A GOOGLE employee has shared clever shopping hacks to keep your Christmas costs down.
It’s easy to accidentally spend over the odds when you’re trying to stuff stockings – but there are some ways to shop smarter.
Google tracks a vast array of products online, and even has ways of helping you at physical shops too.
The tech giant claims to track a staggering 45 billion product listings across the internet.
And Google’s Lilian Rincon says that it can “help you maximise savings and minimise stress” over the holidays.
The first is the Google Shopping Deals page, which tracks the lowest prices for products on the internet.
So you’ll be able to find price cuts on whatever you’re looking for.
“Saving money is a top priority for most holiday shoppers,” Lilian said.
“With the new Google Shopping Deals page, you’ll never have to pay more than the lowest price.”
To find it, just go to Google’s shopping tab and then click on the big Deals button.
You can also just search “shop deals”.
Importantly, when you click on a product, you can track its price history.
That means you’ll be able to see whether you’re actually getting a good deal – or if it’s worth waiting for a price drop.
You can also track prices across retailers to see who’s got the lowest offer on any given day.
Of course plenty of us will be heading down to actual shops when we’re hunting for Christmas gifts.
There are a couple of Google features that can also help you here.
For a star, there’s a Google Shopping filter called “near me”.
That’ll flag up any potential gifts that are actually in stores near you, so you can head exactly where you need to go – rather than having to traipse around loads of different shops.
You can also use Google Lens to scan products while you’re in shops.
This is a camera feature built into the Google app, which lets you “search what you see”.
Here's what you need to know...
Google Lens is a feature that lets AI analyse what you’re seeing through your phone camera – or an image that’s on the screen.
For instance, you could scan an outfit with Google Lens to find similar clothes. It’d also work for furniture too.
You can also use it to translate foreign-language text in real-time.
It can solve homework problems if you’re trying to revise.
And if you can’t work out what kind of plant or animal you’re looking at, Google Lens can probably identify it.
Google Lens can also tell you about products that you’re looking at in shops.
To use Google Lens, you’ll just need to download a Google app.
Google says the following apps work:
And yes, Google Lens works on iPhone too – it’s not an Android exclusive.
Picture Credit: Google
“The latest Google Lens update makes it easy to do product research right from the aisle of stores that share their local inventory with Google,” Lilian explained.
“Look for Lens in your Google Search bar and snap a photo of beauty products, toys or electronics to instantly compare prices, read reviews and get insights tailored to the store you’re in.”
