A good number of us adore shopping, and then there are those who consider it a necessary evil. Whatever category you fall into, shopping can turn into a dreary chore if not approached properly. There are also times when one may be nowhere near civilisation, or may not have the time to indulge in the activity, and may need to urgently buy/send an important item of purchase. For such times, go ahead and make use of the following.
FlipkartMy – go-to app for on-the-go shopping, Flipkart is a delight to use. I am sure it is a hit with a lot of others as well. While you browse for a number of things – from household knick knacks to party clothes – and apply an exhaustive number of filters to choose exactly what you want within your financial constraints, you can also add items to a wish list, elect to be notified if a coveted item comes back into stock, or share the details and photos of the product you are considering with a friend for advice or approval. The app also alerts you to great deals and discounts – some of them exclusive to the app and not site-wide. Payments are easy – cash on delivery, net banking, credit, debit, et al. Plus, you can easily track your order and figure out where your shipment is at any given point of time.
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Amazon’s app is quite good, there is no doubt about that. A most competent shopping app, it beats most of them hollow when it comes to quality – of both products and app design. My favourite bit — also available on the site — is the one-day delivery assurance, subject to availability, of course. However, the filters are not as vast as those of Flipkart’s — a little bit of a letdown. And another major one — the app possesses the terrible habit of continuously restarting in the background, thus slowing down your phone, heating up the CPU and draining the battery. In fact, when I feel the need to shop on Amazon, I install the app, purchase what I need to, uninstall the app, then reinstall it when I want to buy something else – not a very efficient thing to do, but needs to be done.
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Being Indians, most of us are confirmed ‘bargain hunters’. Unfortunately, I cannot include myself in that category, as I would then besmirch the name of this most excellent skill. Luckily for me, there is Groupon. And even better, there is a Groupon app. The app shows you a huge list of deals, discounts (nearly 70 per cent off) on restaurants, clothes, spa, household goods and the like, and their number available in your city. You can track your deals and vouchers and enjoy the greatest prices without compromising on quality.
A personal favourite, Etsy is the best friend of people looking for offbeat and homemade, one-of-a-kind stuff from independent designers. There are innumerable sellers with great products to sell – simply browse the app, check out the Trending section, or search specifically for a seller or a product. In fact, if you yourself are an artisan of sorts, consider Etsy for marketing your creations. You could select what you want and even converse directly with the seller, and rest assured, your purchase will reach you from anywhere in the world, barring any natural or man-made disaster.
(Do you often shop online? If yes, please spare a moment to answer this questionnaire at http://goo.gl/zvWnU2)