Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Shared Shopping List Online

Keeping a paper grocery list is a tried-and-true method for making shopping more organized and efficient. The list is useless, however, when you leave it at home or don't keep it up to date. I propose a simple smartphone application that will allow multiple people in the same household or office to keep a running shopping list on the Cloud that can be updated in real time and accessed from your phone. The user could add items to the list by typing them, or the application could use the smartphone's camera as a barcode reader. This would make updating the list similar to registering for wedding gifts: Finished off the milk? Shoot the barcode with your phone before you throw the carton away, and milk is added to the grocery list for everyone to see. By keeping one list that's accessible anywhere and easy to update, users can avoid extra trips to the store and redundant purchases.

The list itself could be as simple as plain text in a column, or it could be organized into a table identifying target prices, preferred brands, etc. Users could also keep multiple lists to organize all their shopping. The app could even integrate with existing online shopping wishlists.

CATEGORY: Everyday Life / Gadgets
IDEATION: August 17, 2009, submitted by Jake Salter.

2 comments:

  1. Jake is innovative - one of the reasons he's likable.

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  2. I'm learning that Google Notebook can kind of serve this role. No bar code reading, but a shared notebook can easily become a shopping list. If only I had Internet access on my cell phone.

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