Yahoo News Black Friday UK deals 2018: The tech you need to shop this Friday without hassle
The day has finally arrived: Black Friday.
But if you don't feel like heading out to the shops today, why not draw on all the tech out there, to help make this year’s Black Friday an easy ride?
From AR apps to Chrome add-ons that make a deal even sweeter, here’s the tech arsenal you need for the biggest shopping day of the year...
Tech to shop Black Friday 2018
1. Amazon’s AR View – to check if products fit
We can thank Amazon for exporting the US concept of Black Friday to our hallowed shores. As part of this year’s extravaganza, the e-commerce company is adding an augmented reality (AR) aspect to its app.
The AR View feature will allow you to view products in your home before you buy them.
With eligible home items, you can point your smartphone at the space you want to fit the item, and the product will appear on the screen as though it is in the room.
Customers can then check the product from all the different angles to see if it fits the space, before clicking to buy.
Amazon app on App Store and Google Play Store
2. Camelcamelcamel – to check deals
Don’t even think about buying something from Amazon without checking Camelcamelcamel.
Find the product you want to buy, like this blender, and paste the URL into Camelcamelcamel to check if the Black Friday deal is really as good as it says it is.
You can also sign up for price drop alerts to track specific items and see if they will go lower over the shopping period. And if that wasn't enough, you can also add Camelcamelcamel as an extension on Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
It’s an easy way to check deals and track products you really want to buy, and it’s particularly relevant for the Black Friday period. New research by Which?, where the company tracked 94 popular products including TVs, cameras and fitness trackers, during last year’s Black Friday found that 87 per cent of them were cheaper at other times of the year.
Speaking about the research, Which? managing director of home products and services Alex Neill said: “The results of our investigation will disappoint many who are expecting nothing but bargains this Black Friday.
“While retailers are bombarding us with promises of great discounts and time-limited sales, it’s clear that not all deals are as good as they might appear. To bag a bargain, do your research and don’t get carried away by the hype when shopping in the upcoming sales.”
3. LovetheSales - to track products for price alerts
If you love a bargain, then you probably already know and use LovetheSales, the retail aggregator that compares the prices and discounts of over 700 retailers across 6 million products.
When it comes to Black Friday shopping, a handy tool to know is the site's price drop alerts. If you find an item you're interested in buying, you can put it in your wishlist and then LovetheSales will send you an email alert when it drops in price.
The company is expected over 82 per cent of products to get a price drop this week, so crack on with that wish list.
4. Pouch – for voucher codes
Sure, Black Friday is all about the deals but there are always ways to scour a better deal on a particular product you must buy but can’t quite justify the price of. Enter Pouch, a browser extension which auto-applies voucher codes so you don’t have to.
Pouch has been making waves since its founder appeared on Dragons Den. Simply add it to your Google Chrome browser and it will scour the internet for vouchers to help you save on shopping.
It works for sites such as Asos, Debenhams, John Lewis and Made, and often has exclusive offers only for Pouch users.
