Consumr is a clever new app that lets shoppers find product reviews by scanning an item's barcode. Even better, it might help them save money.
On the mobile site, items are ranked from one to five stars, and users sound off on every aspect of a product from its flavor to price.
People scan items for reviews, view an Instagram-like feed of reviews on Discover, or browse categories like grocery and personal care via Search. It's like Pinterest with the crowdsourcing of Yelp.
"It's about bringing your friends into the conversation," said CEO Ryan Charles of the outsourced reviews. "On Facebook, any friends can see what products you like, and you can follow users to help facilitate that decision-making process. It's like a Wikipedia of products."
For shoppers prone to buying things they regret, the app is also useful for dodging buyer's remorse.
"I realized that shopping at grocery and drugstores is really a tough experience, and since most purchases happen at bricks-and-mortars, I wanted to give people information about these consumer products," Charles said.
The CEO, who worked on Zagat's mobile apps before Consumr, got the idea for the app after hearing his sister gripe about buying leaky diapers. To broaden the user experience—and help others avoid horror stories like hers—he added tabs like Alternatives and Nutrition, so people can see more than reviews and see whether a product fits their lifestyle.
The app does have some dow! nsides: It lacks key categories like pets, generic groceries and school supplies, and could do more in the way of price comparison, though prices tend to vary from state to state.
Consumr might also want to restructure its Experts feed since its hard to tell an expert from an average joe review. Since discovery is Consumr's strongest selling point so far, shoppers will want an easier way to curate their feed, and at the moment there's no clear way to go about it.
Price: Free on iTunes
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