

Ask HN: Feedback on ShopSidekick, our app for in-store shopping - zhyder

I and 'amattn' built ShopSidekick, an app that helps you shop in stores. It's the only app that can scan proprietary <i>shelf</i> barcodes at Best Buy and Walmart (we're working on more stores), which in turn enables a real-time-updating interface.<p>No need to hunt for the UPC; just point your phone at the shelf to get at-a-glance info. (Of course detailed info is a touch away.)<p>The goal is to help you shop smarter at stores. 94% of retail in the US is still at brick-and-mortar stores and an increasing number of people research online, then buy 'offline'. We want to make this process as easy as glancing at the shelf, which you already do.<p>Sorry, currently it's iPhone only, but an Android version is planned. I'm an Android user myself.<p>Would love your feedback. 3 years ago (wow, that long?) it was a similar Ask-HN that gave me tons of direction on where to go with my then-startup, Dabbleboard.<p>http://shopsidekick.com<p>Thanks!
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riskish
Design: In a sea of web app splash pages from the past sixth months, your
simple demo site is somewhat refreshing to me. With that said, I think you
could improve a few things. The demonstration of the app could be more clear
by making it linear (horizontal or vertical) as opposed to the 4 images --
which is kind of confusing at first..maybe arrows would help. I like the photo
with the hand holding the iphone at the shelf, and the purple scheme :).

Idea: I may be biased, because I love these apps and think this space is ripe
for innovation (shopkick/stickybits), but I really like your idea/concept. One
issue I see, however, is that a player in this space is indeed ShopKick and
your name, ShopSideKick, is very similar. Since your concept is pretty unique
in scanning shelf barcodes instead of the product, why not own it with a
completely different name/brand/concept? I know they work with Best Buy as
well, so there are a lot of small similarities that can be immediately drawn
between ShopKick and ShopeSideKick.

Also, since you have an application that is the "first" to do shelf scanning
instead of the product, maybe it would be wise to put more emphasis on this
unique ease-of-use in stores compared to other apps out there now (when
promoting to businesses and consumers).

Hope thats helpful...

~~~
zhyder
Thanks, definitely helpful!

(I find designing webpages so much harder than mobile UIs: can't figure out
how to use so much horizontal space.) Arrows might help with the /learnmore
page. Maybe we could number the images or labels too?

Regarding ShopKick, we're certainly not _trying_ to create confusion. We just
grabbed the best name we could find. I'm hoping the names are sufficiently
different that it won't matter. We wouldn't want the shelf-scanning aspect to
be part of the name though; we don't know what the product is going to look
like in the future. We're just pretty sure it'll be your 'sidekick for
shopping' :).

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jasonlbaptiste
The app itself looks awesome. Until I can go really in depth hard to leave
feedback beyond me being awed. Here's what I can comment on- the landing page:

a) Put the video above the fold. People want demos - A S A f'n P.

b) You need a phrase and simple way to explain it. Kind of an elevator pitch
but not buzzwordy. Needs to be functional.

c) Start collecting email addresses asap.

d) Take me through some key example scenarios too.

~~~
zhyder
Thanks Jason!

a) Hmm, thought people prefer screenshots first: they load faster, work on
every platform, work without headphones, and -most importantly- can be
evaluated quickly.

b) Currently we have 'Your personal shopping assistant' (on the home page, not
/learnmore), but yeah we need something better. Any ideas?

c) Will do. Dumb Q: are these for people who're on platforms we don't support
yet? Why would iPhone users want to leave their email addresses?

d) Will do, great idea!

------
revorad
Looks great. At the end of your video, youtube shows videos of competing
products. You might want to get rid of that...

~~~
amattn
Thanks for the heads up. Sounds obvious when you point it out that way.

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zhyder
Clickable:

<http://shopsidekick.com/learnmore>

<http://youtube.com/watch?v=r1pC1NtDAoU>

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staunch
I use Amazon's barcode scanner app every time I buy something expensive in a
store. I have never once had trouble locating a product box to scan the
barcode of.

Is that the only differentiator?

~~~
zhyder
We also have an easy way to mark things as 'want' and 'have' and to share them
on Facebook. But yes, real-time scanning of the shelves is a key
differentiator.

If you don't mind my asking, how long does the process take you with Amazon's
app? If that process could be sped up substantially, would you scan more
products: multiple options for any one purchase, and less expensive products
too [1]?

The UPC scanners take too much time [2] and too much effort. Steps: find and
extract box, aim for its UPC (maybe while awkwardly balancing the box in one
hand), wait several seconds to get simple data like average rating. Then: put
box back in its place, touch 'back' on phone, repeat steps for next product.

[1] - Judging by the # of reviews on Amazon for even trivial items like HDMI
cables, people like to research all kinds of products, as long as it's quick
and easy.

[2] - The whole process with UPC scanners takes me about 10-20s, whereas
ShopSidekick takes 1-2s.

