On Tuesday (Mar. 3), Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Industry Tan Wu Meng announced in Parliament that a price comparison app will be rolled out for all locations in Singapore "in the coming months", according to CNA.
The app, called Price Kaki, was launched by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) in September last year.
"Price Kaki helps people who have less time, who are less aware of the market prices, who are less experienced shoppers. It’s an app for everyone across all walks of life but especially people who may be starting with less,” said Tan.
This would help to build a more fair and equitable society, he added.
Such an app would be useful in situations where retailers jack up their prices during periods of great demand, as we have seen with mask scalpers during the current Covid-19 situation.
For now, the app includes 31 supermarkets and 11 hawker centres, limited to locations in Toa Payoh, Jurong West and Tampines.
There are about 3,000 household and grocery items listed on the app, based on a list of frequently purchased items provided by participating supermarkets. These supermarkets include FairPrice, Shen Siong, Prime Supermarket and Giant.
But we will be able to expect islandwide coverage in the coming months, according to Tan.
How it works
The app works based on crowd-sourcing and data from verified retailers.
That means that everyday consumers are the ones who update the price of an item whenever they visit a supermarket or hawker centre.
Price Kaki initially gets the prices for products from the retailer. But when a promotional price has not yet been updated in the app, shoppers can update the prices themselves.
These updates are then verified by Price Kaki, and the prices will be reflected in the app accordingly.
To incentivise people to update prices regularly, the app uses a point system.
People who regularly update accurate prices will get more points and increase their rank. Grocery vouchers up to $250 and e-vouchers are given to people who rank high on the leaderboard.
Testing the app
After making an account with Price Kaki, I made my way to Tampines Mall's Fairprice.
Seeing as instant noodles and toilet paper were valuable commodities in today's Covid-19 situation, naturally, that was what I compared first.
The app showed that a packet of Indomee's Mee Goreng was on discount at Tampines Mall's FairPrice, 30 cents cheaper than usual.
To my delight, the shelves were stocked full of instant noodles, and the price on the app was right.
High from my success, I tried comparing the prices of other goods with the app's barcode scanner.
I found that most of the prices of the goods were true to the app's listing.
However, there were some items that have yet to update their promotional price. I had a go at updating the price for Magnolia fresh milk.
I uploaded a photo of the milk cartons with the promotional price, and less than 5 hours, the price was verified, and I received 20 rank points.
Limited location listings
However, I hit a snag when I checked the price for ten rolls of PurSoft toilet paper.
It seems as if the app did not have any listing for the item. I could not add the location or price of this brand of toilet paper too.
That was because the list of frequently purchased items provided by supermarkets vary from chain to chain, explained CASE's executive director Mr Loy York Jiun.
"We are aware that the listing for some products may include some supermarket chains but not others. We are working with the supporting supermarket chains on this to increase comparability across these chains in preparation to roll out the mobile application nationwide", he added.
When I asked if the app would expand to cover convenience stores and sundry shops, he said that they would monitor public feedback on how to further enhance the scope of the app once it's launched.
Cool.
Cooperation is key
What struck me after using Price Kaki was that the success of the app depends on the enthusiasm of everyday consumers to constantly update the prices.
When I talked to the FairPrice staff stocking the shelves, it seems that they were not aware of the app themselves.
Those who are not smartphone-savvy, particularly the elderly, would not be able to benefit from using the app, said one of the staff.
For the expanded version of Price Kaki to really make an impact on businesses and channel demand to the retailers that offer the best prices, there needs to be a large increase in the number of active app users.
So if you decide to download the app, do be a kind soul and help to update prices wherever possible.
Sharing is caring.
Top photo from Price Kaki and Mothership file photo.