The holiday shopping season is in full swing now. This means long lines, great deals, stress, and insane amounts of time spent in stores. However, your cell phone can go to great lengths to making shopping this holiday season that much better. No, your cell phone may not automatically send you to some Caribbean island where it is warm and all this shopping stress is taken care of by the pool boy. However, a few key ways that pocketable pool boy is going to help you is:
1. Comparison shopping the easy way – If you happen to have a smartphone with Amazon, your comparison-shopping just got a whole lot easier. You can hit the stores with the best deal, scan in the barcode, and see ratings, prices, and other valuable information. This simple process not only saves you money on the item you are about to purchase, but it keeps you from having to return to the store several times as you compare if this is truly a good deal or not.
2. No more paper lists – The days of incomprehensible shopping lists is quickly going the way of the dinosaur. Now shopping lists can be typed up on a computer, and then emailed off to your cell phone. This process is enhanced by the ability of some cell phone apps allowing you to attach pictures of the gift you need to acquire. This means no more debating if you needed Zombie Alien Killers 1 or Zombie Alien Killers 2: The Next Invasion.
Electronic lists have another massive benefit, and that is one list synchronization amongst multiple family members. No matter how well you try to plan out shopping lists and give one person a specific set of presents to buy, inevitably one item sees multiple purchases. Now, lists can be maintained online, sent to cell phones and people can see exactly who has purchased what.
3. Plan your attack – Those of you whom love to shop all over town know how rough it can be getting from store to store in the most efficient manner. Cell phones can now plan your routes, thus saving you time and headaches from sitting in traffic. Apps like Google Maps can take in multiple destinations and spit out an efficient method to hit everything without the running in circles that so many shoppers are accustomed to. You can even map out public transportation, or even better, route for walking and biking between stores.
4. Entertainment – Let’s face it, standing in a long line to buy Barbie’s Magical Kitchen is rather boring. How many times have you wished you could get in a quick game of solitaire, read a chapter of your favorite book, or even just drown out the world to your favorite music? Cell phones are your saving grace in those lines of boredom. Just fire up your favorite version of Angry Birds and watch as time flies and you are checking out in a matter of no time.
The gift-giving season is stressful enough as it is. Why not put your cell phone to some good use and save you a few trips to the drug store for some Excedrin.
