New price comparison app PricePinz one of the fastest and easiest to use

PricePinz is a free price comparison iPhone app that launched recently. Developed by a Singapore-based company, it joins a growing number of apps like Save22 (formerly LobangClub) eBay’s RedLaser, Amazon’s PriceCheck, and ShopSavvy, among others.

Since its debut a few days ago, PricePinz has been downloaded over 100 times. It currently offers over 4,000 items in its pricing database — the information is gathered mostly from merchants and in-house data entry.

PricePinz boasts support for both barcode and QR Code scanning, and provides a list of deals available in the vicinity of the user. It leverages social network to allow users to help promote their favorite deal and rate or rank a retailers’ offering based on criteria like customer support, freebies, and after sales service. Read more

Mobile price comparison apps compared

Singapore startups Save22 and PricePinz are facing formidable competition in the mobile price comparison space. How do they stack up? To help you decide, here’s a quick summary about the features and reception of the price comparison apps in the wild.
 

	Save22	PricePinz	PriceCheck (Amazon)	Redlaser (eBay)	ShopSavvy	Google Shopper
Android:
User ratings	4.6	NA	4.5	4.3	4.2	4.1
User installs	1k-5k	NA	0.5M-1M	1M-5M	10M-50M	5M-10M
iTunes:
Rating	4+	4+	4+	4+	4+	NA
Global	●	●	◑	●	●	◑
Inputs:
Barcode	●	●	○	●	●	●
Voice	○	○	○	●	○	●
QRcode	○	●	○	●	●	○
Photo Scan	○	○	○	●	○	○
Price Trend	○	○	●	○	○	○
Price Protection	○	○	●	○	○	○
Buy Directly	○	○	●	●	●	○
Social	●	●	◑	●	●	○
Cost (USD)	0	0	0	2	0	0
Deals	●	●	○	●	●	●

Quick elaboration on two of the variables:

Price Protection: If the prices fall within 30 days from date of shipment, the company will refund the difference as long as you give them notice.

Social: The app’s ability to leverage social networks to promote the product/service.

Edited by Terence Lee

PriceArea’s strong growth could signal that Asia is finally ready for price comparison sites

PriceArea, an Indonesian price comparison website, has an enviable growth trajectory.

In March 2011, it saw a respectable 200,000 unique visits a month. By July this year, it was getting 45,000 to 50,000 unique visitors a day, making it the top price comparison site in the country. The number of listed items has multiplied too, swelling from 1.2 million then to about 5 million now.

The tables have certainly turned for CEO Andry Suhaili. While PriceArea is blazing the trail in the price comparison arena in Indonesia, his first ecommerce startup, Checklagi.com, went nowhere.

Started in 2008, Andry describes Checklagi as being similar to Japan’s Rakuten — an online retail marketplace that serves as a platform for retailers and suppliers to reach consumers. But the market gave it a cold shoulder. Read more