text: Not long after wrapping up their string of Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals, Amazon has pulled back the curtain on yet another way they’ll be snagging purchases away from physical retail outlets. Starting this Saturday, users of Amazon’s Price Check app will be able to score up to $5 off a purchase of any product if they use the app in-store. 
   
   Here’s how it works: after waltzing into a brick-and-mortar retailer, whip out your iPhone or Android device (with location services enabled) and get to scanning those barcodes. After placing a desired item into the app’s virtual basket, a 5% discount will be applied to the product within 24 hours. Price Check app users can use the discount on up to three products, so they’ll need to choose those items wisely. 
   
   It’s a great idea for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it could help potential buyers get over one of Amazon’s biggest stumbling blocks: experiencing the product. Reading reviews and looking at pictures online is enough in certain instances, but it can be a poor substitute for actually touching and seeing a product in person. With their Price Check promotion, Amazon can actually help people to make purchasing decisions and at the same time giving them an incentive to buy from them. 
   
   On top of that, Amazon will be able to stay up to date with their competitors prices, which could help inform future pricing plans. With just weeks until the holiday of your choice kicks off, Amazon clearly wants to be your shopping source, and they’re better equipped to roll-out pricing changes and promotions than any B&M store. 
   
   As IntoMobile points out, Amazon often has lower prices then their physical retail counterparts, so the additional (minor) savings just sweeten the deal. The big question now is how many users will actually take advantage of Amazon’s offer. The $5 cap means there’s probably a limit to how much play Amazon will get out of the promotion, but I imagine that it could be worth it to them if they manage build up more awareness around their Price Check app. Fortunately for your local stores, the promotion will only run from 9PM PST on December 9 to 11:59 PM PST on December 10 — I can already imagine rabid deal-hunters drooling in anticipation. ||||| If brick-and-mortar stores didn’t hate Amazon enough, they’ll really be steamed this Dec. 10 because the online retailing giant is holding a promotion which will give users an additional 5 percent off its prices when they use the Price Check app. 
   
   Basically, you’ll be able to walk into a store, use the Price Check app (iPhone or Android) to scan the barcode, take a picture or type in the product manually and you’ll be able to get an extra 5 percent (up to $5) off of that product from Amazon. Amazon generally has lower prices anyways, so this is just the cherry on top. 
   
   “The ability to check prices on your mobile phone when you’re in a physical retail store is changing the way people shop,” said Sam Hall, director of Amazon Mobile, in a prepared statement. “Price transparency means that you can save money on the products you want and that’s a great thing for customers. Price Check in-store deals are another incentive to shop smart this holiday season.” 
   
   This has been the first holiday shopping season where mobile shopping has actually gone mainstream, as reports suggest record numbers of mobile purchases and I see more and more people comparing prices in stores on their phones. Heck, Amazon and eBay even opened pop-up stores in major cities this shopping season and it encouraged shoppers to use their mobile phones to buy products and have them delivered to their homes. 
   
   While it’s tough for physical stores to compete based on margins and costs, these companies still do have some advantages. First of all, people have proven that they will pay a slight premium if the shopping experience is better than a purely online one and there’s always the advantage of being able to take your product home immediately. Additionally, not all mobile shopping technology has to hurt stores, as companies like Shopkick are trying to use smartphones to augment the in-store experience. 
   
   [Image via Shutterstock, artjazz]
target: – In a scheme clearly devised to give brick-and-mortar retailers nightmares, Amazon is running a one-day promotion on Dec. 10 in which customers can score up to $15 in discounts for literally walking out of stores. Here's how it works: Download the Amazon Price Check app for your iPhone or Android device, walk into the retailer of your choice on Saturday with the geo-location feature on, scan three things you'd like to buy, and leave. Then, anytime within the next 24 hours you can buy all three from Amazon at 5% off, to a maximum of $5 each. That might not sound like much, but as IntoMobile points out, Amazon's prices are usually lower anyway, so that discount is something of a bonus. Plus, Chris Velazco of TechCrunch notes, it allows customers to see a product in person before buying—something you can't usually do on Amazon.