Amazon Launching Promo to Lure Customers From Retail

Retailers have been grousing for years about the disappearance of consumer dollars to the online environment. And the proliferation of smartphones has made things that much more difficult as consumers in the stores looking at products can immediately look to see if they can get better prices online. Amazon.com is taking it one step further, giving brick-and-mortar retailers one more thing to complain about.

The Seattle-based online-retail powerhouse is launching a promotion on Dec. 10 that will attempt to get shoppers in retail environments to buy the products they are seeing in the store via Amazon at a discount, according to Direct Marketing News.

To qualify, consumers need to use Amazon’s Price Check mobile app to check out the price difference between something at the store and Amazon. “To compare pricing, consumers can scan a product's barcode, take its photo and speak or type its name via the app,” Amazon told DM News.

Once the price is compared, consumers can place the product into their virtual shopping cart and get up to a $5 discount if it is purchased within 24 hours, the site notes.

“The Price Check app is a great way for shoppers to ensure they're getting the best possible prices,” Amazon spokesperson Sally Fouts, the site reports.. “This [promotion] is an added incentive for customers to use the Price Check app to make sure they're getting great deals.”