Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!

GPShopping is here

Ashley Milne-Tyte Jun 7, 2007

TEXT OF STORY

SCOTT JAGOW: Today could mark a new era in shopping. Sprint launches a GPS service to help you find what you’re looking for. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

ASHLEY MILNE-TYTE: To use the service you already need to be a subscriber to Sprint’s data plan. Customers pay an extra $1.99 a month to shop using GPS.

Alex Muller is CEO of GP Shopper, which has teamed up with Sprint. He says, say you want to find a digital camera without schlepping from store to store.

ALEX MULLER: So you don’t even need to know where you are to find the best deal. You can search for the Nikon D-40 and then we’re gonna be able to tell you what store is closest to you that carries that item in stock.”

Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research says the day is approaching where a consumer will be able to take a picture of a producta€¦

MICHAEL GARTENBERG: . . . and have your phone come back and give you a list of what price is it in a local store and what price is it in the stores in the surrounding 5 miles as well as perhaps telling you what you would pay if you bought it online.”

He says services like this will catch on with price conscious and time pressed shoppers.

In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.

TEXT OF STORY

SCOTT JAGOW: Today could mark a new era in shopping. Sprint launches a GPS service to help you find what you’re looking for. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

ASHLEY MILNE-TYTE: To use the service you already need to be a subscriber to Sprint’s data plan. Customers pay an extra $1.99 a month to shop using GPS.

Alex Muller is CEO of GP Shopper, which has teamed up with Sprint. He says, say you want to find a digital camera without schlepping from store to store.

ALEX MULLER: So you don’t even need to know where you are to find the best deal. You can search for the Nikon D-40 and then we’re gonna be able to tell you what store is closest to you that carries that item in stock.”

Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research says the day is approaching where a consumer will be able to take a picture of a producta€¦

MICHAEL GARTENBERG: . . . and have your phone come back and give you a list of what price is it in a local store and what price is it in the stores in the surrounding 5 miles as well as perhaps telling you what you would pay if you bought it online.”

He says services like this will catch on with price conscious and time pressed shoppers.

In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.