will be on www.priceisright.co.za. The public out there can also capture prices from new stores and branches and so they will in turn help us to grow the database…. it’s all a question of us helping the public and the public helping us! It will be exciting to see how they embrace the system to make it work.
HTT: Thanks John, congratulations, this is certainly an exciting chapter in the fast moving retail market in South Africa. We wish you the best of luck and will certainly be watching you and your team of price watchers on www.priceisright.co.za
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