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10 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2020 THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! Apps For Around Town: Part V By Steve Benoff Steve Katz, whose email was the focus on my January column, has caused me to reevaluate my view of retail store apps. I think part of my own bias developed because of the excellence of the first two local store apps I reviewed – Walmart and Home Depot. These two exceptional apps colored my view of other local apps. After all, the purpose of any retail store app is to help you buy stuff. Walmart and Home Depot do that in an unusually complete way. But I need to keep in mind that other store apps may achieve their goal even if they don't go as far as my two exemplars. Bed, Bath & Beyond is an app I use every time I go to the store. That's because I pay $29 a year to have 20 percent subtracted from my total bill and that redemption coupon is stored on my phone within the app. Because the store is so close and so well organized, I rarely find the need to shop using the app. But I did just recently. I hate to shave and try not to do it more it twice a week. Even though I've been using a safety razor of late, I thought I'd get a new electric razor to see how it compared. Because I like the automatic 20 percent discount at BB&B, I fired up the app to look for the cheapest Norelco shaver. I was able to see the selection of shavers, chose the cheapest one, and learned that it was available online and in the store. Shopping on the app is easy and very well-organized. The BB&B app is designed to make it easy to find a product and order it online. But if you prefer to go the store, you'll know if the product is in stock. Once you're in the store you'll have to search for the item or ask someone because the app will not guide you to its location. And when you pay at the register, you won't be able to use the app to pay. With these two deficiencies in mind, I give the Bed Bath & Beyond app a B. I try to shop at Best Buy as often as I can in preference to Amazon because I want to support local stores, and Amazon is big enough already. In all honesty (I actually hate that phrase as it implies I'm not otherwise being honest), when I'm shopping for electronics, I prefer to use my computer at home rather than the app. In fact, the app I use most when I'm in the store is the Amazon app to compare prices. Best Buy will match Amazon prices on identical products. That said, the Best Buy app is beautifully designed, well-organized, and extremely complete. (Can you be extremely complete? Complete is complete. What more can you say? But somehow complete needs an adjective to emphasize the point.) Take refrigerators as an example. Like the website, the app gives you a choice of eight categories (French Door, Top-Freezer, etc.). Choose a category and you'll see an extensive list with pictures and prices. Select one for more details including product features and a long list of specifications. Since you chose a particular store when you set up the app, you can see if the product is in stock locally or when you can expect it to be delivered to your home. Sometimes when I'm browsing in the store, or even if I come in for a particular item, I use the app for product details not disclosed on the store description or item box. In that regard, the app comes in very handy. The other day I had occasion to use the Best Buy app. My best friend wanted a new TV but not a fancy, expensive one. I used the app to see what was available. I selected "Products" at the bottom of the screen, then "TV & Home Theater." Next, I selected 60-inch TVs and was presented with three choices with prices ranging from $430 to $600. Curiously, all three had a note, "Not available for delivery." And two said, "Not available for delivery or installation for 92223." That made no sense to me coming from a company with a dedicated installation department. We decided to go into the store. When we talked to a salesman, he had no idea why there was such a notice on these products. He told us that, of course, Best Buy would deliver and install any TV purchased. But in conversation with him, we learned that the low-priced 60-inch TV we chose was not a particularly good model. My friend ended up buying a 65-inch TV from a different manufacturer. So, there were two lessons learned. Even a well-designed, very well-organized app can have misleading information and even when the information is correctly disclosed, it does not always tell the whole story. In the end, a trip or call to the store was the only way to learn the truth. Sometimes an app is not enough. And what if I had shopped Amazon?! I'd have no way of knowing if my first choice was the right one. There are reviews, of course. But in this case the Best Buy app helped steer me to the store where I could talk to a knowledgeable sales person. As with BB&B, I give the Best Buy app a B. P.S. Martha and I went to San Jose at Christmas. We were away for several days and set the thermostat to 60 degrees. But we returned to a warm house because, on the way home, I reset my Honeywell thermostat to 68 using an app. Just saying! Do you use an app you'd like to share with others? Let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net.

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