Tuesday, November 23, 2010

New iPhone App locates products in store aisles.


aisle411 is today launching its iPhone application for locating products in specific aisles and sections at retails stores. The application works at more than 600 stores in the U.S. and is meant to serve as a faster, more convenient way for shoppers to search and find items at stores.

Application users can type in product search queries or use the voice recognition technology, powered by Nuance, to search at participating stores. For each supported store, aisle411 also includes a comprehensive store map and store info, and UPC barcode scanning to pull up user-generated product reviews.

Generic product searches — double sided tape, for instance — will return search results that specify available types and brands. App users can then glance the section and aisle number for each result, select to map a product for navigational assistance or choose to add it to a shopping list.

Participating stores may also opt to include coupons and offers. The application surfaces Coupons.com offers available at stores, and highlights them in the offers portion of the app.

The service even includes a now ubiquitous checkin feature, so users can check in to stores, share their location with friends via Twitter and Facebook and earn badges and titles for their behaviors — think becoming the “Captain” of a particular store. These features seem a bit tired and unnecessary; if there’s a voice search or barcode scan, then there should be sufficient information for the service to automatically recognize that you’re at a particular venue.



aisle411 currently works at locations such as Home Depot, Schnucks Market drug stores and at Shop’n Save’s grocery chain. Obviously, the application is limited by the fact that its application only works at participating retailers.

For full story visit: http://mashable.com/2010/11/22/aisle411/

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