For those of us not inclined to brave the Black Friday crowds, holiday shopping can be daunting. But procrastination isn’t exactly the best option — the gift selection tends to get a little picked over if you wait until Dec. 24 to hit the mall.
Lucky for us, there are apps designed to smooth out every step of the gift-buying process, starting with the all-important gift idea. Gift Wizard for Android uses an algorithm to suggest gifts for people based on their characteristics. Enter your loved one’s age, personality type, interests and “next big life challenge” and let the intelligent gift engine do the rest of the work for you.
For planning and organization, try the iPhone app Santa’s Bag, one of the most comprehensive holiday shopping mobile applications on the market. Santa’s Bag allows you to enter budgets, wish lists and shopping lists for all of your intended recipients, while keeping you on track with a Christmas countdown all along, which is accurate to the second.
Popular QR and barcode scanning app RedLaser kicks in during the next stage of the process. While out shopping, RedLaser will let you to scan a barcode or type in a product name in order to compare prices against local stores and online stores to get the best deal. As an added bonus, RedLaser will keep all of your loyalty cards together in one place.
Alternatively, check out the iOS app Jifti, which was in the news this summer for raising more than $2 million in seed funding. Like RedLaser, Jifti works by having users scan the barcodes of gifts in store. Scanning a barcode with the app will send the intended gift recipient a virtual gift card via notification or email. The recipient can then use the gift card online or pick out the item from a physical retailer. Jifti is a solution for the pragmatic gifter: Rather than agonizing about picking out the perfect size and color, simply give the recipient the freedom to select the version he or she wants on his or her own.
Apps are handy gift-buying tools. And if you are inclined to think outside of the box, apps can be great gifts in their own right — the Apple App Store has given users the option to “gift an app” since 2010, and Google Play offers gift cards in $10, $25 and $50 denominations.
