Thank You!

Smoopa is shutting down today. We want to thank everyone for the kind words you've shared with us and being an important part of the Smoopa community.

While you can no longer use Smoopa, we’ve talked to our friends at StockUp! and they would love to help you keep saving. Their community has already shared more than one billion grocery prices! All you need to do to get started with StockUp is make your first shopping list like the one below and start saving.

Get started today by downloading the free StockUp for iPhone or for Android!

It's been an honor to serve the Smoopa community and we hope you will continue to shop with confidence and never overpay.

- Mendel Chuang, CEO of Smoopa

Farewell from Smoopa

Five years ago, we started Smoopa with a simple goal of helping people save money and shop smarter. We partnered with retailers including Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, and Macy’s and helped shoppers find over $12 million in savings.

Unfortunately, that journey is coming to an end. Smoopa will be shutting down Tuesday, July 7, 2015 and our team will be moving on to help other companies. Please make sure to grab your product information before we shut down so you don't miss out on anything you've saved under our care. While Smoopa rewards have no monetary value until the associated purchases are approved and you make a proper redemption request, if you have an account balance over $2.00, please contact farewell@smoopa.com from the email address associated with your Smoopa account by July 7, 2015 9:00 am PDT to request a PayPal Money Transfer for your remaining available balance.

It's been an honor to serve the Smoopa community and we want to thank our loyal users, employees, advisors, and investors who stuck with us through thick and thin.

- Mendel Chuang, CEO of Smoopa

Get Wild and Wacky!

Ever looking for a wild and wacky gift? We have a great selection!

Check out the entire Wild and Wacky collection here.

Happy Chinese New Year!

We have some great items to celebrate Chinese New Year!

Check out the full Smoopa collection here.

Ever been shopping with kids who have the Gimmes?

If you have kids, you know what I'm talking about.  You go to a store with your child (mine happens to be 6 years old) and as soon as you enter the store you hear: "Can we go to the toy section?"

So you negotiate with your child, agreeing that you'll head over to the toy section after you pick up things you actually came to buy, you know, like soap, toilet paper, laundry detergent, cereal.  You make up a game where your child gets to keep track of things on the list to keep him distracted, and maybe you even let him pick up something at the front of the store to "play with while in the store but not buy."  You pick up all the essentials (no time to just browse), and head over to the toy section.

Your child, who knows he's only supposed to browse, is not going to actually buy anything, just wants to look... suddenly turns into "The Gimme Monster":  "Can we buy it? Please?! Why not? But I want it! Please? It's not fair.  We never get to buy anything."  Sound familiar?

Chances are, you've tried one or more of these strategies (I know I have!):

OPTION 1
He's getting greedy, I'm just going to say no and we're going to leave.  There will probably be a tantrum and tears, but he needs to learn his lesson.

OPTION 2
I don't have time for this, I'll just let him pick something small and deal with it later.

OPTION3
This is a teachable moment.  I'll tell him how lucky he is to have what he already has, and explain that there are other kids in the world who aren't as lucky as him, so he should be happy with what he has.

These all work to some extent, but my favourite secret weapon is using the Smoopa app while shopping with him.  Here's how it goes down:

1. Your kid identifies something that he really really wants
2. You tell your kid that you need to check to see if it's a good price
3. You pull up the Smoopa app on your smartphone, scan the barcode, enter the price at the store and get a recommendation:
   

Next, you do this:

• If it's too expensive you explain, "This is kind of expensive. It's been cheaper in the past" and you set a price alert to get notified when the price drops to your desired price. RESULT: You teach your child about price consciousness and delayed gratification.
• If it's a good price but you don't want to buy it you say, "It's a good price, but you don't really need it right now.  How about we add it to your birthday list?" and then add it to a collection in Smoopa. RESULT: You teach your child it's ok to want things, but there needs to be a special occasion.  You can even share the Smoopa collection with family and friends when the special occasion comes around so they know what he'll like.
• If you receive an offer from Smoopa, it means you've discovered a good deal and Smoopa is rewarding you for that.  You might actually want to buy the item but put it in a prize box for your child to earn as a reward. RESULT: You earn a little cash back!

Of course, there's a good chance that your child wants to buy something you really really don't want him to have.  If reasoning with him doesn't work, you can add to it a special collection with a code name, so you can say that you've added it to a list.  Chances are he'll have forgotten about it by the time his birthday comes around anyway!

