[soared]

Local grocery prices. Let me upload a shopping list and allow me to optimize for cost (visit this store for these items, this store for these items) and a trail to follow through the store for optimal pathing.

Same thing for home improvement - Lowe’s in stock indicator is wildly wrong to the point that I sometimes call and ask an employee to go physically look at the item.

[dgllghr]

If you are seriously interested in this, then I would appreciate your answers to these questions! What is the specificity of your shopping list? Cheerios 12 oz, Cheerios, cereal, etc.? If cereal, is it a standin for the all the cereals you usually buy? How consistent is your list? Do you change what you buy significantly from week to week? What causes you to substitute other items for your usual items? And do you do it to save money, try new things, a little of both, something else? If you had Cheerios 12.5 oz on your list, but one of the retailers near you had a significant promotion on the family size, would you want that instead? Let’s say you put “healthy cereal” on your list and you wanted the best price on all healthy cereals. Does that mean organic, low sugar, whole grain, something else? Do you think it would be possible to figure that out from your purchasing history? How much money do you think you would have to save to visit 2 stores? Do you have loyalty program membership at all your nearby grocery retailers?

[strangelove026]

I was kind of thinking about this as well! But in the end I kind of thought it would be something I would just build for myself. As in I often go to a few different grocery sites in nyc as ones super close, another is 5 mins further. And then there’s random little markets that have better deals on fruit. I walk by them all the time. Could perhaps be quite easy to make a little front end where you fuzzy find the food item with search and select qty options and insert the price.

[698969]

For groceries at least, the time cost + fuel cost of buying from different stores would probably cancel out any minor variations in prices

[jazzyjackson]

Hm, I am equidistant from 3 different grocers and sometimes 15 dollar steaks are marked down to 10. I think you're right with a variered enough basket the sales will be a wash but maybe if I let the algorithm decide what my diet is that week based on what's discounted the most I could save some dollars. The thing that actually keeps me loyal to one store is I'm familiar with the floor plan so it doesn't take 5 minutes to find the hot sauce, so I would love a wayfinder for unfamiliar stores. Could be a good app for ambient competing / meta raybans.

[em-bee]

depends on where you live. in european cities you tend to have multiple grocery stores within walking distance from each other. also you don't have to go to all of them on the same day. i delay buying certain things until i have a chance to go to the place where those are cheaper. it just takes a bit planning ahead.

[Suppafly]

>For groceries at least, the time cost + fuel cost of buying from different stores would probably cancel out any minor variations in prices

Sure, but alternatively, using the same data you could find out what the whole list costs at each store and just go to the cheapest one.

[couchridr]

What do your eyes tell you? https://youtu.be/P7KBcsdPhxA?si=RNDXSwiHqCKDLv0i&t=107