RedLaser — Find the Best Holiday Deals
It’s not quite Thanksgiving yet, but already winter holiday decorations are popping up in the stores.
Black Friday and the rest of the holiday retail season is almost upon us, and the question is: are you ready to face the often grueling shopping ahead of you? Among the many tasks people face, shopping for presents can often be one of the least enjoyable aspects of this time of the year, as well as one of the most expensive. But an app like Red Laser will help you find the best deals while minimizing the amount of running around you need to do to scope them out, freeing up precious energy and attention for more festive uses.
What’s the App?
The RedLaser app, offered by e-retail giant eBay for free on iOS and Android, is a shopping app that combines price comparison tools and barcode scanning in a compact yet powerful package. The app has been acclaimed by many media outlets, racked up hundreds of favorite reviews and is considered a classic among mobile consumer shopping tools. But it deserves a second look for the many features it’s added since its first rollout.
RedLaser first gained attention with its ability to search millions of products across thousands of online and local retailers to find the best prices, and its UPC and QR scanning capabilities let users take the app into stores, pick a product from the shelves, scan the barcode and figure out where else it’s sold and how much it’s going for to get a sense of the best deal. You can also look up products via the Search feature. The price-comparison feature is a life- and budget-saver, able to sort through results from retailers both online and local. The app also offers suggested and similar items, and alerts you to deals in the area.
You’ll Want It If…
Don’t let the free price fool you: the app is a valuable addition to any library of apps. If you’ve ever bought something somewhere and felt a pang of buyer’s remorse when you saw the same product on sale elsewhere, this is definitely the app for you. It’s been well-maintained and updated by its developers, and now also boasts features like deals and coupons from hundreds of stores — if you check into RedLaser when you walk into a Best Buy, for instance, the app will alert you to the best deals, open box and refurbished items and more store information. You can now also check out with RedLaser with select retailers.
Expanding its digital wallet capabilities, RedLaser also lets you scan loyalty cards into the app, even letting you share them with family and friends. In short, RedLaser aims to be one of the most comprehensive shopping apps out there, and succeeds quite well in its intention.
It’s Not My Thing — What Else Ya Got?
The app is packed with helpful information and features, but sometimes it’s a little tricky to navigate. Often, you just want to see in-store deals or go directly to seasonal promotions, but there’s no one easy path to get to them. The app’s been adding features and capabilities at a brisk pace, but hasn’t quite rethought its navigation fully as it’s grown. Sometimes the app is slow to pull up results, likely due to the large amount of information it must shift through.
Some mobile shopping hounds prefer other barcode scanners like ShopSavvy’s, available on Android. However, eBay’s marketing muscle — and its ability to create and leverage partnerships both online and in-stores — makes RedLaser the one to bet on for future holidays to come.