The Kissing Frog

Apps for the real person are finally becoming a reality and this new app is available for any smart phone. Presently in the testing phases at an undisclosed retail location in the UK, this IBM app is said to “marry augmented reality with comparison shopping.” Every conscientious shopper knows how time consuming it is to read labels on every package to find to proper brand. This new app is designed to categorize each item, comparing brands, ingredients and calories. It is expected that very soon this will be a convenience that any shopper will be able to pull up on their smart phone as they shop.

The app is designed to take the dread out of shopping every week, and is one of the first that allows people to actually use an app to benefit their world of influence. Constructed in Hanover, Germany, Big Blue used high tech information stemming from image recognition technology out of IBM Research in Haifa, Israel. The technology was adapted to recognize the products on any store shelf, and new technology was born. Smart phone owners can separate their shopping list into gluten-free or vegetarian, and at the press of a fingertip, only these items will be identified.

Customers will be able to sort by sale items or to show available coupons or promo codes for the products selected. This reality technology breaks it down to the average customer and meets them on their smart phone screen. Users can find nutritional information, price comparisons and other details concerning that product. This app uses digital photography and instant access to the internet to successfully pull shopping into the 21st century.

In today’s economy people are constantly looking for ways to save money. Some shop sale fliers, some have cut back on monthly bills by conserving energy, and some have reached a new level. TLC takes a look at extreme couponers on their show Extreme Couponing.

The premise of this show is simple. TLC follows people who go to extremes to save as much money as possible by utilizing coupons. They clip, organize, and store coupons. These people often stockpile items that they have purchased with coupons at amazing discounts.

Many of the people followed on the show Extreme Couponing spend hours of their time searching through fliers, matching sales with coupons clipped, and going to different stores in order to save as much money as possible. The show explores the lifestyles of these individuals and the effects their coupon habits have on their families.

Extreme couponing on TLC delves into the new found lifestyle of these coupon junkies. It looks at everything from what they buy, why they buy it, and when they buy it. The show explores the method to their couponing and how they began their coupon craze to begin with in the first place. The show highlights both the ups and downs of extreme coupon habits, and the viewer can walk away with some helpful knowledge about couponing. Whether or not they choose to take it to the extreme of the guests on the show is up to them, but coupons have their place in the world.

Both consumers and businesses seem to be jumping on the coupon bandwagon these days, but how exactly can coupons help businesses? Should you use coupons to help your own business grow? The answer is yes!

With a struggling economy, consumers are always looking for a deal on products. No matter what the product is, many consumers will be on the lookout for the best and most affordable deals available. If a consumer is searching for a certain product or service to use, and they find a nice coupon, they may be more likely to choose that product or service instead of others on the market. 

Some consumers may not be looking for any great deals, but rather happen to come across a coupon or deal by chance. Those consumers, in turn, may decide to purchase the product on a whim. Sometime, people use coupons just because they have them. 

Many businesses have started using coupons that their customers can present to them via their Smartphones. Since so many consumers own them, it is easy for the customer to use a coupon this way. Consumers love convenience when they are shopping. This way they won’t need to worry about forgetting a coupon at home. 

Even if a consumer does not use a particular coupon, they have still seen the business name. Coupons can help businesses by providing advertisement. People who have seen the coupon may also tell friends or family seeking a product for which they have recently seen a coupon deal, thus getting the word out about the product and business. 

Businesses that offer coupons to patrons on a regular basis can also earn the trust and loyalty of their customers. People are more likely to shop at a business if they know that they often have good deals and sales. This is one way to gain trust from customers.

In general, coupons help businesses by bringing them more customers and sales! People are always looking for great deals and ways to save money in today’s economy. These are just some of the ways that coupons help businesses today.

There are times when you want only specific brands of the products that you use every day.  There are a lot of people that are that way.  But their brand loyalty is not always conducive to effective couponing efforts.  There are other brands on the market that you can try that you can get for pennies on the dollar with your coupons if can “step outside the box” at times.  Of course, if there are allergies to some products you will want to stay with what works for your family.  But there are other times that you could take advantage of some great savings when you use your coupons for other brands of the same product.

Although it is admirable that you have a brand loyalty, you could be missing out on some great bargains by being stead-fast in that loyalty.  For example, if you buy only a particular brand of shampoo, you may never find another coupon for that brand if it is already an established brand on the market.  A lot of manufacturers only allow coupons on the newer products in order to introduce them to a mass market.  The older products may still be on the shelves at your store, but it is on the newer ones that your coupons can be the most effective.

A lot of times manufacturers and the stores that stock their products will give you some huge savings on the newer introductions of a product.  It could be a newer scent for the shampoo brand that you already use or a new cereal for a brand that you already buy.  Check the values of your coupons and decide if the savings are really there.  Sometimes a sale price is not a real “sale” price for those new products, but rather a marketing ploy to get consumers to buy the new product.

Couponers can get excessive in their purchases, reveling in the savings that they get.  That isn’t always a bad thing.  Other times it can be.  Simply having a coupon for a product doesn’t always mean that is what you should purchase.  There are times when something “on sale” is not really on sale, even with the coupon you have.

The important part of saving money with coupons is to know when you are actually saving money or spending more than you need to for a specific product.  It is not only the final price of an item that means you saved money, but the unit price.  For example, if you are buying a seven ounce box of cereal for $1.29 you are paying just over $0.18 cents per ounce.  If you have a coupon for that package then you probably found a pretty good deal.

The object is to compare the regular price of the product at different stores and then discover if your coupon will be valid there.  There are times when the smaller package of a product can actually give you bigger savings while at other times the bulk packages are a better value.  It is in knowing how to find the unit price that you will know if you are getting a bargain or paying the same price as everyone else.  There are times when a coupon does not save you much in cash at the register.

There are online sites that can help you to compare a retail price for the price you can get with your coupon.  They also offer the prices at different stores so you can plan where you want to shop for those items.  You can also take a “window shopping” trip to a store to get their prices in order to know the retail price versus the price you would pay with your coupons.  If you are serious about couponing, it is that research that can save you the most.

Many people participate in couponing.  The first thing they will tell you if you ask is that it does save them a lot of money over time.  The next thing that they will tell you is that it does take some time to do it properly in order to get the most savings from their efforts.  You don’t have to do extreme couponing in order to get some savings, but you do have to put in a bit of time and effort to make your savings worth your time.

The first part of couponing is to find the coupons you want to use.  There are several sources that you can use, including newspapers, magazines and even online.  In fact, there are many couponers that rely solely on their online sources for coupons.  Some of those sites offer store coupons as well as manufacturer’s coupons.  The hint here is to know the difference between the two.  Stores will offer sales and coupons in order to draw in more customers.  There are usually some restrictions on those coupons, so read them carefully.  Manufacturer’s coupons usually expire in thirty days, but a store gets paid the face value of the coupon.  But there are times when a store will offer a double coupon day in order to get your business.

Along with clipping your coupons it is always a good idea to watch the store circulars and know their couponing policies.  Usually the store coupons and sales are more restrictive than the manufacturer’s coupons.  You can get a bigger savings if you know exactly which stores can give you the most benefit for the coupons that you have.  Remember that some stores limit the number of coupons that you use while others have no limit.  That is always a good fact to know, no matter where you decide to shop.