I understand the OPs desire to have a barcode scanner program that can give comparison price shopping for common items like groceries. That would be cool... unproductive, but cool!
I understand the way the present programs are designed and the reason for them. When I was at the local Lowes looking to buy a dishwasher I wanted to make sure I was getting the best deal and provide other prices as they price match. I scanned it in.. found another price... and saved $75. That is where it makes a big difference. Also I used it to find the best price on other items where I saved a minimum of $3 for an item.
Groceries are completely different. I do not go to four or five different stores each week to get my groceries. I create a shopping list and go to one grocery store each week to get them all (usually my regular grocery store unless another one has sent me a coupon to save $25 on my next grocery visit). I cannot see myself going to a store, scanning a can of soup that is 95 cents, finding it for 90 cents at another store and deciding to go somewhere else to buy it. I know that if the can of soup is 5 cents cheaper somewhere else something else on my list is 5 cents cheaper where I am. It will all work out to be close to even regardless of where I grocery shop.
I am sure if there was a product that would allow me to scan each grocery item and comparison shop I could divide my shopping between three or four stores to save $10 to $20 dollars. If I can spend five minutes and save $10 that is great, but if I have to scan twenty different items, make multiple shopping lists, and go to four different stores (spending a lot of extra time and gas driving to each one) it is not worth the savings (when you calculate the cost of the time spent and gas it really is not any savings). Now if there was a program that allowed you to scan the gorcery item, located the cheapest price, and organized the shopping list for each store... that may save money and not take up too much time =)
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