- Archana Sehgal, Head of User Experience at Smoopa, currently collecting to Toys Stash list

A Look Back: Holiday Pricing Trends

This past holiday shopping season, about a quarter of holiday shoppers said they waited until December to buy the majority of their gifts so they could get the best deal, according the NRF’s holiday consumer spending survey. So did their procrastination pay off? As with most things in modern times, it turns out that it depends.

With bargains scattered from Black Friday to Super Saturday and beyond, whether shoppers found deals actually depended on what, when, and where they were buying. This season, more than ever, shoppers were empowered with access to the latest prices and promotions across retailers online and in-stores, and merchants were less predictable as they competed to attract shoppers throughout November and December.

Taking a look at the top trending products on Smoopa (out of 70 million+ in our system), Black Friday held true as the single best day to find holiday bargains on popular gifts. Fitbit, Chromecast, and XBox One were all cheapest on Black Friday. However, the iPad Mini saw its lowest price on seemingly random days scattered throughout November and December. And one of the top trending products this season - the Sony Playstation 4 - hit its lowest price on Christmas Eve. Of the 17 major national retailers we track, Walmart had the lowest prices of the season on 4 out of the top 5 trending gifts. 

The chart below details the top trending products on Smoopa this holiday season with when and where shoppers got the best deals.

Best Prices for the Top Holiday Gifts Source: Smoopa, November 1 - December 24, 2014

Product	Best Price(s) w/ shipping	Retailer(s)	Date(s)
Fitbit	$69.99	Walmart Amazon	Black Friday Black Friday
Apple iPad Mini	$199.00 $199.99	Walmart Best Buy	Nov. 7, Dec. 13 Cyber Monday
Google Chromecast	$23.99	Best Buy	Black Friday
Microsoft XBox One	$329	Walmart Amazon Target Ratuken	Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday Black Friday, Cyber Monday Black Friday Nov. 30 - Dec. 3
Sony Playstation	$329 $349.99	Walmart Best Buy	Christmas Eve In-store Christmas Eve Online
Walnut Corner Shelf	$38.99	Amazon	Dec. 21-24, Nov. 3
Urban Decay Naked2 Palette	$47.98	Rakuten	Black Friday
Lil Rinser Shampoo Shield	$4.87	Amazon	Nov. 13
Automotive Trunk Organizer	$12.99	Amazon	Nov. 1 - Dec. 24
Jawbone Activity Tracker with Heartrate Monitor	$179.99	Best Buy	Nov. 11 - Dec. 24

As this illustrates, retailers offered great deals on a wide variety of products throughout the holiday shopping season rather than just focusing on one or two crazy days. That said, Black Friday is still in first place when it comes to the single best holiday shopping day for low prices on popular, higher value gift items. 

Given all the fluctuations in prices across products throughout the holiday season, the technology available to shoppers today makes it possible to keep up with the latest bargains from anywhere. This, in turn, makes it more cost-effective for retailers to offer promotions on particular products on a variety of days because they don’t have to do an expensive TV or print ad blitz for shoppers to discover their deals. With all this flexibility comes tremendous opportunity for empowered shoppers to get everyone on their lists the perfect gifts without breaking the bank.

- Mendel Chuang, CEO of Smoopa, currently collecting to Tech Gadgets

Your free in-store shopping companion

Did you know you can use Smoopa on your iPhone or Android device to compare prices while shopping in-store? Here's how:

Smoopa compares the price of the item you scan with past and present prices in our database to determine if it's a good price. You'll see prices from other shoppers as well as trusted retailers such as Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Macy’s, Kohl’s, JCPenney, Nordstrom, and Sephora.

Shipping costs are always included, making it easier to compare across retailers. Some stores such as Target, Walmart, and Best Buy also have a policy of matching online prices, letting you purchase it right away for less.

You can scan just about anything with a UPC, including electronics, toys, beauty supplies, accessories, shoes, packaged foods, video games, housewares, baby products, and more. If you don’t need it now, set an alert or add it to "My Wishlist" and we will send you an email when we find a lower online price.

You may even receive a special offer when you scan a barcode and enter the in-store price. Simply purchase the item in that store and submit a photo of your receipt to claim your offer. Your account balance can then be redeemed for money, gift cards, or donations to various charities.

What are you waiting for? Use Smoopa in-store to shop with confidence and never overpay!

- Mendel Chuang, CEO of Smoopa, currently collecting to Great Board Games