Many of us shopped to our heart’s content this past weekend, capitalizing on Black Friday and Cyber Monday pricing, but a sour economy and struggling retailers might mean the best deals are still to come. But iPhone users who don’t want to spend December scouring the Sunday ads and online specials can let Savvy.com do the work in keeping track of price drops.
Now, don’t get super excited yet. For one, you really do have to be an iPhone user — Savvy only supports 3GS, 4 and 4S. Second, Savvy.com only works with a limited number of retailers (Best Buy, Kohls and Nordstroms among others, but no Macy’s or Target to be found) so if you’ve shopped elsewhere, the app won’t be of much use to you.
Users will have to register for an account with Savvy.com (you can do so in-app). After you’ve made a purchase at a supported store, you can scan your receipt or enter specific items individually and select your purchase date and purchase price. The app will then track the posted price for the number of days covered in the merchant’s return policy. If the price drops, the app will let you know. I didn’t love that Savvy.com sent me an email anytime I added a purchase in-app — I really don’t need that record since that’s what my account should track for me.
The app also lets you set your own price if there’s an item you’re considering purchasing. Here you can search for an item or scan its bar code and then specify how much you want to pay. If the item hits that number, Savvy.com will let you know. The downside to this is that you can only track an item at one retailer, so you won’t hear about a Best Buy special if you’re searching for the item at Fry’s.
Savvy.com has its share of bugs. Several retailers are missing from the My Buys merchant list, but can be found in the “Dealmaker” tab (the website says only featured retailers are supported in the app version, but its lists don’t match, so the missing stores seem like omissions to me). If you view your account in the “More” tab, there’s no back button, so you’ll need to restart the app if you want to view the deals of the day.
If Savvy.com can fix its technical issues and widen its retailer selection, it’ll definitely be a service worth keeping an eye on.
