New app shows shoppers where their grocery list costs the least
For Canadians looking to save money on groceries, it’s Gofer to the rescue.
A new app called Gofer.run compares both everyday and sale prices across grocery stores in a shopper’s neighbourhood and shows where their grocery list costs the least.
Once a grocery list is entered, the app scans prices for each item and calculates where the total basket will deliver the most savings. Shoppers can choose to buy everything at one store, or let the app find additional savings by visiting multiple stores. While a single item might not be the absolute lowest price on its own, the app is designed to reduce the total cost of a grocery trip.
Mark Sherry, co-founder of Gofer.run, saw an opportunity in the grocery space since it’s a “daunting task” for shoppers to compare prices across stores.
“If you go to every website within a 10-kilometre radius, put in your list of 50 items and write all the prices down, that’s a half-day exercise right there,” Sherry says. “And then you have to write yourself an algorithm to figure out what’s the best combination of stores to go to, to get the prices I want.”
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According to the company, the app can save customers about 25% on their grocery bill. Once a list is entered, it provides a clear breakdown of potential savings.
“If you want to change from your favourite store to another store or two other stores, here are the savings,” Sherry explains. “And then the consumer can decide if they want to go to one, two or three stores—it’s totally up to them. But they can see the impact of their decision right away.”
While retailers’ sale and flyer items are listed in the app, it also shows which options deliver the best value. For example, if ketchup is on a user’s list, the app pulls ketchup products from multiple stores and compares prices by unit. “We search the entire neighbourhood for all the ketchups and then we decided this is the best ketchup to buy per 100 millilitres,” Sherry explains. Customers can also search for a specific brand of ketchup and find the best price.
Other features in the app are grocery lists that can be shared with household members, weekly flyer browsing and price-matching lists, recipe integration that adds ingredients directly to shopping lists, and Canadian products highlighted with a maple leaf icon.
In addition to cost savings, Sherry says the app saves people time. For grocers, it encourages trial, as consumers may shop at stores beyond their usual one.
Sherry says there’s an opportunity for both grocers and brands to partner with Gofer.com through advertising, promotions and coupons. Because the app requires users to input their shopping lists, Sherry says, “we really understand what people are shopping for.”
