Matt Weathers, our VP of Product, gave an interview to Mobile Commerce Daily on the ShopSavvy-Spotzot deal for an article that ran today.

For those who’d like more detail on the deal, here’s the full Q&A from that interview:

MCD: What is the strategy behind adding this new feature to ShopSavvy? Why did the two companies decide to partner?

Matt: ShopSavvy’s mission is to give power to consumers so they can make informed shopping decisions. When a user opens our app to get information on a product, one of the top questions they have is, “Are there any deals on this item?” Immediately after that, their question is, “Are there any other deals nearby or in this same category?” With Spotzot’s data and our search experience, we are now able to quickly answer those questions. We look for an exact deal or similar deals.

For example, a mom shopping for diapers is likely to be interested in special baby-care deals. If deals are available, we can present those deals immediately to the consumer without any additional work on her part. She does not need to walk around the whole store looking for sales, or find and flip through a Sunday circular.

MCD: What is the user experience like? Walk through how deals are presented to ShopSavvy users.

Matt: There are several ways we are using Spotzot deals. Three examples:

1. Sam is buying some softball and tennis gear for his daughter. He uses our app to scan the barcode of a baseball glove. We detect that his location at the time of the scan is near a retailer with a 20% sale on sporting goods. In addition to online prices, local prices, and reviews, we will be able to display that sale information. The dad then goes to the store next door to buy the glove and some other items. That retailer benefits by driving foot traffic into the store.

2. Lisa, a college student, is buying school supplies at an office supply store. She scans a toner cartridge. We not only give her price and review information, but we will also tell her how many deals on office products are available in that store. She can browse through the deals right on her phone rather than walking around. She finds a great sale on desk organizers. The retailer benefits by selling more items.

3. Betty has just bought a purse at a shopping center. As she leaves the store, she wonders if there are any deals at other stores in the shopping center. She opens the ShopSavvy app and goes to the deals tab. We present a list of stores nearby that have deals. She can browse through them rather than walking to each store. She finds a great sale she didn’t know about, and goes to the retailer to buy some clothes. She gets a deal. The retailer benefits from the additional foot traffic.

MCD: What kinds of targeted deals does the app give? Can you provide examples?

Matt: The sales change as often as daily or hourly. Spotzot updates them frequently. Here are a few available through Spotzot right now:

Office Depot: Get $20 off when you purchase $79 of HP Ink
Macy’s: Up to 50% off on women’s shoes
Sports Authority: $25 off any purchase $100 or more
Barnes and Noble: $5 off a purchase of $50 (for members)
Gap: 60% & above off on women’s tops

MCD: Why are deal apps important to the shopping experience? Why are deals through ShopSavvy better than most deal apps?

Matt: When users are shopping, one of the most important questions, especially in today’s economy, is price: “Am I getting a good deal?” ShopSavvy has been revealing online and local prices for items for almost three years now. A deal is basically a temporary and conditional change of price. Now we can give users full pricing information so that they can really save money.

The difference is most deal apps only provide deal information and the consumer has to sift through thousands of deals by category or retailer. With our app, the user is already using it to get information on items they are actually considering buying. We use that information to display only the deals that the consumer is likely to be interested in.

Additionally, most shoppers don’t remember to open deal apps, in the same way that most consumers don’t think to go find the deal circular. By contrast, several million consumers are already using our app to get pricing and review information when they shop.

MCD: Where do you see the future of mobile going with shopping apps?

Matt: Consumers are realizing that their smartphones can give them a huge edge when shopping, but they do not want to go to multiple apps, slow websites or sift through overwhelming deal data. Shopping apps that deliver powerful and timely information to consumers in a simple way will earn their trust. In turn, merchants are realizing that apps with high consumer usage provide an avenue to reach consumers in a highly targeted way. We are focusing on this trend by helping users make shopping decisions and merchants reach those consumers.